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How to get the most out of instagram promotion


7 Quick Tips to Get More Out of Your Instagram Ads

Instagram has never been more popular than it is now. It was already on the fast track to success when it launched in 2010, and it seems to have strapped on a jetpack after Facebook’s acquisition of the site.

According to eMarketer, the number of companies leveraging Instagram for advertising has steadily increased year over year, and this number is likely to surpass other social channels like Twitter by 2017.

Instagram is becoming one of the top channels for marketers, likely due to the fact that visual media is far more useful for engaging audiences than other traditional marketing channels online. Whether this popularity is caused by the expansion of mobile technology or the widespread use of smartphone and tablet applications by Millennials is harder to determine.

Much of the success that marketers have been able to attain from the photo-sharing site comes from Instagram’s advertising division leveraging Facebook’s data-packed advertising algorithm. The combination of the two advertising platforms allows for multi-layer audience targeting, including everything from basic demographic information to analytics on users’ behavior and interests.

However, using this powerful platform won’t necessarily guarantee a successful outcome for every campaign. Audiences are still a fickle bunch and your advertisements need to go far beyond the traditional “buy this now” approach in order to stand apart from the competition and reel in new prospects and customers.

Let’s look at how you can get more out of your Instagram ad campaigns with these seven tips:

Bonus: Want to automate the organic growth of your followers and skyrocket your engagement on Instagram? Check out Instagram Growth Service Kicksta.  Want to find quality hashtags to improve your awareness increasing your reach and engagement? Try Hashtagsforlikes.

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The Ultimate Guide to Instagram Marketing for Small Business

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The Ultimate Guide to Social Media Marketing for Business

1. Use Instagram’s new zoom feature

Instagram recently launched an update to the service that gives you the ability to do a little close-up marketing with your Instagram ads.

Instagram’s new zoom feature allows users to pinch the screen to zoom in on both photos and videos. The addition was implemented due to the high number of user requests Instagram was receiving to have the feature added to its platform.

It didn’t take long for brands to start experimenting with the zoom feature, either. Some clever companies even tried out slow-motion effects and new filters, in addition to advertising through the use of storytelling on their Instagram feeds.

Each new feature offers opportunities for brands to flex their creativity and find new ways to make their ads shine through the sea of uninspiring, overly salesy ads pushed out by their competitors.

The zoom feature can help you amplify engagement on your Instagram ads, especially if you include a hidden gem that users can discover in your photos.

Tugging at their curiosity with the offer of somewhat interactive content could be enough to make them pause whenever they come across one of your photos in their feed.

2. Promote your best content

The typical approach companies take to generating new content for ads usually involves them carefully scripting ad copy and developing calls-to-action that will have the greatest impact with their audience. If you want to have more impact with your ads, don’t follow this approach when advertising on Instagram.

You already have a wealth of content that you know your fans appreciate.

Look back through your organic posts to find images that sparked the most engagement from your audience. Repurpose those posts as ads to get a huge lift in response from a wider audience.

That’s what Paper Boat Drinks did. Check out this original post on their Instagram page:

After seeing decent engagement on the first post, the company decided to reuse the photo and its caption to create an Instagram ad. At the end of a 6-week campaign, the post saw over 26,000 likes, a stream of comments, and a tremendous lift in their brand’s visibility.

Not every campaign you create is going to be a smashing success, given all the variables that go into creating and targeting ads. However, you can improve the likelihood of success by starting with something you know your audience already likes.

3. Improve your targeting

The fact that Instagram draws on the extensive user data available within Facebook’s ad platform means you can really zero in on your audience within Instagram.

But you have to know how to leverage different aspects of the platform to really make it work for you and your brand. Aside from the standard targeting mechanisms, there are some other features that can help you narrow your focus.

Custom and Lookalike Audiences: The lookalike audience feature allows you to create a custom audience for your ad that replicates your existing followers. This can help you bring in new people who have similar interests, demographics, behaviors, and employment backgrounds to your current audience.

Remarketing: Facebook has a pixel you can place on your website and track visitor behavior. While its primary purpose was intended for monitoring and tracking conversions from social, it can also be used for ad targeting.

You can then create a custom Instagram ad audience consisting only of people who have visited your website. Other modifiers can be added as well, such as only targeting the people who visited your website and either took a specific action or abandoned their carts.

