Are you aware of Instagram Marketing and Email Marketing to grow a strong following of customers who really relate to your brand? According to Neil Patel, Over 800 million monthly users are active on Instagram. More than 60 million photos are posted each day, and 1.6 billion daily “likes” are given.

But if you think these numbers are just numbers then its a big noooooo….

Then how you can use these large number of people, well here in this article I am going to tell you about everything you should know about the email marketing and Instagram.

Today, email marketing has been overtaken by four things: SEO, marketing technology, content marketing, and social media marketing.

If you are thinking Instagram or email marketing become a lone ranger to drive a sale for your business then you are wrong. Instead, marketers must combine social media with email marketing to win the battle.

I’m going to tell it to you straight: Email Marketing and Instagram Marketing.

Instagram Marketing

Instagram first popped onto the scene back in 2010, it was just like any other social platform: filled with selfies, pets, and pictures of food.

Let’s Understand

What is Instagram?

A Walk for the History

Instagram was founded by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger. The two Stanford graduates were pivoting from their original location check-in app, Burbn. In Starting, founders decided to focus on photo sharing instead and developed the name Instagram as a portmanteau of “instant camera” and “telegram.” The first version of Instagram launches to the world, and 25,000 people sign up the first day.

After two years of a gap, on February 10, 2012, they launch Instagram v2.1. In this version, they have just improved header and menu buttons and also added new filters.

Over the past two and a half years, Instagram has become a community where you can capture and share the world’s moments simply and beautifully. Instagram and bring you another way to share your stories.

On April 09, 2012 Instagram has agreed to be acquired by Facebook for $1 billion. In the same year, Instagram switched from its chronological old-to-new newsfeed to an algorithm-based feed.

Instagram users can also use the feature to go live on their Instagram stories, meaning they can post a video that their followers can see at the moment.

How to use Instagram Marketing as a tool?

Identifying Your Goals and Objectives

Instagram is the most engaged social platform, beating the likes of even socially-geared Facebook.

According to research, around 2-7% of followers interact with each post, putting it way ahead of Twitter, which sees less than 0.2% of followers engaging with each post. Users also spend longer on Instagram than any other social media platform, giving you more chance to connect and build relationships with them.

Instagram makes it exceptionally easy to reach new audiences.

When you include a hashtag on your post, it creates a link that leads to every post that has been shared with that hashtag. This is why it’s essential to take advantage of hashtags.

If you’re having trouble deciding on goals for your account, it can help to consider the following questions:

• Why are you using Instagram?
• How can Instagram assist you in achieving your overall marketing goals?
• What is the time or budget can you commit to Instagram?
• How does Instagram offer you something different to other platforms?

Get your followers involved

If you’re a time-strapped social media marketer (aren’t we all?), you understand the struggle of keeping the content on all of your various social media channels fresh, relevant, and compelling.

The simplest way to do this is to create a designated hashtag and encourage your followers to add their photos and stories.

If you’re still having trouble, another option is to research your competitors. Go to your competitors’ profiles and click on their “Followers.” You’ll be able to see the whole list of users who follow them.

You can also use this strategy to see what hashtags your competitors are using. Instagram hashtags are still one of the best ways of reaching audiences on Instagram, especially now that you can follow Instagram hashtags like you would other users.

Include at least one calls-to-action

It might be obvious to you that you want your Instagram followers to sign up to your email list, but is it obvious to them?

Actively asking people to take the next step and using calls-to-action to encourage them to click, buy, or sign-up might seem like an incredibly simple tactic, but it’s also incredibly effective.

Connect with Instagram Influencers

As mentioned earlier, Instagram has created an entirely new breed of celebrity: the Instagram influencer. These celebrities can be famous food bloggers, contestants from reality TV shows, or even users who have simply built a following by providing relevant and intriguing content that tells their story, and anyone in between.

Becoming an influencer is no easy feat. It’s much more than just posting pictures and hoping for the best. These social media users have unlocked the secret to Instagram and continued to work hard to keep up with their profiles.

Build content themes

The next step to building your Instagram strategy is to create content themes. Simply put, these themes will be topic clusters that guide the content you create. You can brainstorm these based on the objectives you previously determined and the audience you identified.

Use Stories as a Power Booster

Instagram stories, in their simplest form, are Instagram posts that disappear 24 hours after being shared. Unlike a typical Instagram post, Instagram stories don’t appear on your profile grid. Instead, they appear at the top of a users’ feed when they open the app.

While posting stories may sound like just another social media tactic to take up your time. Instagram rolled out the most interactive feature yet – the ability for your audience to ask you a question that you can then respond to on your Instagram story. If your primary objective is to engage with your audience, then the possibilities are endless.

How to Integrate Email Marketing with Instagram Marketing

Optimize your Instagram profile for acquiring email sign-ups

The first step to optimizing your Instagram-email marketing flow is to add a bulletproof sign-up form to your Instagram bio in the space allowed for a URL. These forms can help collect quality leads for your brand.

Make sure your forms have slots to capture information that can help you learn more about your Instagram leads. An in-depth lead study can help you understand key information like behavior and buying patterns.

You also need to provide incentives to entice potential customers to fill in your form. Make sure your incentives are something your customers would want as well as something you are willing to offer. Things like free downloads, promo codes, discounts, contests, and product samples work well.

Nurture your leads with relevant content

Once you capture leads you must understand their preferences. Research on the Instagram what What are the interests and from where the? What are they expecting out of your brand?

Build email lists to drive sales

Once the sign-ups increase, you can start sending offers and deals right to your customers’ inboxes. Since they’ve subscribed to your emails via Instagram, they will likely be expecting interesting and interactive content. So, be sure to give them value, keep them engaged, and, most importantly, understand what’s relevant to them.

Make your profit-boosting flow easy and simple. Sending newsletters and offer emails to your subscribers can lead to conversions.

Newsletters are particularly important in this process, especially if your leads have come through Instagram. Most leads you capture will be from your Instagram posts, but often your posts can be missed or get buried under other posts in the feed. Thus, sending a regular newsletter with your offers and recent posts can really spice up your relationship with your leads.