Nigeria has a population of over 200 million people, across various cultures and languages. Common to all is their ability to communicate in English, and they do so on social media platforms, including Instagram. Their impressive 1 billion active users monthly, each spend an average of 29 minutes on their network daily.
Nigerian entrepreneurs who have a specific focus on growing their business should first seek to understand the demographics of their country and their related needs, particularly if they intend to serve the local area. Your brand and product awareness campaigns depend on your thorough understanding of who your customer is and your target audience at large.
In this article, we will discuss the importance of targeting your audience on Instagram. These efforts should aim to secure followers who care about your brand and business. Fake followers are not what you are after. So, let’s begin.
Determine Your Target Audience
Who is most likely to want your product or service? This group or groups of people are your target audiences. Each audience will be different from the others based on various demographic criteria, which may include age, gender, ethnicity, location, education, income, marital status, religion, etc. Without brainstorming who most needs the product and creating demographic groups, you cannot create an effective strategy to attract their attention, as you simply won’t know who to find and where to find them.
When the appropriate focus is given to this critical business step, your business will benefit from an increased following which will continue to rise, if your efforts remain consistent. More than this, Instagram growth services like Growthsilo need this information to target users on your behalf, so knowing your target audience is crucial. Followers provide you with the opportunity to interact with more people and gather valuable feedback, which if used wisely, will see these followers better served into the future and you will enjoy the related success.
Create Relevant Content
Now that you know who they are, how do you attract their attention, and build a following? Social media networks are unique as your business can now enjoy more direct interaction with its followers. You reach people faster and you derive benefit from the feedback of individual members of your target audience, sometimes instantly.
Content is anything that you post or share. Much more effective than random content selection is a content strategy that converts. Building around the various types of content will maximize outcomes.
Interactive content is a call to action, beyond a like or comment. A quiz, poll, contest, or Q&A are ideal examples. Content that stirs up strong positive emotions has a greater success rate. Use humor or leave them in awe! Audiences comprehend your message much more easily when you include visuals. When creating content, if a visual can adequately represent your message, choose that instead of text.
Leveraging user-generated content (UGC) engenders trust amongst your followers, and in this safe space, they’re most likely to create a positive hype about your product. UGC is any content created by a buyer who uses your product. The customers whose content you leverage will feel acknowledged. Tagging them will be noticed by their followers, which may widen your audience.
The optimal days of the week and times of the day remain an ever-changing target, so remain vigilant and agile. For your short-term plans, visit the profiles of your existing followers and track when they are online. Do the same with your competitors and influencers. Which of your recent past posts received high levels of engagement? This research will adequately inform your decisions on when.
Engage with your followers
Engagement speaks to the number of likes and comments on your posts, which should be measured, analyzed and amendments made to future actions, where necessary.
Tap into those elements of social networking platforms that provide what traditional methods couldn’t. In this case, the ability to have a conversation with a follower. If a user comments on your post, respond in a manner that not only acknowledges them but addresses the specifics of their comment. This attention to the individual will not go unnoticed and will go a long way towards increasing your followers.
Engagement is not exclusively about activity on your profile. You should also give time and attention to engaging with the content on other relevant profiles, perhaps that of your influencer, or someone in a similar industry. This places a spotlight on your business, for free!
If you intend that your Instagram social media content contributes towards your business goals, it must boost engagement, influence, and conversions. A methodical approach is easily achievable and the above is a great place to start.
Nice information.
Nice article you have there. I would add that using hashtags also works well for Instagram posts too.