Since the average cart abandonment rate is over 68%, remarketing through Instagram can be a great way to win back those lost customers.

Using the advanced targeting features will get your ad in front of the most relevant audience segments, which should improve your click-through rates. When you specifically target people who are more likely to convert, and your click-through rates subsequently increase, you’ll bring down your cost per click rate as well.

Spend extra time experimenting with Instagram’s audience targeting features, as they can dramatically impact your campaign’s performance.

4. Don’t make your ads look like ads

If you want to boost engagement and score more click-throughs with your Instagram ads, then don’t make your ads look like ads.

Your audience is far more likely to respond to posts that look like natural content as opposed to blatant product promotion. Incorporating actual people into your images and videos is critical; images that contain faces get 38% more likes than other types of content.

Make sure your fans don’t feel like you’re constantly trying to sell them something. While some won’t mind the marketing attempts, you should still aim to create the most organic experience possible. For this reason, plan your ads carefully. When you’re getting ready to launch a new Instagram ad, start creating organic, high-value posts with the same theme as your ad.

After your ad goes live, make a few similar organic posts. Creating a theme for your promotion will lead to a smoother transition that interweaves similar ads of both the paid and organic variety.

TIP: If you are too busy, you can always hire an Instagram expert or a freelancer on Fiverr.

5. Use the call-to-action button

When you create an Instagram ad, you can include a call-to-action button near the image caption (bottom right of the image.) This CTA button is in the same spot for Facebook ads. The button offers you several choices in the messaging of your call-to-action.

If you find one that is relevant to your campaign, use it.

Clover, a dating app, launched an ad campaign on Instagram to promote their mobile app. The ad targeted 18-35 year-old singles. The goal of the campaign was to reach a wider audience and increase the number of mobile downloads of the app.

Using Instagram’s ad platform, Clover developed a series of ads featuring single men and women (see the above advice on using faces), along with the “Install Now” button on the ad.

By the end of the campaign, Clover saw a 30% increase in new subscriptions and reduced their new user acquisition costs by 64%.

“Hands down, Instagram has been the most successful platform for acquiring high quality app users,” said Kris Armstrong, Director of Marketing for Clover. “We’re familiar with Facebook’s ad management platform, which has really helped us optimize our campaigns quickly since Instagram uses the same interface.”

6. Promote with video

When most people think of Instagram, especially those who don’t use it often, they probably imagine an endless stream of static images. They forget that Instagram is also a great channel for promoting videos.

Videos instantly capture the attention of users because they stand out from the content around them. People love watching videos, even if they are short. When Instagram introduced videos, there were more than 5 million videos shared within the first 24 hours. If you put product videos in front of your customers, they are nearly twice as likely to make a purchase, especially if you couple it with a call-to-action button.

Not sure how to start when it comes to creating high-quality video? Use a tool like InVideo which has a huge library of pre-set templates and an easy-to-use video ad maker.

If you’re having a hard time coming up with material for a video, turn to your audience. User-generated content is a powerful tool for building trust with your community. Curate their videos or get video of your customers with your products on location or at events. Share their enthusiasm for your brand and promote those videos through ads.

7.  Tell a story with image carousels

You aren’t stuck with a single image for your Instagram advertisements. The platform is based on a carousel, which means you can showcase more images for your fans to browse.

If you’re trying to sell a product or service, weave a story into the content to make it more engaging. Intrigue your audience with a storyboard of striking images that not only highlights the best parts of your brand but also connects with your fans in a meaningful way. Don’t just post product images; use photos that represent the experience of your product or service and how it makes people feel.

With Instagram’s carousel feature, you can build a connection from frame to frame, crafting a story and subtly enhancing your sales pitch within the ad.

Are you currently advertising on Instagram? Has your approach changed with the updates to the platform? Share your thoughts with me in the comments below:

Guest Author: Andrew Raso is the co-founder and director of Online Marketing Gurus, a fast-growing, award-winning search company working with brands including HelloMolly, Baku Swimwear, and Forcast. Follow him on Twitter at @andrewraso1 or on LinkedIn.

Image Sources: Pinterest, Instagram, ProBlogger, AdHub

How to Boost Instagram Posts and Reels

Do you have a great Instagram post or Reel you want more people to see?

Are you looking to boost engagement on your existing posts?

