How To Generate Quality Leads On Instagram In 2019

When the topic of lead generation comes up, you'll be asked to opt social media as a strategy at least once or twice.

If you consider that suggestion, you would be thinking about the choices of platforms. Chances are Facebook and Twitter would be the first in that thought process and quite possibly LinkedIn too.

But do you know Instagram should be one of the platforms on which you should invest time and resources?

In this post, we will have a look at how profitable Instagram can be as a lead generation machine. Moreover, you will have a fair idea about how we can create the best Instagram marketing strategy to find new prospects and customers.

What makes Instagram a great platform for marketers?

It has everything you might need for content marketing – photos, slideshows (carousel posts), videos, live broadcasting, direct messaging, hashtags, and stories that have a special 'Swipe Up' feature to link to external web pages, all without leaving the app.

Another reason is the presence of a broad audience. The social network has over 800 million active monthly users, with 60% of all online adults saying they use the platform.

Additional Instagram marketing statistics in 2019 (Source: Hubspot)

Instagram has also shared reports that 50% of their users follow at least one business account and 60% relay that they've discovered new products or services because of the platform.

Using Instagram for your business will inspire you to create more engaging content, with users being able to interact with your brand directly. Many features of the platform allow you to humanize your business and show audiences that your brand has a personality without being overly salesy.

Thus, Instagram has evolved from being just a social network to a key part of many businesses' marketing strategies for brand building, lead generation, and sales.

The challenge

The challenge with generating leads on Instagram is that the strategy may take more time and efforts to implement and maintain but is worth it in the long-run.

Unlike Facebook pages, being on Instagram means more involvement because its users are more engaging. So, you can expect more interaction. When your audience interacts with your business, it's crucial to engage right back.

It might also be challenging to grow your follower base in the beginning, especially given that there are over 25 million business pages to whom you're competing on the platform. You might also run the risk of acquiring ghost followers – either inactive or fake Instagram users who don't engage with your content.

However, if you follow the given steps, you'll find that it's not so difficult to get quality leads.

Before promoting on Instagram

Ready to board the train of Instagram marketing?

Before you do, make sure to go through these essential steps to make the most of your campaign.

Check if Instagram is the right platform for your business

First, analyze and be sure that Instagram will be a favorable platform for your brand. If you're a brand with a story or personality to share, then Instagram is for you.

Additionally, know if your audience is even on the platform. After all, you don't want to make all the efforts to market on this platform and then find out your ideal customers aren't even active – or worse, signed up – on Instagram.

Set your goals

Once you're sure that Instagram is the platform for you, it's time to set your goals. How many quality leads would you like to be getting from Instagram one year from now?

• Plan how you can reach that goal of leads by steadily working towards it.
• Set your follower goals as well as any other valuable KPI, relevant for your business.
• Make sure your Instagram marketing goals are SMART goals so that it's easier to take action and do course correction as needed.

Identify your buyer persona

A buyer persona is an essential tool for all marketers, and this will help you attract the right audience and generate leads on Instagram. This complete tool can reveal valuable insights about your buyer as they go through a purchase journey. With this, you can identify their needs, attitudes, biases, and motivations.

See below for an example of a clear buyer persona that helps a marketer in-charge to craft an effective marketing campaign.

Source: Optin Monster

Set up your Instagram profile

Now you'll need to sign up for your Instagram profile. As a business owner, you can easily create a free Instagram business profile. It gives you access to analytics and insights as well as the ability to create ads and boost your content.

Make sure your username reflects your brand and your profile photo is a recognizable logo or symbol that people can associate with your business.

Instagram lead generating strategies

Are you ready to create a campaign that will have you generating leads on Instagram? Follow these 7 tips to help you master the art of Instagram marketing in 2019.

Optimize your bio

When a potential customer sees any of your Instagram posts without knowing who you are yet, the first thing they'll probably check is your profile.

