How to Promote Products Subtly on Instagram?

As an Instagram influencer, landing paid advertising gigs is a difficult and arduous task.

14:59 15 October 2020

You have to struggle for years - grow your Instagram followers, have a supportive community, be well-known in your network—to establish your worth. Once you’ve achieved all that, many brands can reach out to you for advertisements and reviews of their products. It can either be paid or in exchange for free access to the product. 

When stepping out in the advertising business, a lot of influencers face

 

backlash and criticism. You can lose the trust of your followers and your well-established credibility. You need to give an honest review despite the many shortcomings of the product. Your followers will support you as long as you maintain your subjectivity and honesty.

 

In such circumstance, it can be really hard for influencers to objectively advertise a product that can lead to a boost in the sale. As a solution, influencers employ a few different tactics to advertise a product subtly; and such tactics have a direct impact on subconscious of the consumers. A few of such techniques involve: 

 

1. Scarcity Technique: It’s a rather popular technique among advertisers, but it’s still as effective! A great way to promote a product is mentioning its scarcity—it’s a limited edition, only a few pieces are left. With such a difference in supply and mind, it creates a sense of urgency in the mind of the potential consumer that works out in your benefit and boost your sales.
   
   
2. Promo Codes: Another technique to subtly promote a product is through the introduction of promo codes. Its an affiliate marketing strategy that born out of collaboration with different companies and brands. It protects your credibility among your community and gives them the feeling of having an upper-hand. If there exists a special promo code that reduces the price for your followers, it gives them a sense of being important.
   
   
3. Giveaways & Competitions: Another way to promote your product is involving and prioritising your audience. You can introduce giveaways in this regard; either with the collaboration of other influencers or brands. It exposes you to their audience and vice versa. The rules of typical Instagram giveaways include liking and sharing the posts and mentioning your friends. You can also shape the giveaway like a competition. It kindles the competitive spirit in some people and gives them an adrenaline rush at winning. All in all, it increases the popularity of the product and creates a positive image around it.
   
   

In addition to the techniques, there are also various other techniques—you can add a personal story behind a brand and attach emotions to it, you can create aesthetic visual content, add teasers and reveal to increase suspense and anticipation, and much more. As important as such marketing strategies are, keeping track of statistics and analysing them is important too. You can check the response of your audience on various techniques and optimise them to work to their fullest potential.