If you answered yes to either of these questions, then it might be time to promote your posts and Reels. Promoting an Instagram post (a.k.a. Instagram boosting) is a great way to get your content in front of more people and rake in those precious likes, comments, and shares.

In this post, we’ll give you some tips on how to promote Instagram posts for maximum reach and impact. Plus, some top-secret industry tips you won’t get anywhere else.

Let’s get started!

What is Instagram promotion (a.k.a. Instagram boost)?

What types of Instagram posts can you boost?

Benefits of promoting an Instagram post

How to promote an Instagram post

How to promote an Instagram post or Reel in Hootsuite

Instagram post promotion cost

5 tips for Instagram post promotion

Bonus: Download a free checklist that reveals the exact steps a fitness influencer used to grow from 0 to 600,000+ followers on Instagram with no budget and no expensive gear.

What is Instagram promotion (a.k.a. Instagram boost)?

Instagram promotion is the act of paying to have your post seen by more people. When you promote or “boost” a post on Instagram, it will appear in the feeds of users who don’t follow you. Promoted posts can also appear in the Stories or the Explore tab.

Instagram boosts and promoted posts are a type of Instagram advertising. You’ll have the ability to target your audience by interest, location, and more.

The benefit of promoting your post is that you can reach a larger audience and get more engagement on your posts, which can lead to more followers.

Promoted Instagram posts also give you insights into how well your content is performing and who is seeing it, beyond just your regular audience.

What types of Instagram posts can you boost?

You can boost any type of Instagram post, including:

  • Photos
  • Videos
  • Carousels
  • Stories
  • Posts with product tags

Boosted posts will appear in the Stories or the Explore tab. If you have an Instagram Professional account and Promote is available, you’ll see Boost Post as an option when you upload a post to your Feed.

Bonus: You can also boost Instagram Reels with a few clicks using Hootsuite. Watch our video below where we go over how you can promote your Instagram Reels:

Benefits of promoting an Instagram post

Instagram is one of the most popular social media platforms with over 1 billion monthly active users. Of those users, 90% follow business accounts, which gives you an opportunity to reach a highly motivated audience.

On top of that, Instagram has high engagement rates with posts averaging around 1. 94%. By contrast, Facebook and Twitter have engagement rates of 0.07% and 0.18%.

Promoting your content on Instagram can help you reach a larger audience, get more engagement, and encourage people to take action on your posts.

There are a few reasons you might want to promote an Instagram post:

  • To increase brand awareness: If you’re trying to reach new people who are likely to be interested in your products or services, promoting a post is a great way to do that.
  • To get more engagement: Promoted posts can help you get more likes, comments, and shares, which can lead to organic reach and new followers.
  • To drive traffic to your website: If you’re promoting a post with a link to your website, you can track how many people are clicking through to your site. Promoted posts can also lead to more sales or sign-ups.
  • To reach your target audience effectively: Instagram’s targeting lets you choose who sees your promoted post. You can target by location, age, gender, interests, and more to better reach more interested customers.
  • To collect data on marketing strategies: Every boosted post will come with data on how well it performed. You can use these metrics to see what’s working and adjust your strategies accordingly.

How to promote an Instagram post

To promote or boost an Instagram post, you’ll need to have an active Instagram Professional account. Once you have that setup, follow these steps. (And also watch our video, below!)

1. Go to your Instagram Feed and click the post you want to boost. Then, click Boost. Keep in mind, Instagram recommends only boosting posts with images smaller than 8 MB to ensure the best quality.

2. Next, fill in details about your ad like the Goal, Audience, Budget, and Duration. The goal is the results you hope to see from this ad while the audience is who you want to reach with your message. The budget is how much you’re willing to spend on this ad per day. The duration is how long you want your ad to run.

3. Once you finish these steps, click Next. If you haven’t already connected your Instagram account to a Facebook Page, you’ll be prompted to do that now. Choose an existing account or click Skip to move on.

4. Complete your boosted post by clicking Boost post under Review.

From there, your ad will be submitted to Instagram for review and begin running once it’s approved.

Did you know you can also create Facebook and Instagram ad campaigns directly through Hootsuite? Follow this guide to learn more.

How to promote an Instagram post or Reel in Hootsuite

If you already use Hootsuite to manage your Instagram ads, you’re in luck! You can boost Instagram feed posts and Reels directly from your Hootsuite dashboard.

