Instagram is currently one of the most popular social media platforms, with more than 2 billion monthly active users. In Kenya, Instagram had 3.2 million users as of December 2024. 49.5% of those were women while young people aged between 18 and 24 years made up the largest share of Instagram’s audience in the country. The reality is that IG is an absolute goldmine for all businesses. The growth in the number of brands and businesses that have developed a presence on Instagram has skyrocketed. However, Instagram marketing is not just about posting photos with filters and borders. You need a perfectly curated and visually captivating feed to stand out.
Whether you are looking to grow your business or brand, Instagram business and creator tools give you access to audience insights and other unique features to build a following and drive sales. Instagram will continue to be a favorite among creators and marketers for reaching potential customers globally.
This comprehensive guide defines Instagram marketing and offers practical tips for creating a successful strategy for 2025 and beyond.
What is Instagram Marketing?
Instagram marketing is the practice of using the platform to promote your brand or business. Marketing your brand or business on Instagram requires you to deliver captivating content and creatively engage with your target audience for success. The goal of Instagram marketing is to gain more followers, drive web traffic, generate brand awareness or increase sales.
Here’s how to get more Instagram followers in 2025.
Unlike some social media channels, Instagram is a visual platform with various interactive tools and features for creators, brands and businesses to market to global audiences. Some of the notable Instagram marketing features include Instagram Ads, sponsored posts and partnerships, and organic marketing via Instagram posts, Reels and Stories.
Why use Instagram for Marketing?
Instagram is the third most visited website worldwide and, more than half of its audience falls within the age gap of 18 to 34 years old. That makes it an ideal platform for marketing to millennial and Gen Z consumers. The platform’s adoption among Gen Alpha is also growing, with many teenagers reporting an increase in the use of IG.
The latest Instagram statistics reveal that over 70% of shoppers use Instagram to find purchase inspiration. It is the most used social platform for consumers to follow and research brands. Many consumers look to Instagram to discover new products and make informed purchasing decisions.
Thanks to the even distribution of age groups and genders on Instagram, you are likely to find at least once segment of your target audience on the platform. Then, you can use the channel’s unique features and tools to convert that audience into loyal customers.
About 59% of active Instagram users visit the platform daily, spending at least 7 hours weekly browsing content and interacting with brand and friends. Besides, an estimated 130 million Instagram users engage with shopping content on the platform every month. That makes it a great place to introduce new products, promote existing ones and grow your brand.
With the right strategy, Instagram marketing can help you to build trust and loyalty with potential customers. Users are not flocking to the platform to Ads. Instead, they are looking to get into meaningful relationships with brands and often seek funny, informative and creative content.
According to social media marketers, Instagram delivers a high ROI for businesses compared to other social media platforms. That is proof of Instagram marketing’s ability to drive results.
Tips for Creating an Instagram Marketing Strategy
Successful Instagram marketing requires that you have a well-defined strategy, outlining the steps you will undertake in your efforts. The following tips can help you to create an effective Instagram marketing strategy;
Define your Audience
While every marketing and branding strategy requires you to define your audience, you must go deeper to hone in on the specific segment of that audience using Instagram. Find out what makes that segment of your audience unique and the types of content that they engage with.
For instance, 50.3% of Gen Z social media users turn to Instagram to discover products. Thus, content types such as exclusive product launches, product demos, unboxings and customer reviews would be ideal for this audience segment.
Consider the key elements that make your audience unique such as age, gender, location, interests, motivations, pain points and even income. You can also take a look at your competitors’ followers to define your audience.
Set your Instagram Marketing Goals
It is important to understand exactly why you want to have a presence on Instagram? Do you want to generate sales leads? Build a community? Or increase brand awareness? Setting clear goals is an essential step to justify your time, efforts and investments. The goals enable you to focus your efforts towards a specific purpose.
There is no single goal that you must commit to. It will all depend on your overall business goals and what you are hopping to achieve. Besides, increased brand awareness can help you to gain more Instagram followers, build a strong and loyal community and sell more products and services.
Your Instagram marketing strategy can have multiple goals. You can post product images while also sharing user-generated content (UGC) to show real people using your products. It is more about why you are sharing content and, less about the type of posts that you are publishing.
Beauty brands often showcase their products in use. They also keep going back and forth with their followers to build a community of followers. A good case study is Kenyan beauty brand, Rich Beauty. The brand often shares posts of customers using its products but, it also uses images and other content types for IG marketing.
Optimize your IG Profile
Unlike most social media platforms, optimizing your profile for Instagram marketing is pretty straightforward. The following are the small details that you should focus on to fine-tune your profile;
Convert to a business profile
An Instagram business profile gives you access to features such as analytics, paid collaborations, CTA buttons and so much more. So, switch your account to a business profile for permissions to highlight additional information about your business in the bio. That includes details like your industry, location and contacts.
