Instagram may have been a place you came to have fun, post pictures of your gourmet lunch or cute shots of your pet back in the day, but nowadays, it has transformed into a platform that can be successfully used to make or promote your brand or business. Since it is constantly evolving and adapting to the market, we’ve decided to present you with specific strategies in order to maximize the impact of your brand.
1. Set up a business account
Joining Instagram is a pretty straightforward process, you enter your email and fill out a couple of fields and you’re all set. However, you may choose between a personal or business account. Latter is obviously the right choice for business because it allows you to track your stats and analytics, connect your account with a Facebook page, have paid advertisement and so on. Having it separate from your personal account is important because it establishes your brand presence. This will allow you to tailor your account accordingly.
2. Fill and regularly update your bio
Your bio is one of the first things people notice when they enter your profile. Knowing that it is important that it contains viable information concerning your business, such as: website address, contact info and brand-related hashtags.
3. Establish your visual identity
Since Instagram is a visual form of media, it is important to associate your brand and business with a certain ‘look’. Make sure you decide on particular color palettes and style in order to make your page look consistent and ultimately make people associate that ‘look’ with your brand.
4. Check out the competition
If you are new to this, a great way to gain a sense of what you should do is to research business related to yours. It is perfectly fine to seek for inspiration and ideas that way. Since they already have an established online presence, you may be able to catch on what is actually a good strategy, what brings engagement and allow you to possibly avoid some mistakes along the way.
5. Content pillars
Now that you have your plan set up, it is time to create something called content pillar, a thematic foundation for your upcoming content. Pillars represent specific topics for your brand and target audience.
6. Content planning
Now that your pillar is set, it’s time to strategically plan your content placement. Do it at least a week upfront, schedule you posts at exact times, and make it uniform so your audience knows when to expect it.
7. Hashtags – how to use them
Hashtags are one of the most important tools Instagram has to offer you. They connect the content in a way so that the users who are not following you are able to find your post. Research have been conducted in order to understand how many should you use in order to optimize the performance and general consensus is that between 7 and 30 per post offers the best results, depending on how many followers you have. Nowadays, IG’s analytics allow you to see exactly how many people have interacted with your post through your hashtags so you can see for yourself which ones are the most effective. Since captions, where hashtags are usually placed, should be clean and easy to read, you may consider posting the main hashtag in the caption and the rest of them in the comment section.
8. Use paid ads
Even if you follow all the previously mentioned strategies, it can be difficult for a small business to grow at the desired pace. A paid advertisement can help you out big time. Instagram ads allow you to target the desired audience, exponentially increasing your exposure to potential clientele. Checking out affcoupons might help you understand which ads are the best and you could save some money by doing it.
9. Use Stories
Stories could be of huge help to you. The way they operate distinguishes it from a regular post. Since they appear at the top of Newsfeed, they sort of stand out. The great thing about them is their dynamic and the way that it allows you to post several times a day without overcrowding your or your followers’ feeds.
10. Use video
Instagram has a long transcendent still form. Videos are an integral part of the platforms media and there is more than one way to post them. You can opt-out either for a 15-second Stories video, 1-minute long regular post or even the newest IGTV feature where you can post videos up to 10 minutes long.
11. Engage with other users’ content
The best way to generate activity is for you to engage with other people. This goes a long way since it shows you are genuinely interested. Interacting with different accounts, liking, and commenting on their posts will help other people notice you and when they do, they will engage with your content and help you grow.
12. Respond to comments
Always respond to comments. There is nothing worse than just posting and forgetting about it. If a comment is made, respond to it, that will show people that you are committed to your business and your customers will feel appreciated.
13. Post at peak times
Posting at the right time is very important. There are times during the day and days during the week when the traffic is at its highest. Essentially, your post is more likely to be seen and engaged by more people when there are more people online. A good time to post would be around 11 a.m. on Wednesdays and Fridays.
14. Collaborate with others
When you join forces with another business or an influencer, both parties win. Your audience grows and having someone else interact with your product shows that it has value.
15. Offer exclusive deals to your followers
A good way to make your followers appreciate you more and engage with your posts is an exclusive discount or deal of some kind. Also, it’s a good way to attract new customers.
16. Improve your photography skills
Having a good picture is still a very important factor on Instagram. The higher quality your images are, the more professional your page will look. Research some photography basics like lightning, composition, colors and so on. Like we’ve said, having a certain style and look to your photos goes a long way.
Those were some of the tips and tricks that you could utilize to market your Instagram page into a profitable, successful business.
Nicola Holder 