So, it is essential to have an optimized bio to tell people exactly who you are and how you can bring value to their lives if they decide to follow you.
Additionally, your bio should be the first touchpoint for visitors to a specific call-to-action (CTA). It is a way to get them to subscribe to your content or sign up for your email list.

Take a look at how this digital media company uses their bio to encourage audiences to view their YouTube channel.

There is a myriad of ways you can craft an effective Instagram bio.

Create a bio that makes the most sense for your business in a way that resonates with your target audience while having a clear and actionable CTA.

Have a dedicated landing page

We briefly touched on having a CTA on your Instagram profile. To make your bio a lead generating machine, make sure that you're linking out to a dedicated landing page that encourages users to sign up or make an inquiry. It will help you to capture their contact details.

Because Instagram is a mobile app, your audience would likely access your link and landing page on their phones. It becomes imperative to have a beautifully designed landing page that's also mobile-friendly.

If you want to save some time building this landing page from scratch, you can use these done-for-you landing page templates for your Instagram lead generation campaign. You can choose anything from product showcases to pricing tables to signup forms for getting a lead.

Invest in Instagram lead generation ads

Ads are the most surefire way to get your content out to a large set of audience. You will get the ideal viewers, especially when you're paying Instagram to put your ad in front of a specific audience.

Create targeted ads that encourage people to give you their email address or phone number. Have an opt-in offer that's valuable to your audience, be it an industry report or a free checklist, in exchange for their contact details.

Some best practices to keep in mind:

• Make sure your ad and landing pages match so that audiences know they've clicked on a reputable link.
• Create your landing page as scannable as possible to keep their attention and convince them to sign up.
• To make the most of your ad spend, you can maximize Instagram targeting and retargeting features. If you've done this on Facebook, it's not hard to mimic on Instagram.

Example of an Instagram ad with a call to action (Source: Voy Media)

Go live

To add extra value for your audience, consider doing Instagram live videos to share exclusive content and put faces behind your business.

Live videos perform great in terms of engagement. Audiences can comment and ask questions in real-time, and you can tailor custom answers that are targeted to your audience. You can even use your audiences' questions and comments as crucial insights for your next campaign.

If you want to optimize going live, be sure to get to know the best time to be online on Instagram.

Source: Later

Host your own show on IGTV

IGTV is Instagram's take at a dedicated space for videos like YouTube. But it does not have any real way to search for videos based on their content.

Instagram’s latest big feature is IGTV (Source: The Verge)

You can now create longer videos as previously, Instagram only used to allow 15-second videos on a feed. It will create more value for your audience by sharing tips and tricks in a more engaging format.

Consider having a schedule for posting content on IGTV, so your followers know when to expect new content from you.

Partner with an influencer

With people being your brand spokesperson regularly, it gets mandatory to craft a high-converting influencer marketing campaign.

For many brands on Instagram, influencer marketing has been an enormous help to get the required awareness and conversions.

Create a roundup list of influencers you'd want to work with, who embody your brand with a good-enough following, then reach out to them and figure out how you can work together.

Be sure to be very clear about your objectives for the campaign, so both you and the influencer can get the most out of your partnership.

Think about relevant CTAs that can be implemented by the influencer to encourage people for linking back to your opt-in forms or email newsletter signups.

Share more than business

Instagram is one of the first platforms to turn people into brands and brands turning into people. The latter is particularly helpful since you're able to show audiences that there's a real human being behind your business.

Use IG Stories to show some behind-the-scenes look at what you're working on or to create more engaging content for followers.

• Share testimonies from employees or customers on your posts.
• Create videos that tell touching brand stories.

When in doubt, check back at your buyer persona to see what kind of content your audience will resonate with which is not business.

Instagram Marketing for Your Own Business

Instagram is a powerful tool for marketers in this day and age. If you haven’t started on Instagram or if you’ve been in the game for a while but aren’t seeing results – implement the steps outlined in the post above to see how you can score more leads and sales on this social media platform.