Continue with some guidelines to use Instagram for business…
Step 4: Share great content
Create a visual aesthetic for your brand
Instagram is all about the visuals, so it’s necessary to have a recognizable visual identity.
First, think about what you’ll showcase in your posts. In some cases, the content will be obvious: a clothing line may showcase its clothes, and a restaurant may post images of its food.
When you offer services, attempt showcasing customer stories (maybe gathered via a branded hashtag). Or go behind the scenes to highlight office life or introduce followers to the people who make your company tick.
When you decide on a content theme, go for a consistent visual look. Which means consistent colors and filters and an overall aesthetic that’s simple to spot as your followers scroll via their Instagram feed.
Chef and author Dennis Prescott has a visual style that is instantly recognizable, and they get an incredible engagement rate. With less than half one million followers, he routinely racks up 10,000 to 20,000 likes and lots of comments on his posts.
Take superb photos
To make Instagram work for your enterprise, you have simply got to have nice pictures. However, you do not need to be a professional photographer, and you do not need lots of equipment.
Your mobile phone is your greatest friend when it comes to Instagram images since you may publish straight from your device. Here are some tips to get the most effective pictures when shooting with your phone:
- Use natural light. Nobody looks great with a flash lighting up the oiliest parts of their face and casting weird shadows on their nose and chin. The same is true for product shots. Natural light just makes shadows softer, colors richer, and images nicer to look at.
- Keep away from harsh light. Late afternoon is an unbeatable time to take pictures. Cloudy days are greater than sunny ones for mid-day shooting.
- Use the rule of thirds. Your phone camera has a grid built in to help you follow this rule. Put your subject where the grid lines meet to create a fascinating picture that’s off center but still balanced.
- Attempt different angles. Crouch down, stand on a chair–do whatever it takes to get the most fascinating version of your shot (as long as its safe to do so, of course).
Edit your pictures like a professional
No matter how great your pictures are, you will likely want to edit them before posting to Instagram. Consistent editing is one method to maintain your brand aesthetic and make your photos recognizable.
Mobile photo editing apps like Enhance or VSCOcam provide extra filters or editing options to help you discover your unique style. You could import pictures that you edit or filter elsewhere into Instagram to publish them on your feed.
Tell great stories with Instagram Stories
More than 400 million people use Instagram Stories daily, and 39 % of people surveyed said they became more excited about a product or band after seeing it on Stories. In fact, a third of the most viewed Instagram Stories are posted by businesses.
Content that disappears after 24 hours and live broadcasting functions make Instagram Stories the perfect place to take creative risks with attention-grabbing images and videos.
How could you make the most of Instagram Stories? Not surprisingly, this apt name function is a superb platform for storytelling. Tell authentic brand stories that have a starting, a middle, and an end. Get creative with Stories slideshows and provide real worth for your viewers to get them in the habit of watching your Stories consistently.
End your Stories with a strong call-to-action to convert your Stories views into measurable business successes.
Write compelling captions
Instagram might a visual platform, however, that does not mean you neglect your captions. Captions permit you to tell the story that makes the picture meaningful. Captions could make your followers think, laugh, and feel a connection to your brand.
Mr. Pokee the hedgehog is cute and all, however, the captions that accompany his images give the account personality and make followers want to stop and engage.
To make compelling captions, you should grow a clear brand voice. The most important thing is to be consistent. Do you use emoji in your captions? Are there grammatical guidelines your brand follows? What hashtags do you utilize? A great set of style guidelines will assist preserve your captions distinct and on-brand.
Step 5: Develop and engage your followers
Follow and engage with relevant Instagrammers
Social networks are all about community. A community relevant to your brand already exists on Instagram. You just have to search out them. A method to do this is to engage with people and brands they already follow.
Begin by monitoring industry hashtags and commenting on appropriate Instagram posts. Follow the people who take part in these discussions. It is an easy method to make your presence known to people who are likely to be excited about your content.
As you get more involved in Instagram communities, you will get a sense of the hashtags that encourage the most response. Which leads us to…
Use the right hashtags
Hashtags help make your Instagram content simpler to search out.
Captions on Instagram aren’t searchable, however, hashtags are. When somebody clicks on or searches for a hashtag, they see all of the related content. It’s an effective way to get your content in front of people who do not already follow you.
You may want to consider making your own branded hashtag. A branded hashtag embodies your brand and encourages followers to share images that match that picture. It may be an excellent source of user-generated content and encourage community among your followers.
Amsterdam Marketing uses the #iamsterdam hashtag to collect user-generated content, which they reshare to advertise a colourful and visitor-created feed of the city.
Respond to comments and mentions
Keep in mind: that is social marketing. You could not neglect the social aspect. Which means responding to comments and mentions of your brand on Instagram, so users feel motivated to maintain engagement with your brand.
Work with Instagram influencers
Influencer marketing is a strong method of gaining access to an engaged and loyal Instagram following by working with an Influencer whose followers could be excited about your brand.
Even small brands with limited budgets can use influencer marketing by working with micro-influencers: people with a smaller however dedicated following.
Promote your account on other channels
When you have got an established following on other social networks, let these people find out about your Instagram business account. Ensure to tell them what sort of content you will share on your Insta profile, so they know why it’s value their time to follow you in more than one place.
Attempt embedding Instagram posts directly in your weblog to showcase your greatest content and make it super-easy for blog readers to follow you, like this:
Embrace your Instagram handle in your email signature, and remember about print materials like business cards, flyers, and event signage.
Use Instagram adverts to get in front of a big and targeted followers
Instagram could provide nice organic business outcomes, however, it’s also worth investing in Instagram adverts to make sure you get your content in front of a wider (but very focused) followers.
In addition to extending the reach of your content, Instagram adverts include call-to-action buttons that permit users to take action straight from Instagram, decreasing the number of steps required to get them to your site or promotion.
Run an Instagram-specific campaign
An Instagram campaign could help you achieve a particular purpose more rapidly than you can by simply following your overall Instagram business marketing strategy.
Campaigns could involve adverts, however, they aren’t only about paid content. They involve an intense concentrate on a particular purpose for a set period of time, in both your organic and paid posts.
Here are some potential marketing campaign ideas to get you began.
- Run an awareness marketing campaign to increase your overall visibility on Instagram.
- Promote a sale utilizing shoppable Instagram posts.
- Drive engagement with an Instagram contest.
- Collect user-generated content with a branded hashtag.
Step 6: Measure success and make adjustments
Track outcomes with analytics tools
When you are using Instagram to advertise your business, you could check in frequently to see how your progress matches up to your business targets.
You will want to track the outcomes of individual posts, adverts, and stories, as well as your Instagram business account as a whole.
There are lots of numbers to keep an eye on, however, there are plenty of analytics tools to help you maintain it all sorted.
Use A/B testing to learn what works (and what doesn’t)
One of the best methods to consistently improve your outcomes when you use Instagram for business is to test each new strategy to see how it performs. As you learn what works greatest for your particular followers, refine your strategy.
Right here’s the basic outline of an A/B test on Instagram:
- Select an element to test (image, caption, hashtags, and so on.)
- Create two variations based on what your analysis tells you. Keep the 2 versions the same except for the one factor you want to check.
- Track and analyze the outcomes of each post.
- Select the winning variation.
- Check another small variation to see when you could improve your outcomes further.
- Share what you learn throughout your organization to build a library of greatest practices for your brand.
- Begin the process over again.
And there you have it—now you’re able to craft your own strategy to use Instagram for business and put it into action. Good luck.