In today’s world, setting up a company is not as easy as putting some money into an idea. It involves a ton of processes and back-breaking work. It is also no longer a matter of …
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Content marketing is not just the most effective forms of online promotion that you can take part in, it’s the foundation of pretty much any other form of digital marketing. It remains stable over time, …
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If you still think Facebook and Twitter are the be-all and end-all of social media marketing tools, think again.
Say “Hi” to your business’s new best friend: business Pinterest accounts.
Eighty percent of Pinterest pins are repins, which means this is a platform that values sharable content. The average lifespan of a pin is three months which is much longer than Facebook which averages five to six hours, and Twitter which averages at 15-20 minutes..
Since Facebook purchased Instagram, Pinterest has become the hot ticket item for business marketing.
That’s for good reason. If an increase of 30% in Pinterest accounts over the last year isn’t an indication that your business should be joining over 250 million monthly active users, I don’t know what would be.
Aside from feeding obsessions with exotic destiny vacations and gourmet food, the real strength of Pinterest is the integrated features of its business accounts. Join the businesses with Pinterest for Business accounts, and you’ll get added marketing features to promote your brand on one of the fastest growing and insanely popular social media platforms.
If you don’t have an account already, or if your account is personal, you’re going to need to sign up for an official Pinterest for Business account to tap into the full potential of Pinterest’s marketing potency. With your business account, you get:
The terms of service are a little bit different for a business, so be sure to read through them. The difference comes from the fact that you are using the account commercially.
You’ve still got the same Acceptable Use Policy and Pin Etiquette Policy, but there are a few guidelines for commercial use:
Pinterest doesn’t just give you the platform, they create educational marketing materials to teach you how to maximize its effectiveness for marketing your business.
They offer:
You can also check out the Pinterest Blog to stay updated on when these materials will be out and get some basic tips.
Pinterest Analytics is one of the newest and most awesome features of a Pinterest for Business account. When you verify your account, you get access to important tracking information. You’ll be able to see which strategies and content work so you can constantly improve your marketing.
There are five different types of Rich Pins, all loaded with more information than your average pin for serious sales power. They include real-time price and stock updates, direct links to your site, and interactive map locations. There will be more details on Rich Pin strategy later.
Pinterest has promised some new tools exclusively to business accounts in the future. As of right now, that includes buyable pins for e-commerce, Promoted Pins, the Pin It Button, and the Widget Builder. As new tools are being added, you can stay updated by joining the Pinterest newsletter.
You get to use your business name instead of the typical First + Last Name formula. This means your Pinterest account won’t have an automatic link to your Facebook account, so you should add a Facebook tab to your Pinterest home page.
Your pins can get engagement for your business if you execute them right.
Pinterest has been described by the Social Media Examiner as a visual search engine. Just like when you are writing your blog articles or posting on your business Instagram account, you want your content to be searchable.
If it’s not searchable, then it won’t be found or seen.
Therefore, before you grab that mouse to start pinning, you have to understand the Pinterest culture, AKA what your followers search for, and learn how to create popular pins.
If you know what the most popular Pinterest categories are, then you’ll have a better idea of which boards will work for your business.
Most of Pinterest users, 71.1 percent to be exact, are female. Males users only account for 14.9 percent of the audience. Pinterest posts are categorized, so if your business doesn’t have anything to do with DIY crafts, then don’t have a board dedicated to the art of glue-gunning. Pick the most relevant popular ones!
One quick perusal of Pinterest and it’s clear how visual a site it is. With such an emphasis on visual impact, your images are the cornerstone of any pin you share.
What makes the top Pinterest pins so popular?
All pins have the same width, with an unlimited length. A good size to shoot for is 736×1102 pixels for a typical pin. It’s not too big, and not too small. Canva’s Pinterest template is this size and makes sizing your images a lot easier.
Sometimes it’s good to take advantage of the longer length allotment. The term “instructographic” was coined by Pinterest and it is another name for infographics. These are popular because of their DIY, how-to nature, which we know is popular on Pinterest.
It’s one thing to create a fantastic pin, but it’s a whole other game to get it seen and shared. No one is going to find your pin if you don’t optimize for engagement.
The best times to pin depend on your target audience’s habits, so you should always test for your specific optimal posting times. On average, the best times to post are 2 PM – 4 PM EST and 8 PM – 1 AM EST; and, research by HubSpot says Saturday morning is THE best time to post.
Add a hovering Pin It button to any image on any of your sites or your phone app through Pinterest directly. If you use WordPress, there’s a Pinterest Pin It Hover button plugin.
These simple-to-integrate buttons direct your site visitors to either check out your Pinterest account or actually pin your site’s content on their own accounts. If you don’t have these buttons, there is little chance your site will bring ANY interaction with your Pinterest account.
You don’t want to have to start over with followers when you create a new social media account. It’s super easy to connect your Instagram, Youtube and Etsy accounts to your Pinterest for Business account.
This will help you get more followers by tapping into the ones you already have on other platforms. It also will help spread your content across platforms so more eyeballs see it. It will add relevant buttons to your Pinterest account.
