Have you heard the news? Instagram is the new hot marketing tool for businesses! It has surpassed Pinterest as the leading photo sharing social media campaign almost 2 to 1. If you think Instagram is only for moms or foodies, think again! Check out the tips below to get started using Instagram to market your business today!
Setting up Your Account
If you have a private Instagram account, that’s great. Leave it be and start one for your business. Add in your Business name and details and website towards the bottom:
Now when anyone clicks on the name of your account, they will see a live link to your website.
And you can also place an @nameofyourbusinessinstagram in the profile of your personal account to give people the option of finding your business.
Find and Engage Your Audience
Before you start following people and searching for followers, get some photos listed in your account! Use hashtags and understand how to use them. For more detailed ideas, check out a recent article I wrote called “Hashtags 101.”
Once you have about 10 photos posted, then you can start searching people who would be interested in what you have to offer. Pay attention to the hashtags they are using and the followers who are following them. You can follow and hope that they follow you in turn. Continue to post great photos and use the hashtags and watch your following increase.
Instagram has been called the “King of Social Engagement” because of how easy it is to interact with customers. Start conversations with your consumers. Send them thank you photos when they make a purchase or send out coupons, surveys, etc. on a regular basis. However be careful to not over do this and appear as a spammer.
Create Content
Make sure that the photos you post are high quality, high resolution photos. Use the filters and third party apps to give your photos an extra pop. Post your product or part of the product in about ⅔ of the photos you post. And post consistently but not too often. The suggested starting amount is roughly 2 to 3 times a week.
Use video as content as well. Short video clips are an great way to tell a bit more of your story and engage with people. They will often generate more inbound links than written posts. And with the great tools available you can edit the video and add fun filters.
Also, share your customers photos. This will help to show support to them and encourage them to pay more attention to your photos. And always make it easy to purchase products by giving them a link in the post to go directly to the product you are referring to in your photo.
These three tips will help you get up and running with your Instagram account. Once you begin to get the feel for it, engage like crazy and watch your numbers skyrocket! Get in on the Instagram magic while it lasts!
