How to Utilise and Maximise Instagram for Businesses
Posted on 8th December 2021
Over the last decade, Instagram has developed into becoming an essential form of social media for all businesses. With 112.5 million users (2020), Instagram is the place to be if you want to make your business a success on social media. You can convert your account into a business one, and Instagram will provide you with insights and tools to help you grow your business on the platform. Here are some ways you can use Instagram to its full potential.
Interaction is key on Instagram. Even simple comments on posts by people in your industry, or by other businesses will help you to build strong relationships and be visible to your audience. If your audience sees you consistently appearing in comment sections, or in people likes, you may draw in new followers. Interacting with followers in DMs will also help you to build good customer relationships. Make sure you’re professional at all times, and don’t over-do your interactions with other users, as they may not want consistent comments on every post – a simple like will often be good enough.
Hashtags are highly important if you want to find a bigger audience. Add relevant hashtags to your posts, and your post will appear within that hashtag, or on the feeds of people who may follow that hashtag. Don’t fill your caption with multiple hashtags, as this can just look like a chunk of irrelevant text. Try and be specific enough to your business, but generic enough so it will reach new people.
There is now a feature available on Instagram that allows you to sell products. If your business is small, this is a great way to sell to your audience. You can post images that are ‘shoppable’ – just tag the items in the picture, and then the viewer will be able to purchase it through Instagram’s shop. If you’re looking to increase sales, then this will really help, especially as it allows the buyer the ease of remaining on the app.
Instagram is about sharing photographic content, so make sure your brand is consistent and recognised. Adding your logo or brand colours to whatever you’re posting is important for visibility and creating a strong ‘grid’. Strong profile ‘grids’ include posts that are cohesive and attractive for the audience. Photo editing apps such as Canva are great to use for this, as there are many templates that you’re able to follow. Your content needs to stand out – with so many users of the app and so many people posting every day, your images shouldn’t be generic.
Similarly, stories also have to be branded to your content. There are so many features to Instagram stories that will allow you to make professional looking short form content, that is still branded. Instagram now also allows you to put web links into stories – a feature that was previously unavailable to accounts with less than 10,000 followers. You simply use the link sticker, and paste your website in. This means people can access your page quickly. If you’re advertising a specific product, then you’ll be able to link directly to it – once again, giving the client the ease of accessing what they want instantly.
Embed your Instagram profile to your website. Having your feed available on your website means people will be able to access your social media account through the website, and may decide to follow if they like what they see. It’s standard now to have your social media linked somewhere on your webpage, and with Instagram being such a visual platform, it can really stand out amongst your other content.
Instagram can and will work for your business if you follow these tips and implement them on your profile. Make sure you know your business and your audience well so that you will really be able to get more engagement and more clients for your business. It will take time, but when you’ve managed to perfect your profile, you’ll be in a great position to continue to grow your business on social media
Need further advice?
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