So what can your brand do with it? here are my top 10 tips for using Instagram to increase engagement, give your business extra visibility and provide a powerful advertising channel for your brand.
Identify your motives
As with all social media platforms, it’s essential to think about what you want to get out of the app before you start posting. Is your objective to find new business, find out more about your customers and what they like, promote a service, or to showcase your products? Be clear about your goals and use them to guide you.
Optimise your profile
Make full use of the limited text space available instead of just providing your company name and site address. A complete profile will include:
- brief company description
- address and contact information
- website link
- profile picture
Post high quality and relevant photos
The best way to gain more followers and a good reputation is through high quality photos; consider the impact low-quality photos will have on how your followers view the quality of your product or service! And make sure that your content is relevant and reflective of your company’s values and products.
Post regularly
The more photos you post, the more opportunity to grow your reach and remain forefront in your followers’ minds. Brands on average post 1.5 times a day, though some share up to 20 photos a day during special events. Aim for quality over quantity but post regularly.
Use industry-related hashtags
Hashtags are vital to Instagram. Hashtagging your photos makes it easy for people searching for those specific terms to find your photos. Carry out keyword research to see which are the most popular Instagram hashtags around your products and services.
Use descriptions
Include clear and engaging descriptions that reflect and support your brand’s message.
Be Creative
Creative shots garner more attention, so try to ensure that your images stand out to those scrolling through potentially hundreds of shots on their Instagram feed.
Go backstage
Think of Instagram as a way to give all of your followers an exclusive pass to what goes on behind the scenes of your business. Share photos of events, photo-shoots etc, or give a glimpse of your own personal life; this can help people to relate to you and your brand.
Interact
Think of Instagram as an active community: engage with your followers and comment and “like” other people’s posts – this will raise awareness of your own brand and encourage new followers to check out your profile.
Track engagement
Use image analytics to find out which images and videos resonate most with followers and fans. You can also track engagement on images to see what followers like best in terms of content, filters, styles, etc. If something’s not working, change it!
These top tips should help you to get the most out of Instagram for your business but remember that, with Instagram, as with other social media platforms, most successful strategy overall is to be authentic and social.
