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Instagram marketing agencies help businesses or individuals grow their Instagram accounts and extend their marketing reach in the process. Not only does this save you time, but it also allows you to leverage the experience of veteran social media marketers.
A 2019 study by the ODM Group found that 74% of consumers rely on social media platforms to help them make purchasing decisions. This means that having a strong presence on websites like Instagram is shifting from a mere competitive advantage to an absolute must.
In this article, we’re going to go over:
Instagram agencies help businesses manage their accounts, grow their following, and run paid advertising campaigns on the platform. Instagram agencies combine their experience, unique skill set, and understanding of the Instagram algorithm to help clients achieve their goals.
Contrary to common belief, Instagram agencies do more than post pretty pictures and heart comments. There are actually a wide range of services that Instagram agencies provide to businesses.
Here are the five core services any Instagram agency worth their salt would offer:
The first (and most obvious) service that Instagram agencies provide is content creation. Depending on the niche and campaign parameters, this could consist of taking photos of products, creating custom graphics, coming up with captions, or filming videos.
Bear in mind that pricing can vary widely depending on the type of content being created, how experienced the Instagram agency is, and how much content you want posted on your account each month.
It’s worth noting that you’ll need a full-service Instagram agency if you want content creation to be included in your retainer package. If you just hire a social media manager to schedule posts and reply to comments, they might expect you to provide the content on your own.
Since Instagram is a platform that’s heavily influenced by influencers with large audiences, it should come as no surprise that finding celebrities or athletes that will promote your business is often bundled in by Instagram agencies.
While you likely won’t be able to land stars like Cristiano Ronaldo, Kylie Jenner, or Selena Gomez through the average Instagram agency, they can still help you track down influencers with medium-sized audiences.
In fact, getting up-and-coming influencers (such as food bloggers, fitness YouTubers, and internet celebrities) to promote your business will often be more cost-effective than paying top dollar for someone with hundreds of millions of followers.
As a bonus, influencers with smaller audiences tend to have a higher engagement rate since their tight-knit community is more likely to see their posts. Sponsorship deals also come off as more genuine when you partner with smaller creators.
It’s easier for people on social media to believe that someone actually likes your product when you didn’t have to pay them millions of dollars just to get them to post on their Instagram feed after all.
Like most marketing channels, it can be difficult to effectively advertise your business on Instagram if you’re not actively tracking key metrics like engagement rate, follower growth, and return-on-investment (ROI).
As such, most Instagram agencies include analytics and reporting in their retainers. It may seem like a waste of money to pay an agency extra just to get monthly reports showing you how many followers you gained or what your average engagement rate is.
That said, having your key performance indicators (KPIs) readily available will help you make data-driven decisions and fine-tune your social media campaigns moving forward. Without tracking analytics, it will be impossible to A/B test your social posts and optimize engagement.
Any Instagrammer will tell you that building an audience on the platform is more complicated than just posting content and hoping for the best. To grow your follower count and keep them engaged long-term, you need to throw in some community management.
Simply liking every comment on your posts may have worked in the old days, but social media users are getting smarter. If you really want to impress them and keep them coming back for more, you’ll need to send personalized replies to every comment.
Of course, this can be very time-consuming especially if you’re not quite sure what to say to certain commenters. Fortunately, Instagram agencies that offer community management have years of experience in replying to comments which means they can get the job done a lot faster.
While organic growth is the most cost-effective way to grow your Instagram audience long-term, it’s not the only option available to you. Instagram ads (which function similarly to Facebook ads) can fast track your growth — if you’re willing to pay the piper.
The main downside of running Instagram ad campaigns is the fact that the cost-per-engagement (CPE) has been rapidly rising in recent years. In fact, it increased by 69% — from $0.32 to $0.54 per engagement — between 2021 and 2022.
If you still want to get a worthwhile return-on-ad-spend (ROAS), your best bet is to work with Instagram agencies that have experience running paid advertising campaigns on the platform. This will make sure that you’re actually converting users who see your ads.
Social media marketing is challenging enough but advertising a business on Instagram is even more uniquely difficult. As a platform that relies almost entirely on eye-catching images, you need to have a good sense for design to start gaining traction.
Even if you are a seasoned graphic designer, you may still find yourself struggling with captions,
replying to commenters, or running successful Instagram ad campaigns. Trying to get good at all these tasks could end up turning you into a jack of all trades but master of none.
In contrast, Instagram agencies have an entire team which allows each member to specialize in a certain area. This doesn’t just make the whole process faster but also produces better quality content for your followers.
Many companies see social media as an afterthought. They’ll likely set up a Facebook page, send out a Tweet every now and then, maybe even share some success stories on LinkedIn. However, succeeding on social media requires one thing: consistency.
Working with an Instagram agency is the most cost-effective way to consistently grow your audience. Trying to do it yourself will likely lead to weeks of inactivity, hours spent editing photos, and a high likelihood of burnout.
There’s also no question that agencies will be able to get content posted to your business’ Instagram account a lot faster than if you were to run things solo. Having an entire team working on your account growth will ensure a higher content velocity and consistent publishing schedule.
Organic reach may be dwindling on Facebook and other social platforms. Fortunately, it’s still possible to grow on Instagram with good old content creation and community management. How extensive is Instagram’s reach?
Well, the latest metrics show that over 500 million people use Instagram on a daily basis.
