6 ways to market to parents on Instagram
By Candace Huntly
It’s no secret that Instagram is a great way to market a product to parents. But that doesn’t mean that it will be easy. Marketing to parents on Instagram takes more than just setting up an Instagram profile and getting a few influencers to talk about your product. You need to get you know your audience niche and what they want to see on Instagram. Build your strategy around that.
Here are six things to consider to build the best strategy to market to parents on Instagram.
FOCUS ON BUILDING TRUST
There is a lot of noise on social media and parents have a lot of different options when it comes to following brands on Instagram. Unless you have absolutely no competitors, chances are there are other brands offering a similar product on Instagram. Your challenge is finding ways to stand out. You can do this by focusing on your brand personality and what makes you unique. Staying true to yourself and your brand values will allow people to connect with your brand on a more personal level.
Parents are busy chasing kids and sifting through so much information about how to parent those kids. They don’t have time to invest in a brand only to find out you aren’t who you say you are. Parents also tend to be loyal to brands once they trust them, so it’s worth your while to build that trust.
CONNECT WITH INFLUENCERS
If you are a new brand or you are just getting started on Instagram, you likely don’t have a large community of loyal followers who will share your story. Working with trusted influencers will help you to connect with your target audience by tapping into their vast network of followers. Just like you, they have worked hard to connect with their followers and build a community feel on Instagram.
The one thing that so many brands get wrong is they leave the responsibility solely on the influencer to make sales. There are many different goals you can set for your influencer marketing campaigns and sales are only one possibility. If you look at your influencer marketing campaigns as part of your content strategy you will see more success.
USE INSTAGRAM’S FEATURES WISELY
Parents are scrolling through Instagram on a daily basis in between naps, meals, snacks, and work-from-home meetings. You need to make sure you are using Instagram to its fullest capabilities. First, make sure you are using hashtags properly (or using them at all!). Check out our latest blog on finding the best hashtags to use for your business.
Instagram Stories are another feature you should be using. They might disappear from the home feed after 24 hours, but they appear at the top of the page (the most visible place on Instagram) during that time. After 24 hours, you can set up highlights on your profile of your best Instagram Stories to feature content you want people to be able to access permanently.
INTEGRATE YOUR STRATEGY WITH OTHER CHANNELS
Your Instagram strategy can’t exist in a vacuum. It should integrate with other marketing tactics. Here are a few ways you can take your Instagram strategy to the next level:
Don’t ignore your blog: Blogging is a great way to provide added value for your audience. Regularly updated content helps to provide opportunity to drive traffic to your website. A well-written blog also provides an unlimited source for your social media content.
Cross-promote your social media channels: You shouldn’t be sharing the exact same content across all platforms, so you can easily include calls to action to follow you on your other social channels.
Connect your online store to channels like Pinterest: Depending on your target audience, Pinterest can be just as important as Instagram.
PROVIDE VALUE THROUGH YOUR CONTENT
Think about value beyond what you have to offer to sell. You can provide value in so many different ways. Your content can be educational, focusing on video tutorials and how-to posts. You can also provide a sense of community where parents can connect with other parents on a variety of issues and situations. There is strength in numbers and new parents can often feel very lonely. Lastly, you can provide value through entertainment. There are a lot of funny and emotional moments that most parents can relate to. Keep them entertained by tapping into those moments as part of your content.
BUILD CONTESTING INTO YOUR STRATEGY
Contests and giveaways are often an afterthought for so many brands on Instagram. Think about contests as part of your overall content strategy. What content are you posting before and after? How will you hold the attention of the new followers you will gain?
Contests are also a great way to build up a library of user generated content. A well-thought out contest can turn your customers and followers into brand ambassadors!
Marketing to parents is a bit of an art and if you are a parent yourself, you have an advantage! Now it’s time to start making Instagram work for you as part of your overall marketing strategy.
If you’re not sure how to market to parents on Instagram, set up a free 20-minute consultation so you can ask your tough questions!