Decide on brand creatives
Most brands overlook this but, it is integral to your Instagram marketing strategy. Create a unique hashtag that either blends with your brand name or its variations. The purpose is to encourage your followers to tag your brand. Hashtags serve as a call-to-action to encourage customer stories and photos. You can also include the hashtags in your bio to encourage usage.
In the following example, Kenya Tourism Board uses their Instagram profile name, Magical Kenya as the hashtag, which it encourages uses to share in all their posts and conversations. Today, the profile has attracted over 148,000 followers.
Create a compelling bio
Instagram bio allows you 150 characters to make the first impression to your customers and potential followers. It is an opportunity to highlight what your brand is all about and encourage followers to act. The bio is the only place where you can channel traffic to your website or promotions.
Your IG bio should include the following;
- A clear and concise description of your business
- Your business hashtags
- A call-to-action
- A trackable link in bio to monitor the behavior of your IG traffic
Upload a high quality photo
Instagram allows you to upload a profile photo of 110×110 pixels only. Go for a minimalist, sleek and high resolution photo that looks legitimate for increased brand recognition. Consider using your logo if it fits in.
Here’s a good profile for Instagram marketing. It is the Instagram account for telecommunications giant, Safaricom PLC. The brand has curated a minimalist but, impactful profile that takes into account the elements highlighted above.
Create an Instagram Content Strategy
An Instagram content strategy answers the big questions such as why you are producing the content, who it is meant for and its goals.
Depending on the defined goals for your Instagram marketing as outlined in the above steps, develop a bank of content ideas and campaigns to achieve them. Then, map them out in a content calendar, accounting for any major events, shopping seasons and holidays relevant to your business. Factor in flexibility to enable you react to Instagram trends, memes and world events as they occur.
Some of the specific types of content that crush it on Instagram include;
- Eye-popping imagery with stylish snapshots
- People-centric photos that showcase real people who support your business like, UGC
- Videos and Reels
- Behind-the-scenes posts
- Memes
- Instagram Stories
Leverage User-Generated Content
Whether you are looking to raise brand awareness, build a community or increase sales with your Instagram marketing efforts, UGC remains a powerful tool. User generated content serves as social proof, giving real customer testimonials about your products. It goes beyond just telling people about how great your products are.
Encourage your loyal followers on IG to post about your brand and incentivize such actions with discounts, merchandise or other perks. Collect user-generated content and use it on your website.
Testimonials, photos and videos of real customers using your products can strengthen your product pages by giving new customers confidence to purchase. You can also re-post user-generated content to your IG account via Instagram Stories.
Safaricom’s ‘‘Sambaza Furaha’’ campaign that features various influencers is an ideal highlight of how brands showcase their products and services in a relatable way.
Practice Social listening
Effective Instagram marketing in Kenya also requires that you understand the topics that people are talking about on the platform and other social channels.
Find out the trending topics in your industry, the type of content that brands post on specific topics and the hashtags they are using. All these are important elements to inform your strategy. Social listening for Instagram enables you to gain insights into the topics that matter to your brand or business.
Listening helps you to keep tabs on your industry and identify trends that will inspire your content. The insights will foster a deep understanding of what your audience wants and the things that really matter to them. It can also help with identifying social media customer service opportunities.
Run Instagram Contests and Giveaways
Running Instagram contests and giveaways is one of the most effective marketing strategies. The campaigns incentivize engagement and sharing, giving your brand more reach and brand awareness at much lower costs. There are various types of Instagram marketing contests and giveaways that you can leverage including;
- Like and follow for entry
- User-generated content
- Collaboration giveaway
The Samsung #GalaxyUnpacked #WatchAndWin competition is a classic example of an Instagram contest. The competition incentivizes participants with the brand’s products and gift hampers, driving engagement and brand reach for Samsung Kenya.
Work with Influencers
A recent study found out that 87% of the participants bought products based on an influencer recommendation. Influencer marketing not only increase your brand’s reach on IG but, also send trust signals to users. Find influencers who fit into your brand naturally for genuine connections and relationships.
Here’s an example of influencer marketing on Instagram. The brand, Ora Quick partnered with influencer; Kendi Christine to promote its HIV self-test kits.
Try Instagram Ads
While there are various ways for reaching audiences through organic Instagram marketing, paid ads can deliver more reach and better targeting. Instagram ads appear in users’ timelines just like user-generated content. The best IG ads understand the audience and blend seamlessly with other types or content on the platform. However, straightforward ads can also be effective, especially if there is a high value for a potential customer.
The Bottom Line
Marketing on Instagram is an incredible strategy for brands and businesses looking to reach millennial and Gen Z consumers. It gives brands the opportunity to tell their stories, bring potential customers behind the scenes and launch products and promotions in real time. And, you do not need millions of followers to unlock the potential of marketing on IG. A solid strategy that puts your audience first, consistency and analytics can drive results for your brand.
At Superior Social Boost, we help businesses and brands to grow their reach and presence on social media. We provide tailor-made packages to help you get more Instagram followers, Instagram likes, Instagram views, Instagram comments and Instagram shares.