To boost an Instagram feed post, follow this step-by-step-process:

  1. Go to Advertise, and then select Instagram Boost.
  2. Select Find a post to Boost to see a list of your organic Instagram posts.
  3. Choose the post you want to promote, and select Boost next to it.
  4. In the Boost settings window, select the ad account you want Meta to charge for the boosted post, and select Save.
  5. Enter the rest of your Boost settings.
  6. Choose an objective (engagement, video views, or reach). Meta uses this information to show your post to people who are likely to take the action you want.
  7. Choose your audience. If you want to customize the audience, select Edit and specify which attributes to target, like location, gender, age, and interests.
  8. Choose whether you want Meta to promote your Instagram post on Facebook, or just Instagram.
  9. Set your budget and the length of your promotion.
  10. Select Boost on Instagram.
    1. Review the performance of your boosted Instagram posts in Hootsuite at any time by going to Advertise, and then selecting Instagram Boost.
    2. Select an ad account from the list to see all Instagram Boost campaigns associated with it. From here you can see reach, amount spent, and engagement for each campaign.

You can also boost Instagram posts and Reels from Streams:

  1. In an Instagram Stream, find the post or Reel you want to boost
  2. Click the Boost post button below the preview of your post or Reel
  3. Enter your boost settings

And that’s it!

Pro tip: You can also boost Instagram posts from Composer and Planner. See the detailed instructions in our Helpdesk article.

Start your free trial. You can cancel anytime.

Instagram post promotion cost

One of the biggest benefits of promoting Instagram posts is that the cost is completely up to you. Promoted posts can cost as little as $0.50 per click, and you can set a daily budget so you never spend more than you’re comfortable with.

If you’re unsure what kind of budget to use for your promoted post, try setting up a draft campaign in your Instagram Ads Manager. Here, you’ll be able to see Audience Definition and Estimated Daily Results metrics which will give you an idea of whether your budget settings will be sufficient to reach your target audience.

5 tips for Instagram post promotion

It’s easy to promote Instagram posts to get your content in front of more people. But as with any paid promotion, there are a few things to keep in mind to make sure you’re getting the most out of your investment.

Here are a few tips for promoting Instagram posts.

1. Use Instagram-specific features

While Instagram made its name as a photo-sharing app, today it’s so much more. Promote Instagram posts using all of the platform’s features, from Stories to Reels to Live.

The more you make use of Instagram’s features, the more chances you have of ranking in its algorithm. Not only will this help you reach more people, but it will also help you build a more engaged following.

Bonus: Download a free checklist that reveals the exact steps a fitness influencer used to grow from 0 to 600,000+ followers on Instagram with no budget and no expensive gear.

Get the free guide right now!

2. Think about your target audience

One of the benefits of boosting Instagram posts is that you already have a built-in audience. But that doesn’t mean you should take them for granted.

Before you promote your Instagram post, take a step back and think about who you’re trying to reach.

  • Who are you speaking to?
  • What are their interests?
  • What kind of content do they respond to?

If you don’t know the answer to these questions off the bat, try digging into your Instagram analytics to see how your previous posts were received. If you notice your Reels get the highest engagement or that carousel posts have the most shares, promote those first.

Your Hootsuite dashboard contains all the information you need to tailor your promoted Instagram posts to your audience. Use Hootsuite Analytics to figure out what time of day to promote your post and measure the impact after its live.

3. Promote carousel posts

Research has shown that carousel posts increase engagement rates on Instagram. Static carousel posts can boost engagement by as much as 5%! Add a video to that carousel, and you’re looking at an almost 17% increase.

To make the most of this format, try creating a carousel post of 8-10 images or video clips. On the first slide, ask your audience a question or include a powerful call to action. This will entice users to swipe left to see the rest of your content.

Don’t forget, you can create Instagram carousel ads quickly and easily with Hootsuite! Plus, track, optimize, and grow your Instagram presence directly from your dashboard.

4. Make use of product tags

If you’re set up for Instagram Shopping, you can promote Instagram posts that feature product tags. Doing this will drive people directly to a product details page on Instagram, where they can learn more about the product and make a purchase.

This is an especially effective way to promote your products if you’re running a promotion. Promote Instagram posts with product tags to let your audience know that there’s a special deal going on, and make it easy for them to take advantage of it.