To connect your social media accounts:
Take the difficulty out of getting people to find your pins by sending the pins straight to them! Your newsletter is the perfect place to throw in a couple of your latest pins and direct subscribers to your Pinterest account. Try this:
“Our most popular pins from this week. Head on over to our Pinterest for even more!”
You have to use some SEO strategy to get your pins discovered by the eyes of your target audience. Don’t worry, it doesn’t take much to optimize your pins in regard to Pinterest searches. Just follow these steps:
As with any SEO you use, make sure not to sound too “keywordy.” Don’t go too crazy and add three keywords to your title and descriptions like a robot would. Optimize and still sound human by simply adding a strong keyword within the right context.
In the same way you use a call-to-action in your ad copy, a call-to-pin will significantly increase the engagement of your pins. In your pin’s description, add a little something like:
“Repin to your own inspiration board.”
Now that you know what kinds of pins are popular and how to get your pins seen, the next step in Pinterest marketing is to use your pins to build relationships with followers and influencers that will grow your reach.
As we all know, more reach = more success.
Knowing what users look for when following other accounts will allow you to give them what they want and, in turn, grow your following. A little mind-reading never hurt anyone.
The University of Minnesota’s Pinterest study found that the three main factors that Pinterest users take into consideration in the should-I-follow-or-not decision-making process are:
To be on top of those factors and build relationships to grow your reach, you need to:
To get more Pinterest followers, you should post between 5-30 new pins every day. Make sure you are not just repinning the content of others, but also pinning your own unique pins with your own content.
Warning! Avoid a major Pinterest faux pas: don’t pin all 30 new pins within 5 minutes. Spread your pinning throughout the day.
Tip! You can schedule pins with a business account.
Just like you respond to tweets, Facebook posts, and Instagram comments, engage with your followers directly by answering their questions and responding to their comments. Go the extra mile and address them directly, using their names to really take your customer service to the next level.
Engagement is a two-way street. You need to reach out to your followers’ boards as well. Leave comments on their pins so they’ll feel some love. Their followers will see your brand, too!
The best way to see a successful Pinterest strategy in action is to follow and engage with popular boards. You can learn a lot from the big dogs. See what kinds of pins they pin, what kinds of boards they have, and how much engaging they do. Your goal is to get on that level!
If you are commenting on these popular pins, your brand name will be seen by the huge number of people who follow those boards.
Tip! It’s a good idea to follow popular boards because they are relevant to your industry and business as opposed to “just because” they are the most popular. If your business has literally nothing to do with wedding fashion, you can do yourself a favor and follow the boards that have a following closer to yours. Those are the people you want to connect with anyway.
Another cool board feature for marketing is the Open Board, which allows users to contribute their own pins. All you have to do is give them pinning access by adding their name or email. You, as the creator, of course, have full veto power, and your contributors aren’t able to change the board name or description.
This feature is great for marketing because you get your community involved in a personal way.
Invite your followers and get big authority brownie points if you can get industry experts and leaders to contribute to your boards!
Women’s Health Magazine created an open board called “Vision 21” where their followers pin their goals and visions. It promotes fan interaction and the brand at the same time! Talk about win-win.
Reach a wider audience and gain more followers by reaching out to influencers in your field.
Start by following their boards, repinning their pins, and leaving engaging comments on their pins. Once you’ve dropped your name that way, you can initiate a bigger collaboration.
Ask if they will post on a board of yours, or offer to contribute to one of their boards. Offer ideas for their boards and show that you are familiar with their content when initiating collaboration, and you’ll be closer to that “yes” you’re looking for.
Mejuri set themselves up for some great collaboration with their board dedicated to their community with the #thefinecrew. The Fine Crew board showcases their products worn by their community. Small influencers and brand partners are featured in Mejuri’s Instagram and Pinterest making it a great opportunity for cross-promotion.
You know that when you create a new account with Instagram or another social media platform, they ask if you want to “Find Friends” using your phone’s contacts or Facebook friends.
Well, to save time and get a solid starting foundation of followers, Pinterest allows you to search for existing accounts.
My friends, I would like to introduce you to Rich Pins. Trust me, they have earned their name.You’ll see the big brands like Target and Wal-Mart taking advantage of Rich Pins,and, you should, too!
I’m not guaranteeing that you will be rolling in a pile of Benjamins with just a couple of Rich Pins, but there is a reason they are called “Rich Pins.” They are full of valuable, traffic-generating information; and, right now, they are the best direct strategy for growing your sales in the Pinterest sphere.
Rich Pins come in 3 different flavors: recipe, article, and product, all fully loaded with their own set of valuable features that will boost your engagement and direct traffic to your site.
When you apply for Rich Pins, you’ll get real-time information automatically updated on your pins and more ways to direct people to your site because your site will be linked to your Rich Pins. No hassle, no fuss. Just leads.
This example, from Urban Outfitters, shows the features of a “product” pin at work. You’ve got an official link to the store’s site, as well as updated live price and stock availability information.
“Article” pins are also valuable in that they can promote your blog posts and direct Pinterest users to your blog. Article pins come with a larger title with your brand’s logo, a description, and a call-to-action at the bottom with a direct link to your original site.
