We all know how effective social media platforms can be. From Facebook being the largest social networking site to Twitter, having 62.55 million users alone in the US, it is no doubt that social media is actively being used by people, even for business.
But big companies and brands are nowadays shifting to other social media platforms, like Instagram, to promote their sales and products.
The question is – “Can Instagram, which is more focused on visual elements, be useful for smaller businesses?”
Contents
- 1 Why is Instagram great for small businesses?
- 2 But how will small businesses survive?
- 3 Engage with your audience
- 4 Designing the bio
- 5 Creating good content
- 6 Adding hashtags
- 7 Post- high- quality pictures and videos
- 8 Offering discounts
- 9 Make sure your feed is cohesive
- 10 Craft some killer copy
- 11 Conclusion
Why is Instagram great for small businesses?
Instagram reportedly has more than 500 million active daily users, who share approximately 70 million pictures every day. Today, Instagram is ranked as the second-highest social networking site right after Facebook. It also provides a global platform that supports businesses and promotes their products, services, and sales over the social network.
Instagram has a 58 times higher engagement rate than Facebook and almost 120 times higher than Twitter. 85% of top brands and companies such as Nike, Starbucks, etc., have adopted Instagram to propagate their marketing strategy.
But how will small businesses survive?
Well, statistics show us that there are more than 25 million active business profiles on Instagram, which are different from each other. From salons to a startup business, from bakeries to rental properties, more than 75% of US businesses have shifted to Instagram of all sizes and shapes.
And if you are thinking about applying some effective Instagram marketing strategy, here are 8 Instagram tips you can start with:
Engage with your audience
The first thing you need to do is to find your ideal customers. Millions of people use Instagram every day, but finding those who will be interested in your products or services, requires keen observational attributes.
Thus, if you are new to the platform, explore the feed and look for people. Even follow those accounts which are similar to your business. Doing this will direct people to your page, and they might end up buying one of your products.
Also, follow some accounts for building professional interaction and procuring ideas about how to manage your Instagram profile actively.
Designing the bio
Just like Facebook, Instagram is also a social networking platform. And even if you are using it for your business, you must create a good bio for your business. Your business profile need not like LinkedIn but should be catchy and intrigue enough for the people to follow you back.
You can design the business account informally, but your bio should reflect your business goals. For making it classy include some emojis, fonts, and catchy taglines to make your bio stand out from the rest.
Ensure that your bio resonates both creativity and clarity at once to make people interested in your brand.
Creating good content
Instagram may focus more on pictures & videos. Sometimes, make it informative by accompanying it with crisp text and a brief description of your brand. For that, you can look at other business profiles or even do some quality research over the internet. You can also put up blogs and pictures of your products for people to understand your brand suitably.
These are some ideas you can use for making your content on Instagram:
- Promo images & videos
- BTS (behind-the-scenes) Videos
- Motivational Quotes
- Information about the team
- Blogs
- Sneak peeks of upcoming products
- Experiences and feedbacks of customers
- Collaboration videos
You can try any of these ideas and see which one your audience likes the most.
Instagram gives you the unique feature to add Hashtags to the posts. By Hashtags, we mean that you can add phrases and words with (#) on the front that may relate to your product or brand. It can be anything, from a name to a place or even random phrases put together.
Quick hashtags make searches more accessible, as your profile or post gets linked to the similar phrases other profiles use. But make sure you add those Hashtags only, which are relevant to your post, otherwise the people may question your credibility. Include 5-7 Hashtags and not more on your posts.
Post- high- quality pictures and videos
Don’t worry! No need for a professional photographer to click the best shorts. You can do the work yourself. Keep in mind that the pictures or the videos you post on the page are clear and of good quality. A good camera is all you will need to do the job.
You can also buy a tripod stand to make your videos appear stable and unshaken if you may. Click your pictures outside or under clear light to make the objects clear. Remember to edit the images using useful editing apps and not just any Instagram filter. You can also use video editing software to add a professional touch.
Offering discounts
Think of it this way – If you were an offline business group, what would you have done to invite more customers? Of course, you would have offered some discounts on your products or services or even distributed coupons to the people.
Similarly, while promoting your business on Instagram, you can offer them exclusive discounts on some products. It may help you earn new followers and maintain the existing customers’ count by providing them discount coupons and codes, which they can redeem within a limited time.
For making these e-cards, you can easily use designing apps like Canva, for attracting more customers and boosting sales.
Make sure your feed is cohesive
Instagram is all about visuals. It is essential to stand apart from the crowd to have a recognisable identity. Decide and pick a brand or content theme, go with a consistent look, which means consistent colours, tones, and overall aesthetic, making it appealing and easy to post. Now your audience knows what to expect.
Craft some killer copy
Instagram can be considered as a visual platform, but that does not complete your content; try not to neglect writing a good caption. It will make a tremendous difference and help you develop a clear brand voice.
Try to keep the captions relevant, which reflect your content.
Conclusion
“We reap what we sow; choose what you nourish carefully.”
The same applies to Instagram; the results will always depend on the efforts you put in. Growing your business does not happen overnight, stay consistent. Refer to these techniques, and it will be evident how powerful Instagram can be.