Learn how to set up Instagram shopping here.

Source: Instagram

5. Promote your best posts

Image and video quality is an important part of the Instagram user experience—and it’s also a major ranking factor in the Instagram algorithm.

That means, if you want your content to be seen by more people, you need to make sure that the images and videos you’re promoting are high quality. Promoting your best posts will ensure that, not only is your audience seeing your best content but that it’s well-received.

When you’re looking for posts to promote, consider the following:

  • The quality of the image or video
  • The engagement (likes, comments, shares)
  • The overall reach (how many people saw it)

Pick your best posts and share them with the world!

Manage Instagram alongside your other social channels and save time using Hootsuite. From a single dashboard, you can schedule, publish, and boost posts, engage your audience, and measure performance. Try it free today.

Get Started

Want your content to be seen by more people? Boost Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn posts in one place with Hootsuite.

Free 30-Day Trial (risk-free!)

How to significantly increase the reach and engagement on Instagram

The introduction of the algorithmic feed has seriously hit the reach and engagement of many users on Instagram. Even big bloggers are complaining that posts are getting far fewer likes and comments than they used to.

Instagram has complex feed generation algorithms, and Facebook does not share how they work. Still, marketers figure out algorithms from their own experience or from a few tips from Facebook.

Post content regularly

If you start posting much less often, the coverage may drop: this is how the social network algorithm works. To increase your reach on Instagram, post new content regularly and don't go missing for a few days.

Communicate actively

At a minimum, courtesy will work: if you regularly comment on your friends' posts, they will respond to you in the same way. Ask questions, leave compliments, reply to Stories and send funny photos to your friends in direct.

Tell stories

Yes, first of all, everyone is interested in the image. However, you can keep the interest of the audience with the help of stories, the original style of presentation of materials and humor.

Posts with long texts show good results. The audience responds to such records. Concentrate not on describing the problem, but on solving it, then you will receive positive comments. This is a simple and working way to increase engagement on Instagram.

Use Call to action

Remember how you yourself behave in a social network: sometimes you would be happy to answer something under a friend's photo, but there is simply no reason to do so.

Ask questions to the audience, try to bring up interesting but easy-to-discuss topics: childhood memories, favorite food, plans for the summer.

Post Stories

The exact ranking factors for content on Instagram are unknown, but according to some assumptions based on the speeches of the developers, regular posting of Stories has a positive effect on your account.

...and use them to promote content

Unlike posts in your account, subscribers will probably see your Story. Bloggers are already using this: they announce a new post with an intriguing caption and an offer to go to the account.

Drop the gallery format

Users have noticed that posts consisting of several photos fail in the feed and collect 30-50% fewer reactions.

Determine the correct time to post

Instagram algorithms keep track of how many reactions a post received immediately after publication, and based on this determine whether to consider it interesting and whether to show it higher in the feed.

If you post a photo late at night, it will probably fail in the feed. To get the most out of it, focus not on your own impressions, but on statistics. This will help increase engagement on Instagram.

You can track activity by time of day using the service's internal statistics. And if you need to get data for a long time period or for a competitor's account, use Popsters. So you can analyze any account on Instagram.

What should be the engagement on Instagram?

A couple of years ago, an account was considered conditionally successful, where the number of likes was 10% of the number of subscribers. Now the situation has changed: small accounts have an average higher ER than large ones (more about ER calculation).

You also have the ability to analyze any account and view detailed Instagram analytics with Popsters.

The ratio of engagement on Instagram and the number of followers was studied by the influence.co service team. Profiles with less than 2000 followers on average have an ER of 10.7%, 2000-5000 have an ER of 6%. See chart for details:

Useful articles continued:

  • What you can learn from Russian brands on Instagram;
  • Ways to view statistics on Instagram;
  • How to make a beautiful and effective photo caption on Instagram;
  • What is Social Media Outreach - The Complete Guide.

Mutual PR on Instagram: what is it like

Mutual PR on Instagram is a free way to increase your reach and gain new followers. We tell you how to find a blog for the VP and what you should pay attention to. Here are some tips to improve the effectiveness of mutual PR.