For any of your Rich Pins to have even the potential to direct traffic to your site, you need to get them validated on the Pinterest site itself. (If you aren’t the most tech-savvy, you’ll probably want some help from your web developer…it involves meta tags.)Here’s how to do it:
Once your Rich Pins are approved by Pinterest, they will be out there for the entire Pinterest world to see, to repin, and to be directed to your site.
I’m not telling you that you should think about using Rich Pins because it would help your business. I’m telling you that you NEED Rich Pins if you want to keep up in the crazy social media marketing world.
The Fortune 500 companies are all using Rich Pins. Follow the big boys, and you’ll have the potential for some serious growth.
The rule for all social media is to mix up your content. You will lose the interest of your followers and lose your chances of gaining any new ones if your content is static and not diverse enough.
Please, whatever you do, don’t just post product photos. Do you remember that study done by The University of Minnesota? Well, the diversity of pins was the 8th most important factor when users were deciding whether to follow an account. Throw in some other boards that give your followers added value to avoid coming off as overly salesy.
The official Benefit Cosmetics Pinterest does a great job of mixing up their content without stepping outside their niche. They have boards dedicated to their latest and hottest products, like “POREfessional Fam” and “Hoola Fam,” but also have a board just for “Behind-the-scenes at Benefit.”
All of these boards relate to their cosmetic products; but, by giving “A PINK me-up for you!,” they aren’t just saying “buy our makeup,” but “see how our makeup can help you.”
Not all of your pins are going to make sense as Rich Pins. (Product photos, events, and articles benefit from the added information provided with Rich Pins, but not all of your content will.)
It’s all about context.
When you are pinning images to your “brand inspiration” board, you don’t need Rich Pins. Relevant quotes to your business definitely wouldn’t call for a Rich Pin.
There is one piece of information that comes with Rich Pins that your other “simpler” pins need, too: a direct link to your site.
Even your inspirational pins need a link to your site because if one quote you posted last Tuesday changed one of your followers’ lives, they likely will want to check out your brand. If you have a link to take them to your site, they don’t have to go searching for information, and you increase the chances of them finding your site.
Simply include the link in your pin description, and you’re good to go.
Over time, you’ll be able to see which boards are more popular and get more engagement. Put your best foot forward and move these boards to the top of your page so when users come to your page, they will see your best material.
Another way to keep your content fresh is to piggyback off of holidays, seasons, and events. Like the Benefit Cosmetics’ss “Holiday Glam: LEAF x Benefit,” the more specific boards add more relevancy and catch attention because they make those products even more specific and create a sense of urgency. Take advantage of that!
Grab all those article Rich Pins you have, and organize them into their very own board! You’ll want to put this board at the top of your page so your followers will see it first thing. This will help draw traffic to your site and make it easier for users to find your content since it’s all in one easy-to-find-board. They will thank you.
One of the newest features on Pinterest for Business is the super helpful Pinterest Analytics. This feature is only for business accounts and allows you to see:
Why are these statistics important to you?
Because they will help your account and your reach grow.
The information gained from your Pinterest Analytics shows you which strategies work and which ones don’t. Knowing this, you will be able to build your future Pinterest strategy based on hard facts. The strategies that work are proven because you proved them.
To get access to your Pinterest Analytics, you’re going to need to verify your website first.
There is another reason verifying your account is a good idea. It will help you gain authority and build trust. When Pinterest users see that little globe icon with a checkmark next to your website, they know you’re legit.
You can verify your website in the settings section by adding a meta tag. This will give you a verification badge, and you’ll be official. If you choose not to verify your site, you can still include a link to your site on your page, but you won’t be able to use Pinterest Analytics.
Don’t miss out on the crucial information Pinterest Analytics will give you. Verify your account!
I just threw a lot of information at you, I know. Don’t feel overwhelmed. The aspects of this guide are all totally necessary and can be broken down easily.
Just to quickly recap…
Your Pinterest for Business account comes with a ton of marketing power that’s completely different from a personal account. To tap into that power, you need to:
If you follow the strategies here and learn from the engagement you get, your Pinterest for Business account will continue to develop for the better, attract more of your target audience, and direct people to your site.
Happy Pinning!
A business account on Pinterest is an account that gives users special access to features like analytics, pin scheduling, and business resources.
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Social media marketing is crucial to building brand awareness and steady relationships with customers. Pinterest is one channel that can help you do the same thing for your business. As a visual platform, it stands out because it acts like a visual search engine tailored to user interests. With the right strategy, Pinterest can improve your SEO, your customer outreach and help your business gain new fans.
How will you use a Pinterest business account to amplify your marketing?
If you still think Facebook and Twitter are the be-all and end-all of social media marketing tools, think again. Say “Hi” to your business’s new best friend: business Pinterest accounts. Eighty percent of Pinterest pins are repins, which means this is a platform that values sharable content. The average lifespan of a pin is three … Continue reading How to Use a Business Pinterest Account For Marketing and Brand Growth
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Facebook engagement is easier and more valuable than you ever imagined.
