Page 213 - Social Media Marketing for Dummies

Because of their importance, it is wise for you to look at what hashtags are cur-
rently being used and what new ones you should create. One way to find out this
information is to look at search tools for hashtags. Some of these hashtag tools
include:

» Talkwalker (http://talkwalker.com): Free/Fee versions. This tool has lots
of value. You can see the performance of a hashtag and much more; for
example, you can see the influencers who use it and whether the sentiment
about it is positive or negative.
» Rite Tag (http://ritetag.com): Free. One of the great features of this tool is
that it will go over the hashtags you have used in Twitter and tell you whether
they are overused or unlikely to be seen. Obviously, you won’t use this tool for
a new Instagram campaign.

» Tagboard (https://tagboard.com): Free/Fee versions. What’s so useful
about this tool is that you can build tagboards that display specific hashtags,
making it easy to see what’s happening.

Check these out to see how helpful it can be to analyze and evaluate your hashtags.

Structuring Instagram for Business Goals

As you can see, Instagram is a sleeping giant that has enormous potential for
almost every business. (One obvious clue to its value is that it was purchased by
Facebook.) Many small and medium-sized marketers have yet to take advantage
of it. One reason is that they are already overwhelmed by the number of social
media platforms that they feel required to use.

Don’t be one of these marketers. Look carefully at which platforms you choose to
devote your time and budget to. If a platform is large but not right for your user
base, don’t get pulled into using it because everyone else is.

The Instagram blog, shown in Figure 12-3, is really helpful and provides both tips
and case studies to help you optimize your use of the service. You can find it at
https://business.instagram.com/blog.

Creating content for your business

As with any social platform you choose, you want to develop relationships
with a community of like-minded people who can become your customers. On
Instagram, your tool is images and the stories they tell.

CHAPTER 12 Delving into Instagram 197