  • What is VP on Instagram and why is it needed
  • How to prepare your Instagram page for mutual PR
  • How to find a blog for mutual PR on Instagram
  • What to look for when evaluating a blog for VP on Instagram
  • What is mutual PR on Instagram
  • VV tips on Instagram
  • Conclusion

What is a VP on Instagram and why is it needed

Mutual PR on Instagram is a method of promotion on a social network in which two accounts advertise each other to their audience for free. An important condition: the number of subscribers and coverage in both profiles should be approximately the same.

It is better to look for bloggers for mutual PR not among competitors, but in related topics. For example, a dietician-nutritionist can interest his audience in the account of a confectioner who prepares sweets without sugar and flour. In turn, the confectioner's subscribers will probably get high-quality expert content about healthy eating.

In some cases, it is acceptable to work with a representative of the same industry if you are not a direct competitor. For example, make-up artists from different cities can advertise each other to promote accounts, but for dancers, in principle, geolocation is not important. Two language learning blogs can promote each other if one of the authors is tutoring and the other is just posting educational content.

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How to prepare your Instagram page for mutual PR

Before offering collaborations to bloggers and commercial profiles, you need to gain a sufficient number of real subscribers - at least 500-1000 people. We will talk about how to do this in another article.

After advertising with a blogger, his audience will come to you. Try to make a good impression: even if you write a great guest post, people won't follow a half-empty profile with poor quality images and videos.

Fill in a description that explains who you are and what you can do to help. The photo on the avatar should be clear and fit the circle format. It is logical to put a photo of the author on a personal blog, and a logo, image of a product or service, possibly stylized, in a store, salon, workshop.

If you don't have enough space in the description, or if you need to include multiple links, create a multilink. In the example below, a multilink for an online publication account: visitors immediately see the most interesting materials and can go to the company's website or social network.

Multilink example

SendPulse has a handy constructor that makes it easy to create a website, online store or multilink in 15 minutes. Place buttons for messengers and social networks, add a multi-channel subscription form for email, SMS and chatbot messages. Accept payments through popular payment systems and take advantage of SEO optimization and analytics.

Multilink created in the SendPulse constructor

Work on the visual of your Instagram account so that the feed looks harmonious and conveys the mood, meanings and emotions that you put into your content.

Don't forget that the visual concept should match the theme. A blog about parenting in black and white looks weird, although it can be your thing. But still try to choose colors and shades that will definitely be appropriate.

Explore trends and get inspired by popular profiles on your and related topics to get great design ideas.

Pin important information in Highlights and choose covers in a consistent style that fit into the overall look of your account. Templates for Instagram can be found on free resources or create your own in Figma, Canva or Photoshop.

And, of course, the posts and stories themselves should be informative and interesting. If your page visitors expect to see quality expert content, don't disappoint them. Even if you're selling handicraft shoes, alternate selling posts with entertaining and educational content. For example, tell us about the choice of materials, the process of creating and caring for shoes, highlight the advantages of your product over the mass market. Share life hacks and interesting facts.

Recommended:

  • “How to write an engaging Instagram post”;
  • "Ideas for stories: a selection of 45 options";
  • "Possibilities and interesting features of Instagram Stories."

How to find a blog for mutual PR on Instagram

As already mentioned, it is better to look for a blog for cooperation in a related field. Think about what else your target audience is interested in. For example, a photographer can advise subscribers of cool stylists and makeup artists, advertise a clothing or technology store, and talk about a new restaurant where it’s cool to celebrate weddings and birthdays. In turn, it may also be of interest to the audience of these accounts.

Here are a few options for where to find a mutual PR blog on Instagram.

Through interactive

To increase the activity in the account, various bloggers conduct interactive activities: in the comments, anyone can write their proposal on the EP. Such publications can be found by hashtags: #mutualPR, #vp, #mutualPR, #guestpost, #interactive, #sfs, #sfs and so on.

In the comments, indicate the topic of your blog, coverage and who you are looking for for the VP on Instagram. Also look at the comments of other people - perhaps among them there is one who suits you.

By hashtags

In the previous paragraph, we indicated hashtags that can help you find a blog for mutual PR. Also try themed hashtags to find the right blogger and try to negotiate directly.

For example, if you sell irrigators and electric toothbrushes, you can search for #teeth whitening, #beautiful smile, #dental care, and similar hashtags to find a dentist who agrees to mutual PR. If you want to collaborate with a blogger from a particular city, write the appropriate hashtags, for example, #cosmetology.