I found this out the hard way.
At one point, I was spending hundreds of thousands of dollars a month on Facebook Ads.
Sure, I was getting some huge successes. But I was also wasting a ton of money.
For example, I once spent $400,000 on Facebook fan page likes.
I still feel dumb for that one.
The engagement just wasn’t there. I had a large number of fans, but very little actual engagement.
I had no idea that hidden tools within Facebook’s apps, extensions, and insights (and a few external tools) could have made my Facebook ad spend 80 times more effective.
Facebook marketing is like an iceberg. Most people see the top part — Facebook ads. They spend their entire time optimizing that little bit of potential.
The real power is underneath. It’s hidden.
That’s why I created this list.
I want you to know exactly what those hidden Facebook marketing tools are and how you can increase your engagement by 154 percent, as I did.
Before we get started, for the first few hidden tools you need Mobile Monkey to utilize all of the tactics (it’s free).
Some of the hidden tools I’ll share are within Facebook; you just don’t know about them.
This one is hiding in plain sight: Facebook Messenger marketing.
For some reason, not very many marketers are taking advantage of Messenger marketing, even though it’s the hottest opportunity in digital marketing today.
What does this mean for you? It means that you can gain first mover’s advantage.
Using Facebook Messenger for marketing is as simple as it sounds… you send messages to customers on Facebook Messenger.
What makes this channel different from other marketing methods like email marketing is the results.
Where else can you get engagement results like that?
I don’t know of any, and I’ve done quite a bit of online marketing.
The best way to get started with Facebook Messenger marketing is with MobileMonkey.
MobileMonkey is a powerful chatbot builder that I use personally. Chatbots are essential for scoring sky-high open rates, CTRs, and conversion rates.
And best of all, it’s free.
A comment guard is a Facebook Messenger marketing feature that allows you to add new contacts to your contact list when they comment on your Facebook post.
Here’s how it works:
The mobile screenshot below displays exactly what happens.
Say you post something on your Facebook page that has high engagement potential, such as a meme, a quiz, a contest, a question, whatever. All the comments aren’t just comments anymore; they’re warm leads.
You’ll need to use MobileMonkey in order to pull this off, but it’s really easy.
A Click-to-Messenger Ad is a normal Facebook ad with a twist. Instead of sending people to a landing page, you send them to a Facebook Messenger bot sequence.
It looks like this:
Once the person starts the Facebook Messenger sequence, they are a lead. Then, the chatbot takes over to bring them through the conversion funnel.
For example, you could have your chatbot ask users questions, and send them offers based on their responses.
It can be hard to manually respond to thousands of messages. Instead, you can direct those chat from your Messenger Ads directly to a MobileMonkey chatbot, which can ask qualifying questions and engage users at scale.
Check out this article, for step by step instructions on leveraging this strategy.
Chat blasting is a powerful method for getting your message in front of your entire Facebook Messenger list in minutes.
I’ve managed chat blasting campaigns that scored a 96.9 percent open rates in just sixty minutes.
With MobileMonkey, you can schedule chat blasts, bulk send, develop interactive Messenger sequences, create special offers, and anything else that helps your marketing.
To start, just click “Chat Blaster” in the app.
Chat Blaster also has the ability to segment audiences. Many of the campaigns I manage involve thousands of contacts, so I want to narrow down my contacts to just the right targets.
Creating segments is simple using MobileMonkey, which allows you to “Create Audience” with a click.
Your audience can perform self-segmentation when the chat blast sends.
One tactic that I’ve used to build my Facebook audience is by personally inviting people who engage with my Facebook page to become a page fan.
From your business Facebook page (desktop), find a post that has engagement.
Using this tool, you view the people who engaged with your post and can invite people to like the page.
The reason why this is valuable is that you’re able to target engaged fans. If you have a lot of Facebook fans, but not a lot of engagement, Facebook’s algorithm will punish you.
Instead, identify those people who will be engaged and manually invite them.
Another strategy is inviting your friends to like your business page, and also sending the invite in Messenger.
This allows you to personalize the message and give them two touches instead of just one.
Click on the “Community” button on your Facebook page, then click “Invite Friends to Like Your Page.”
Here, you can invite friends and create a personalized message. Be sure to check the box at the bottom to send the invite using Messenger.
I’m a huge fan of ethical espionage.
In the world of SEO, it’s not that hard.
Just plug in a URL to something like RankSignals.
Boom, you have intel.
A lot of this data is really helpful.
With so many brands now spending millions of dollars on Facebook ads, how do you get a handle on that kind of information?
You will not be able to get your competitor’s targeting info and ad spend but you can find out where, how often, and what the competition is advertising.
Ever wish you could see exactly what ads your competitors are running? Actually, you can — right in Facebook.
Let’s say I’m the competition and you want to spy on me. First, find my Facebook page and tap the “i” button. (It might be on the right or under the “Details” tab, depending on the device you’re using.)
On this page, you can find out if the page has ever changed names, when it was created, and where the page managers are located. This can be handy intel.
Tap on “Go to Ad Library.”