That’s half a billion people around the world that could look at your content, buy your product, or visit your website. Not to mention that coupling your organic efforts with some paid Instagram ads could reduce the time it takes to build an engaged audience on the platform.
In an era where “cancel culture” and PR nightmares are ubiquitous, having professionals who are accustomed to protecting brand reputations is essential. Solopreneurs who try to run messaging on all platforms themselves, on the other, could run into some sticky situations.
It’s important to remember that the organic reach on platforms like Instagram can be both a gift and a curse. One wrong post is all it could take to send things tumbling down. As such, it’s usually best to hire people who are familiar with your niche and target demographics.
First and foremost, you need to have a clear set of goals. If you don’t know what you’re looking to get out of Instagram marketing then you won’t be able to determine whether or not the agency you hired is succeeding.
Examples include:
Before making any commitments to a particular Instagram agency, you’ll want to research and evaluate a few options. Getting quotes and consultations from multiple agencies helps you find the right agency at the best price.
Speaking of price, you need to have a predetermined budget. Figure out how much you’re comfortable spending (per month) on Instagram marketing. If you commit to a monthly retainer that’s above your budget then you’ll be too anxious to wait for the results to start appearing.
Plenty of agency owners can talk the talk but what sets real social media marketers apart from smooth-talking snake oil salesmen is social proof. Seeing previous campaign results, client testimonials, and data-backed case studies will tell you whether or not they’re the real deal.
Did you know that 78.8% of Nike’s social media followers come from Instagram?
Here’s their follower breakdown by platform:
UPDATE: Nike’s Instagram follower count as of March 2023 has increased to 276 million.
That’s right, 196 million (out of total 249 million) followers come from Instagram alone.
Of course, follower counts aren’t everything when it comes to social media marketing. What really matters is engagement. Well, Nike performs exceedingly well in that department as well.
The company’s Instagram posts average 5,000+ comments and almost a quarter of a million likes. The majority of its engaged followers also come from the US which tends to be the most valuable audience for social media marketers.
You’ll also notice that most Nike Instagram posts share a common theme: top athletes.
By featuring these top athletes in every post, Nike is able to leverage the audiences of their influencers and create a consistent brand image for all their followers to see. It’s the exact same reach and branding benefits we talked about in our benefits section — except in the real world!
While Glossier isn’t one to shy away from trends — often playing off meme culture and publishing user-generated content — it manages to remain unique while keeping the brand identity perfectly clear.
Most Glossier posts use the same simple font, muted pink color palette, and minimalist photography. This makes it easy for users to recognize an Instagram post from Glossier even at first glance.
To stand out in such a crowded market, Glossier regularly publishes educational content such as make-up tutorials on IGTV or Instagram stories. By providing extra value to their followers, they’re able to nurture an audience with higher brand loyalty and greater odds of purchasing.
When you hop onto their website, you’ll find Glossier using the same colors, fonts, and minimalistic design patterns. This omnichannel brand consistency makes their company more memorable to users and keeps Glossier at the top of their minds.
Airbnb may not have as many followers or likes as Nike. In fact, they currently have 5.2 million followers which, while impressive, is certainly a tier below the athleisure giant. On the engagement side of things, they average 10,000 likes per post which is 23x lower than Nike.
That being said, Instagram has been a boon for Airbnb hosts rather than the company itself. The ability to post your listings and immediately have them pop into the Instagram feed of thousands of people makes it a lot easier to maintain a high occupancy rate.
This is especially true for superhosts that have more than one property listed on the platform. Trying to keep every property occupied year-round can be incredibly challenging if you don’t leverage the power of social media to extend your reach in a cost-effective manner.
Remember, most Airbnb hosts differentiate themselves based on the aesthetics of their property. Whether it’s themed interiors, tropical landscaping, or straight up living in a treehouse it’s clear that Instagram is the best way to communicate these visual USPs.
Image caption: Fun fact: Airbnb already has over 600 treehouse listings available in the United States alone!
Unlike Facebook, Instagram is an image-first platform. That means that you’ll be able to capture the attention of your followers with attractive pictures instead of needing to brush up on your copywriting skills for long-form social posts.
As you can see, there are plenty of benefits to working with an Instagram agency. You’ll get a team of experts, save time on managing multiple accounts, boost your reach, and build your brand in the process.
If you define clear goals, do your homework on the agency you’re hiring, and find a monthly budget you’re comfortable with then you’ll be on your way to leveraging the power of Instagram for your business!
If you’re ready to start growing your company’s social presence online then it’s time to get your free digital consultation with one of our strategists!
Instagram is often used as part of social media marketing campaigns as the platform is ideal for sharing product photos, sponsored videos from influencers, and other mediums of promotional content from businesses.
Marketing agencies use Instagram to organically grow the social media audience of certain businesses and help them extend their reach cost-effectively. Agencies also use paid Instagram ads to accelerate follower growth and get accounts in front of more people.
Social media marketing agencies create content (or repurpose existing content) and then post it on social media to promote a specific business. This content can come in many forms, including text posts, images, videos, events, polls, and even full articles. Social media marketing agencies also utilize paid advertising campaigns on platforms like Instagram and Facebook.
We are 2Point, a digital agency, creatively driven and data inspired. We work with ambitious brands around the world, handling all their digital production needs and helping them achieve increasingly higher sales goals.
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