Look for hashtag specialists

By keywords

In the Instagram search bar, enter keywords on the desired topic: for example, “SMM”, “target”, “promotion”, if you want to find the blog of the smm specialist. So you will see those who indicated these words when creating a profile.

By user subscriptions

Look at who your target audience is subscribed to. In this way, you can find both specific blogs and ideas for further research.

With Instagram recommendations

If you have found a suitable account for the VP, go to it and click on the plus icon in the mobile version or on the arrow if you are on a computer. Instagram algorithms will pick up similar profiles and show them to you.

Instagram algorithms can help you find suitable blogs.

Telegram chats

Telegram chats offer advertising and mutual PR. They can be found through a keyword search, for example, “mutual PR”, “vp”, “advertising”. In such chats, as a rule, anyone can post their proposal: a topic and a link to an account, coverage, and who is required for mutual PR.

Until recently, the entire Russian-speaking community exchanged information in the same channels, so now it is difficult to find chats with exclusively Ukrainian or, for example, Kazakh audience. But periodically it is worth checking by searching in Telegram - perhaps such will appear soon.

VAP services

There are a number of services where you can find bloggers for advertising or mutual PR on Instagram, for example, Epicstars and TrendHERO.

TrendHERO searches by keywords, demographics, subscribers and their engagement, blogger activity and other factors. You can match up to 500 accounts based on your followers' subscriptions, or get profiles similar to the one you specify. You can also analyze the quality of accounts in the service. If you wish, fill out the form with an offer and send it to all selected bloggers at once.

In Epicstars, you can search for bloggers for various social networks, including Instagram, based on the socio-demographic indicators of the audience, geography, engagement, user activity and other metrics, as well as taking into account approval and discussion ratings.

What to look for when evaluating a VP blog on Instagram

When choosing a PR blog, be sure to consider the following indicators.

Reach

When choosing a partner for the EaP, first of all, you need to focus on the coverage - they should roughly match yours. If the reach is lower, the result may be disappointing, and big bloggers will not contact micro-influencers.

Show your reach and ask another blogger to do the same. It is best to record a screencast - it is more difficult to fake it than a screenshot.

Engagement

Check how active the audience of the prospective partner is. Estimate the number of likes and comments under the posts and calculate the engagement rate. This can be done manually: divide the total number of likes and comments by the number of subscribers and convert to a percentage. Special services like TrendHERO and Epicdetected calculate the Engagement Rate automatically.

It is important that the blogger himself be active. Make sure that he is friendly with subscribers and does not ignore their questions.

Activity cheating

Be sure to check your account for cheating, for example, using TrendHERO. The service will reveal the number of likes, analyze the type of audience, show how and by what means it increases – sharp jumps most often indicate the purchase of subscribers.

It doesn't hurt to check your own account. To get rid of bots, use Followers - Unfollowers or similar applications.

What is mutual PR on Instagram

Let's analyze what types of mutual PR exist on Instagram.

Publication

In most cases, mutual PR takes place in this format. Each of the participants makes a post-recommendation about the other and publishes it in their account. For example, you can share with the audience some problem that the second blogger helped solve, or talk about valuable tips in his profile.

A relatively new format on Instagram - collaborations - allows you to publish joint posts that are displayed in both accounts at once. It is appropriate in cases where the content is suitable for both participants in the VP.

Dancers often collaborate

Joint live broadcast

Another popular format is collaborative streaming. Two bloggers meet online and talk about something useful that is of interest to subscribers of both. For example, a makeup artist and a hair stylist can discuss trendy hairstyles and makeup for a prom or wedding live.

It is necessary to announce the live broadcast in advance and make warm-ups. Tell about the event in stories and posts, explain why you should definitely visit it. Invite subscribers to ask questions in the comments or stories that need to be discussed during the stream. With a bonus, you will increase activity in your account and increase coverage.

Conduct live broadcasts for joint promotion

Guest post

In this case, each of the members of the VP Instagram writes a post for the partner's blog. Thus, you will most effectively reveal your expertise to potential subscribers.

Cool case studies with photos and videos, expert opinions, problem solving guides, helpful instructions and detailed checklists are usually a hit. Invite subscribers to ask questions to the author of the post - everyone needs to answer.

Alternatively, you can make a post in two parts - one from the guest, the other from the author of the blog.