If the page is (or has) run ads, you’ll be able to see them here. This means you can see the ads they are running now and see what they have run in the past.
Granted, you don’t have access to insights about how well ads performed, but you can see if they tend to use the same ad copy or types of images and use those strategies for your own page.
I like to have a solid understanding of who my competition is and what they’re up to.
How do I know who my competition is? Thankfully, Facebook’s algorithm has figured it out for me.
To use this feature, go to your Facebook Page Insights. From Insights, scroll down until you see “Pages to Watch.”
By default, Facebook shows you five potential competitors, but you can view more by clicking “See More Suggested Pages.”
When you add a competitor to your watched pages, you’ll be able to keep up with their activity, growth rates, total likes, and the frequency of their posts.
This information will help you understand how you’re doing and what you might need to change.
It is important to figure out where your followers are coming from so you can know how to get more.
One helpful way to get this information is again through Page Insights.
Facebook shows you follow quantities according to five locations:
If a particular source shows large follow rates, try to reverse engineer what happened, then do it again.
One way that I use metrics to improve my targeting is to view my Facebook page insights, particularly the demographic information.
When viewing this information, I’m looking for strong positives — indications that my audience favors a particular demographic.
For example, this page demonstrates a strong positive for men and women between the ages of 25-44.
If you’re 21, there’s only a small chance you’re going to be interested in my page. By contrast, if you’re a 30-year old male, there is a far stronger likelihood that you will have an interest in this page.
This information helps me know how, where, and upon whom to focus my marketing and advertising efforts.
Building an email list is tough these days. No matter how appealing your content upgrade, asking for someone’s email address is tantamount to asking for their social security number.
With Facebook Messenger marketing, that’s no longer the case.
You can create a Facebook Messenger chatbot that asks for an individual’s email address. Then, all they do is click a button to pre-fill their address.
Facebook does all the work for you.
Here’s what the bot looks like in MobileMonkey.
As long as you set the input type as email, Facebook will know to pull the user’s email address as they’ve entered it when creating a Facebook account. No typos, nothing.
This is another case of using two different channels to get information and engage your users. When you use a chatbot, it makes the process automatic and easy.
If there’s one thing harder to get from a customer than their email address, it’s their phone number.
Again, powered by chatbots, it’s a cinch. Using input type “phone” in MobileMonkey means that you’re guaranteed to get the user’s primary phone number as they provided when and if they stored their phone number in Facebook.
It’s understandable that people are hesitant to enter their phone number on an unfamiliar platform
Understandably, people are hesitant to enter their phone number on an unfamiliar platform — a contact form on your website, for instance.
It’s quite a different comfort level when they are asked for a phone number in a familiar messaging app, and Facebook automatically adds the number.
All that your contact has to do is tap their phone number.
This one seems obvious, but again it’s surprising how few websites are putting the power of a website chat widget to work.
Check this out. If you go to MobileMonkey’s website, there is a chat widget on nearly every page.
If you’ve logged into Facebook Messenger on that browser, all you have to do is click and you’re introduced to a Messenger sequence with MobileMonkey.
This sequence powered by a chatbot brings you further down the funnel.
One of the unique and powerful features of this funnel is that it is self-guided. You feel as if you’re in control — making choices and selecting options.
Regardless of your choices, however, you are making deeper connections with the brand and the marketing funnel.
The good thing about Facebook Ads Manager is that you have access to a ton of information.
The bad thing about Facebook Ads Manager is that you also have access to a ton of information.
Take conversions, for example.
If you’re tracking them, good for you. But which conversions are you tracking? Here are the options:
I call this one “hidden” because true conversions are essentially in Ad Manager underneath a lot of other noise.
You have to narrow down your conversion tracking to just the conversions that you need to know about.
For one of my businesses, I only focus on five types of conversions.
Everything else is useless.
I’ve written about this before; when you get clarity on what to track, you’ll do a lot better at making real progress with your Facebook advertising.
If you’ve been in internet marketing for any amount of time, you know how potent a good drip campaign can be.
Imagine increasing this potency by 10x.
That’s exactly what a Facebook Messenger drip campaign can do. Again, the power is in the chatbot builder.
MobileMonkey’s drip campaign feature just takes a click to get started.
Unlike an email drip campaign, which can take days or weeks to complete, a Facebook Messenger drip campaign can be completed in a matter of minutes or hours.
Plus, when you use a chatbot, the entire sequence can be interactive. You can create choices and engage the user on a far deeper level.
You can use Facebook to run ads, create and promote your own Facebook business page, join groups related to your industry and post your promotional content there.
As of 2021, there are about 2.85 billion Facebook users, meaning you have access to an unbelievably huge audience.
Facebook offers content curation, ad builders and campaign building, A/B testing, campaign measurement and reporting, hashtag targeting, and more.
If you want to market on Facebook, your first step should be to perform competitor research. Look into how your competition uses it to market their products or services, and figure out what they are doing well, and go from there.
There’s way more to Facebook than meets the eye.
There’s a reason why so many of the hidden marketing tools above focus on Facebook Messenger.
