If you own a Business-To-Consumer (B2C: selling directly to end consumers) company, it is absolutely essential that you have an active Instagram page. Beyond the fact that all your competitors are doing the same, having an Instagram Page can help you:
Reach new, especially younger, audiences
Increase Brand Awareness (click here for an explanation)
Engage with customers directly
But if you’re inexperienced with social media, it’s tough for you to know if you’re actually doing this whole Instagram thing right.
In this blog post, I walk you through a structured process to evaluate and improve your Instagram game!
There are two main criteria for evaluation:
Aesthetics: Does your page visually appeal to Instagram’s audience?
Marketing: Does your page accomplish its marketing objectives?
Aesthetics
Instagram started off as a place where people shared photos made more aesthetic by means of filters. Even now, the most successful Instagram pages are the ones that are the most visually appealing.
Even as an expert in this field, I sometimes find it tough to say whether an aesthetic is working or not, but I’ve found that in general, the simpler the model, the more accurate the results. And so I’ve created a simple scoring system to evaluate your page through this perspective.
We will use the following 4 dimensions to get a score out of 100:
1. Posts (25 points)
Instagram is slowly moving towards a short-video (Reels) focus, but it is still primarily based on photos. Making engaging and beautiful posts is thus still very important. Good posts have fulfil the following:
Show don’t tell: Use as less text as possible, visuals work best
Images are high-quality, no grainy or blurry photos
Carousels are preferred to normal posts
An example of a great post, check it out here
Based on your subjective judgement of the three points above, give a score out of 25. For more accurate results, ask other people and take the average.
2. Stories (25 points)
When you open Instagram, the first thing you see is Stories. These are highly clickable pieces of content, but they are also very quick, which makes this is fruitful yet tough to master. Good stories fulfil the following:
Very few elements: Only one line of text (a header) and as few images as possible
Layout: All elements should be at eye level (centre-screen)
Interactivity: Do you use polls, questions, etc.?
Make use of story highlights and group them logically (Reviews, Product Demos, etc.)
A well-laid out story, check it out here
Based on your subjective judgement of the four points above, give a score out of 25. For more accurate results, ask other people and take the average.
3. Reels (30 points)
Instagram, along with other platforms like YouTube (and even spotify!), are moving towards a short-video focus. Reels are highly valued by the IG algorithm, but similar to stories, they are fleeting and difficult to master. Good reels fulfil the following:
Humor/Light-hearted themes: Keep reels as light-hearted and simple as possible. See our Reels for example. Make sure you’re following trends.
Sound: Are you using trending sounds? Find out how you can by clicking here
Video Quality: Use good cameras and lighting
Use as few shots (angles) as possible
Feature people as central characters
Vihangi makes the best reels, check this one out here
Based on your subjective judgement of the five points above, give a score out of 30. For more accurate results, ask other people and take the average. Reels are the best route to IG growth, which is why we assign the most weight to them.
4. Consistency (20 points)
Having a consistent theme to your feed and your posts is important from not just an aesthetic but also a branding perspective. Ensure you have consistent branding across all content, because audiences will reward you for it.
We ensure consistency of brand colours and theme on our IG Page
Based on your subjective judgement of your feed, give a score out of 20. For more accurate results, ask other people and take the average.
For example, let’s evaluate our Instagram page:
Posts: 20 points, because all our posts are carousels and feature high-quality images, but we tend to use a lot of text.
Stories: 20 points, our stories are well-aligned and have as few elements as possible, but we should make better use of highlights.
Reels: 30 points, we do Reels better than everyone, all thanks to our creative genius Vihangi.
Consistency: 20 points, we are experts at branding and we ensure the LIIT brand is on every piece of content we have.
LIIT’s score: 90/100
Hey, this little exercise help us too! Now we know what to work on!
Generally, you should conduct a monthly audit, and your score should always be above 80.
Marketing
The main issue the advertising industry faces is to balance the entertainment value and the marketing value of the ads we see. Some ads have high entertainment value, but do not accomplish their marketing objectives, rendering them effectively pointless.
These Benetton Ads were Controversial and Sparked Conversation, but what did they even mean with respect to the clothing company?
You can make the most beautiful Instagram page, but if it does not accomplish your marketing objectives, it’s a waste of time and money.
Keep in mind the following two things when evaluating this criteria:
1. You have a clear marketing objective
Here are some examples of marketing objectives you can use:
Brand Awareness: “I want to grow my followers to increase awareness of my products among Gen Z audiences”
Brand Engagement: “I want to increase the number of likes, comments and shares I get among my existing followers, to encourage customers to engage with my brand”
Growing Sales: “I want to convert my followers into buyers in order to grow my sales”
You should have an objective for each content and/or campaign you launch on Instagram. Take note of how each objective statement above has a measurable KPI (followers, likes, etc.). Ensure you’re monitoring these to measure the success of your campaigns.
2. You use effective tools to accomplish your marketing objectives
Here are some effective tools you should be using:
Calls-To-Action (CTAs): “Shop Now!”, “Visit our Website Today”, “Link in Bio”
Brand Logo: Ensure you logo is on every piece of content
Discount Codes: “Use code LIIT50 to get 50% off”
Each of our posts have a clear CTA such as this one
Again, each tool can be connected to a KPI. eg. Website traffic, Sales, usage of discount codes, etc.
There is no scoring system here because the KPIs you choose speak for themselves, and should be monitored regularly. Here’s a blog post I wrote on how to evaluate KPIs properly.
You can look at your reel/post insights to measure success through relevant KPIs
Phew! What a long article!
But this is what it takes to correctly audit your Instagram page :)
This is also why most business owners tend not to pay attention to their social media, but what they don’t realise is that this is the next biggest revenue stream. As I’ve said in earlier posts, freelancers may provide you aesthetic content, but only agencies can lend the marketing expertise required to succeed.
Unfortunately, most agencies are too expensive for business owners, almost to the point that the ROI is not justified.
We, at LIIT, exist to address this exact gap in the market, and we offer FREE consultation calls to understand how we can best serve your business needs.
Want professional help in growing your Social Media within a reasonable budget?
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