Guest post is an effective way of VP Instagram

Repost

This is the simplest kind of mutual PR. You just need to repost one or more publications of a partner blogger, and he will repost your posts to himself.

Add comments - what is remarkable about the posts and why your audience should pay attention to this blogger. To repost to the feed of publications, you need to use additional tools, such as Repost for Instagram, Regrann and the like. You can also repost content in stories.

Repost - an easy way to VP on Instagram

The method is good because it does not require much effort, but the return will also be lower.

Stories

Each of the VP participants creates a series of stories in which he talks about the second blogger: the subject of the account, what problems he analyzes, what distinguishes him from others. Make a note about how you found this blog or met the author personally. Show that this is not just advertising, but your real opinion about the person you trust.

Each story must be tagged with a blogger account so that everyone can go and watch.

PR in stories

SFS

SFS stands for shout out for shout out, that is, mark for mark. Both bloggers mention each other in stories or posts, repost with a tag, or post joint photos tagging each other. You can agree on one of the options or periodically perform each of them.

SPS - one of the ways of mutual PR

Marathon

Not a bad way of PR for those who keep expert blogs. For example, you are a fitness trainer and want to run a comprehensive weight loss marathon with guaranteed results. You can take over the physical activity part of the program, and nutrition is best done under the guidance of an experienced nutritionist. Team up and run a marathon together to get the most out of it.

Mutual PR through the marathon on Instagram

You can create a separate account for the marathon. But in order to get more subscriptions, it is more logical to post part of the content on the blog of one expert, and some on the blog of another.

Tips for VP on Instagram

Finally, a few tips that will help you conduct VP more efficiently.

First of all, carefully select bloggers for mutual PR . Carefully study the candidate's page - does he publish any trash, is he rude to subscribers. If you recommend an account of dubious quality to your audience, your credibility will decrease.

It is useful to find out who the blogger has been promoting lately and whether your competitors were among them. With TrendHERO, you can see who and how often is mentioned in the account. It also doesn't hurt to read reviews online if you can find them.

Carefully study the activity and engagement in profile . If all posts have approximately the same number of likes, it is likely that the blogger removes less successful publications to improve statistics. Perhaps the author of the blog really has a very loyal audience. But if you have suspicions about a blogger, it is better to look for another.

Don't be fooled by the large number of subscribers. Even if there are many real people among them, they are often less involved. A small account with a loyal audience is better than a large one if the latter does not have a trusting relationship with followers.

Trust your partner blogger when it comes to interacting with their audience . You can consider yourself a copywriting guru who can reach anyone. But the author of the account has already studied his subscribers and knows better than to hook them.

Don't do FP on Instagram too often . Firstly, the social network itself can recognize this as suspicious activity and send the account to a shadowban. Secondly, even native advertising in large volume is tiring. People have subscribed to your profile to get more content from you instead of looking at a string of new faces.

It is advisable not to arrange mutual PR more than once a month. An exception may be mentions that look completely natural: for example, you periodically meet with a blogger friend at your favorite coffee shop or go to the same yoga studio.

Discuss all the nuances of the VP in advance . Decide at what time everyone should make a publication, say everything to the smallest detail to avoid misunderstandings.

Everything you tell your audience about each other must be true. If a PR partner promises followers that you can find recipes for raw cheesecakes without cashews, make it so that they immediately see what they are looking for. For example, you can prepare a guide with content categories or publish a few recent posts on a topic.

If it is stated that you are a certified specialist, attach a photo with documentary evidence to your story.

Use lead magnets and prizes to motivate users to follow your accounts. You can arrange a contest or giveaway with gifts that relate to your field of activity. Another option is to share useful information for a subscription, for example, in the form of an e-book that a chatbot gives out.

Marathon with prizes to motivate to subscribe

If you sell goods or provide services, offer bidders a good discount or even a free product. It is important to earn the loyalty of potential subscribers.

Suspend account promotion in other ways . If you are using targeted advertising or other promotional methods, temporarily opt out of them in order to objectively evaluate the effectiveness of mutual PR.

Try to select accounts with which you can consider long-term cooperation . Both you and your VP partners will grow your audience, so it makes sense not to stop at a single ad placement. At the same time, long-term subscribers will respond warmer to an already familiar face.

Conclusion

We figured out what VV is on Instagram and how to get the most out of it.

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