Facebook Messenger marketing has fundamentally changed the game, and it’s done so in two areas where marketing rises or falls:
It’s not going to last forever. Like the banner ads of decades past, Messenger marketing will lose its luster as people become accustomed to it.
By engaging Messenger marketing now, you’ll have a far stronger advantage.
What Messenger marketing tactics does your brand or business currently use?
If you know me, you know I love Instagram. Why? Because it is one of the only social networks left that is truly “personable” and the engagement is still decent because of it.
But just like any social network, it requires a lot of time and work.
Here’s the thing though, by automating your Instagram, you can deliver great content, and also spend less time doing it.
Over the last three of four months, I have been using a few of the features in MobileMonkey (you can do it with a free account) to automate my Instagram marketing and the results have been great.
Here’s what it produced:
This adds up to 132 percent more engagement–without doing any extra work past the initial setup.
What’s crazy is a lot of marketers don’t know how to automate their Instagram marketing beyond scheduling a few posts… which isn’t really much automation at all.
Now I did schedule posts, which does help, and I will talk about that in a bit, but it was the story automation mentions which really drove good results (I will go over that as well).
So let’s dive into how I automated my Instagram marketing and how you can too…
Imagine you’re getting story mentions. Wouldn’t it be awesome if you could respond to them in masses without the manual labor of replying one by one?
And best of all, by responding to them (automatically and personalized), you will build a connection and it will cause you to get more story mentions which will grow your account faster.
Plus it helps you increase your followers and nurture relationships.
You can also use automated story mentions to:
Personally, I use automated story mentions to respond to everyone who mentions me in their @story.
If you mention me in a story here is the response you will get from me.
I line up responses ready to go out whenever I get a mention. Although I’m not there manually answering everyone, the responses are much appreciated.
People love the personal touch, and the ability to send automatic responses helps me build customer loyalty and further establish myself on Instagram.
Here’s how you set up story mentions in MobileMonkey:
A lot of people don’t realize it’s possible to schedule posts for Instagram in advance.
That’s because the post scheduler feature was banned for years. Now it’s hidden inside Instagram Creator Studio.
As Instagram puts it: “The Creator Account on Instagram gives you a set of tools that makes it easier to control your online presence, understand your growth and manage your messages.”
I love it because batch-scheduling posts for Instagram saves me so much time.
Creator Studio comes with:
Creator Studio even has a calendar view so you can see all the content published and scheduled to publish, which is awesome for social media teams.
Once you use the Creator Studio Instagram post scheduler, you’ll never go back to the old way of posting one post at a time.
As you build your Instagram audience, you’re likely to see more direct messages. On one hand, that’s great because people want to talk to you. On the other hand, DMs can easily take up hours of your time, but with automation, you can cut down that time drastically.
Most people I know tend to just ignore the DMs but you shouldn’t do that. Seventy-five percent of consumers want to talk to brands via private messaging. Hence you ideally should try and respond when you can.
Through the automated direct messaging feature you can:
Automated Direct Messaging (ADM) can be used for various purposes such as customer service, account management, and marketing campaigns.
The key with automated DMs is it needs to be triggered based on keywords. You don’t want to send out generic DMs to everyone or else it will look like spam and won’t be effective. This absolutely changes the way you add calls to action to Instagram post comments.
For example, I would make a post on Instagram and tell people to leave a comment with a specific phrase or word if they wanted a free ebook. This helped me get more engagement, build a bigger audience and best of all generate leads for my ad agency.
Here’s how you do it:
You’ve heard of email drip campaigns, but did you know you can do it on Instagram, too?
You can use the Instagram drip campaign feature that takes the standard automated DM response to the next level.
Rather than just sending one DM, you can send several links to your blog or other channels over the course of several days.
For example, you can:
Want to see it in action? DM “growth” to me on Instagram.
Here are a few other ways to use Instagram drip campaigns:
Here’s how you set up the Instagram drip campaign:
Do you know what the best way to go viral on Instagram is?
It’s actually similar for most social networks…
It’s not about likes or shares, it’s actually comments.
Anyone can like or share a post, but it takes a while for someone to leave a thoughtful comment and social networks know that. Hence the more comments you get the more views your content typically gets.
And the best way to encourage more comments is to reply to your comments.
Best of all you can do this in an automated way that is “personalized”.
Here’s how to set it up.
Want to see this in action? Comment “growth” on this post to see it in action.
Instagram Guides are a relatively new Instagram feature designed to help users easily find recommendations, tips, and other content from their favorite Instagram accounts.
Originally only for specific types of accounts, it was later expanded to allow all users to use it from anywhere.
There are three main types of Guides: posts, places, and products, and they’re also shareable in stories, helping to give your content further reach.
While it’s not automation in the same sense as scheduling posts out in advance, Instagram Guides are advantageous to marketers for many reasons.
First, the feature is ideal for those with a limited marketing budget. Guides is a free tool, and Instagram helps you design your brand pages and then guides you through content promotion.
Secondly, the curation style of Guides makes it an excellent format to automatically share informational content in an engaging way. You can then use the content to educate new customers and followers about what you do and how your products apply to their lifestyles.
