Instagram is owned by Facebook and there are over 700 million people that use the platform every month and is the 2nd most popular social media platform after Facebook. It gives you the opportunity to show your business off on a ‘trendy’ platform enabling you to communicate with prospective customers and, being visual, increase your brand awareness.
However you do have to work at it. It is not a case of simply posting a picture taken on your smartphone and hoping that the world and his dog will see it! You have to be able to make it stand out from the crowd.
Here are some tips to help you make yourself heard above the noise.
1. Be active on the platform
You need to be involved not simply just post stuff! That means you have to actually do things to engage.
- Follow other people, brands and influencers
- Engage in the comment section of both your posts and the posts of other’s
- Publish content of possible customers and @mention them when you do it
2. Use Testimonials
If you’re honest you are probably not the most unbiased source of information when it comes to your own business so make use of testimonials provided by your customers. Nothing is more powerful
3. Use Hashtags
People use hashtags to find the content they want to see. If your posts don’t show up when they search, then that really is your fault. Do you want to increase the reach of your Instagram posts? Then use at least three hashtags in every post.
- Use hashtags which are searched most frequently: #love, #nofilter, etc.
- Use hashtags which are relevant to your target market. You wont get as many clicks, but they will be of much better quality.
- If you’re choosing a brand or campaign-specific hashtag, go with something which isn’t being used by someone else.
- Use location-based hashtags to incorporate your brand into your local area.
4. Include Video Content
If you’re going to upload video onto Instagram, make sure it has a great sound and that the video quality is good. Anything that is of a poor standard can depict your business as being unprofessional. If your business has invested in creating great videos using things like a green screen and recorded in a studio then, go for it, upload this onto Instagram. Video gets more engagement than pictures and a great video will go down a storm.
5. Incorporate Tending Products In Your Posts
Going with what’s trending is a best practice on social media in general. If you can post about what people are already thinking about, you’re one step ahead and should be able to get some serious social enagement. For example, around special days such as Valentines, The Queens Birthday, St Patricks day etc. post things that are relevant to these days. Incorporate it with a quiz…..even better!
6. Stick with one branded theme
Branding is a big part of content creation, and people are more comfortable with your brand if they recognize it. They will have better brand recall and you will grow quicker and come across as professional.
These are just a few tips, there are more ways to promote your business on Instagram but using the above will help to grow your audience and followers, If you think we can help, call Mark at Marknorthall.com