Third, it’s a bit of a set it and forget it feature. You can create tons of great content, and it’s just sitting there waiting for users to engage.
For example, here’s an Instagram Guide I posted at the beginning of last year:
It lives on my NP Digital Instagram page and is easily discoverable by users.
Finally, Instagram Guides give you flexibility regarding the types of formats. For instance, you can write articles and turn them into slideshows with images and videos from tutorials.
Or, you could create videos that walk viewers through task completion.
Cross promoting on social media gets your content out in front of a wider audience, attracts more leads, increases brand awareness, and gets you more mileage from your content.
Instagram and TikTok integrate well, and you can connect your accounts with just a few steps.
To connect them, just:
Now all you need to do is start sharing some content. Here are a couple of ideas to get you started.
Begin your story on TikTok and finish it up on Instagram or vice versa. What better way to get in front of two audiences?
This works well with decorating projects, makeovers, recipes, product testing. Anything where you have a starting place and a result.
A further benefit is you’re not sharing the same content, so you avoid duplication.
You could also repost your Instagram Reels on TikTok, but remember to stick to both platforms’ guidelines and remove watermarks from your TikTok content.
Whichever approach you take, keep your two audiences in mind, and ensure your content is right for both platforms.
Costs vary. There are some great tools out there that are free. Equally, some paid subscriptions offer a free trial period that you can make the most. Some apps are more expensive but offer an extensive range of features that are definitely worth the investment. Don’t just consider the cost – think of the return value, as well as the time an automation tool could free up for other vital areas of your work and how much this could be worth to your business.
MobileMonkey’s InstaChamp tool has two main packages: VIP Creator & Influencer and the platinum package, including Story Mentions, Q&A keywords, and DM autoresponder tools.
Instagram tools allow you to automate many of the crucial elements of your account. This includes scheduling posts, responding to story mentions, liking and commenting on posts, and sending automatic responses to Instagram DMs.
Using Instagram automation is essential for many business owners who need to be more “hands-on” with their Instagram accounts by responding to other users. Still, they just don’t have the time or resources to do this themselves.
Automating Instagram functions is a great way to save time and be more efficient. For example, you can set up your account to publish at certain times of the day. You can also automate your account, so when someone likes or comments on one of your posts, it will automatically follow them back.
There are several ways to find out what Instagram automation tools are best for you. One way is to check the comments on the company’s website and see if they generate any helpful feedback.
Another way is to check the customer reviews on their website – see what others have said about their experience with these tools, good or bad.
Finally, if the company’s offering a free trial, that’s an excellent way to test out the functions and see how a specific Instagram automation tool meets your needs.
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Instagram automation is going to make your life easier.
There are only so many hours in the day, and while being on social media sites like Instagram is essential to brand growth, it’s time-consuming and can take you away from other tasks like outreach and developing content.
With Instagram automation, you can manage the back-end and front-end tasks associated with running a social media account without employing a dedicated manager or virtual assistant to handle these tasks for you.
Additionally, by integrating Instagram automation into your routine, you’re more productive and you can build stronger community links while developing customer loyalty.
Do you use Instagram tools in your business? How do they benefit you?
Customer engagement has quickly become a widespread use for AI in the retail industry and beyond. With more customers expecting a hyper-personalized, real-time experience, the demand for AI technology in marketing has never been greater.
It makes sense, then, that so many marketing AI tools and software are targeting the conversion funnel. From lead generation to lead nurturing to conversion, funnel AI tools help marketers improve their strategy and streamline their processes.
Even small businesses need to adopt AI technology to keep up. The good news is there are many tools and software platforms available, so you are likely to find one that meets your needs.
Here is a deeper look at nine of the top AI tools for successful marketing funnels.
Systeme offers an all-in-one sales funnel software that enables you to build and manage your funnel like a boss. From creating a landing page to teaching an online course to managing your affiliates, Systeme provides an array of tools.
The free plan only allows up to 1,000 contacts, so you’ll need to upgrade if you need more. Systeme also offers three paid plans, including:
If you need more than 15,000 contacts, custom plans start at $147 per month.
If you are just starting out, you will be happy to know that all plans include:
For a truly all-in-one platform, Systeme stands out as both robust and affordable.
Marketers looking to consolidate their suite of marketing tools and processes and rely on one tool.
According to data from Sales Insights Lab, 50 percent of prospects aren’t a good fit for what you sell. Instead of using your salespeople to weed out the duds, Exceed’s personalization and lead qualification automation can do it for you in less time.
Use Exceed.ai in the lead nurturing and conversion stages of your funnel. With Exceed’s top-notch AI technology, engage your leads in human-like conversation. The platform can even schedule meetings for your reps and bring you that much closer to the sale.
You’ll need to request a quote from Exceed.ai to learn more about the package that fits your budget.
Businesses and organizations that need the greatest help in their sales funnel’s lead nurturing and conversion stages.
All too often, lukewarm leads are left to cool down. While you may have trouble allocating resources to less-than-enthusiastic leads, Saleswhale has your back.
Saleswhale is a SaaS product that uses AI to identify, engage, and convert neglected leads. Using automated follow-ups, referral handling, and interest qualification, Saleswhale’s AI assistants offer a best-in-class experience for you and your leads.
With the free plan, you can begin to nurture and convert up to 200 leads per month. For additional leads and active email campaigns, paid plans include:
Companies strong in lead generation, but who need assistance in lead nurturing and conversion.
Similar to Systeme, Appier is an all-in-one sales tool with a full suite of AI services. This SaaS can help with prospecting to transaction with its robust data science platform.
Where Appier excels is in cross-advertising solutions. Using AI, Appier can effectively segment your audience to drive maximum lead conversions. You no longer need to create campaign after campaign hoping to hit the mark, as Appier will do the dirty work for you.
Appier’s pricing is not available on their website, so you’ll need to reach out to learn more about their tools and their potential fit with your business.
Companies looking for a comprehensive suite of AI-powered marketing tools.
If you are looking for an end-to-end sales funnel solution, then consider ClickFunnels.
Utilizing AI sales models and neural sales data, ClickFunnels aims to improve the marketing experience for businesses of all sizes.
ClickFunnels enables you to easily create funnels, build websites, and manage affiliates. This means you can collect, nurture, and convert leads using just one platform. With more than 100,000 entrepreneurs using or having used the platform, it has undoubtedly made a name for itself in the industry.
While there are no free plans available, there are plans for almost any business’ budget. These include:
All plans come with chat support and video training.
Companies who want an all-in-one solution that offers hand-holding and easy-to-use templates.
Previously known as BrightFunnel, Data Studio by Terminus is a funnel reporting tool that connects marketing platforms to deliver beautiful, insightful analytics.
When your sales funnel is fully implemented, it is crucial to evaluate it regularly. While many marketing tools and services provide their own data and reports, they may not be as robust as you need. With Data Studio, you can create custom reports for marketers, executives, and stakeholders.
Pricing is not readily available on the website, but you can schedule a demo to learn more about the platform.
Marketing teams who need a cohesive analytics and insights platform to bring their sales funnel data to life.
According to HubSpot, the top priority for marketers is generating leads. However, as any marketer can tell you, not all leads are created equal. You can spend your time manually poring over the data to determine your best path forward, or you can let Akkio take the reins.
Akkio is an AI marketing platform with tools to support every stage of the funnel. Where it excels, however, is in its augmented lead scoring and churn reduction technology. Using data-driven insights, Akkio aims to narrow in on the leads with the greatest chance of a conversion.
For as low as $50 per month, billed annually, you can give Akkio a try with very little risk. The features included in all plans are:
Companies looking for a scalable, data-driven solution.
If you are hurting for qualified leads, you should know you’re not alone. According to HubSpot, 61 percent of marketers consider lead generation to be their top challenge. The good news is there are marketing AI tools, like Bant.io, that can help.
Bant.io offers an impressive array of lead generation tools and services. These run the gamut, including:
Unlike many one-size-fits-all options, Bant.io plans are customizable to meet your business’s needs. Just add the modules you need and leave the rest. The modules include:
With Bant.io’s automated services at your fingertips, you will soon find yourself buried in qualified leads who are ready to take the next step.
Marketers who favor a piecemeal approach to lead generation.
It’s not enough to have a marketing funnel in place. You must evaluate every step of your funnel on a regular basis. While most funnel tools will have their own reporting, they may not always present you with the big picture. That’s where a reporting tool like Funnel.io comes in.
With 500+ data connections available, Funnel.io makes it easy to build reports that touch on all areas of your business.
Can’t find the data source you need? The team at Funnel.io will work with you to get it added to their platform.
There are a variety of plans available, including:
All plans are billed annually.
Marketers or agencies looking for a comprehensive and collaborative reporting platform.
Do you have questions about funnel AI tools? Take a look at the most frequently asked questions below.
With increased expectations from both B2C and B2B customers, there will continue to be a need for AI tools in marketing and sales. This isn’t just within the retail industry, but healthcare, food services, technology, and beyond.
First, you want to find a tool specializing in the sales funnel stage your business most needs help with (lead generation, lead nurturing, conversion, or all stages). Then consider how easily the tools available fit into your daily workflow so you can choose the right one for your business.
Whether you are just getting started or you would like to consolidate your marketing efforts, an all-in-one solution can be a smart option. The benefit is having all of your data in one place which can improve your ability to use it.
With the explosive growth of marketing funnel tools utilizing AI technology, there are tools available for just about any budget. From small businesses to large corporations and marketing firms, just about any business can benefit from AI-driven sales funnel tools.
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Marketing automation and AI are here to stay. This is why companies big and small need to make the shift to using marketing AI tools sooner rather than later.
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to marketing automation. Luckily for marketers, there are plenty of tools, platforms, and software to choose from.
Whether you choose an all-in-one solution or a platform that specializes in just one step of the funnel will depend on your needs. Whatever you choose, just know you are taking an important step in future-proofing your digital marketing processes.
Which of the above marketing funnel AI tools would be a beneficial addition to your business?