How to Use Instagram for Your Business
You go to Instagram to share life moments captured in snapshots or videos. But have you thought about using this social media platform to advance your business? It’s an important place both for social media and influencer marketing.
Quick Facts
- More than 500,000 advertisers around the world use Instagram to share their brand’s message. If you’re not one of them you’re stealing from your future a chance to make your business grow.
- Take note that 60% of people say that they find new products on the photo-sharing platform.
- Three in every four people on Instagram say that they take action when inspired by post on the site.
- In addition, 70% of people on this fast growing social network follow a brand.
So if you’re not on it, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity to tap into a big market.
Setting up an Account
Signing up on Instagram should be one of your priorities in order to reach out to more people and give them another aspect of your brand.
- Download the app. Instagram is a mobile-oriented social network. It appeals to mobile-users, people on the go. So grab your smartphone, and start setting up an account.
- Fill out your profile. Then switch to a business account. This is a business page, so make it look professional, unless you’re a comedian or an artist who likes to interject humor in your work. Make your would-be followers know who you are. Include important business info, like address, contact information, and store hours. A business account allows you capabilities not possible with a personal account. It allows you to get realtime metrics on your posts’ performance. You also get insights into engagement, thus letting you take a closer look at how your audience deal with your posts.
- Start posting. You have zero followers at first, but that shouldn’t mean you’ll leave your page empty.
- Start following people. Instagram will give suggestions on who to follow based on you information and your posts. When you start following people, they will see you followed them and some of them might just follow you back. Instagram will suggest relevant accounts, but be careful who to follow. This is one of the first steps in building organic connections and possibly an important initiatives in influencer marketing.
- Choose your story. Every business or entrepreneur has a story to tell that is unique and personal. Stick to your story and plan your marketing campaigns according to this story and your mission.
- Make things appear cohesive. When someone goes to your Instagram page, they’ll see a set of photos, the latest ones you have posted. From these photos, your audience will create an impression of you. The impression you leave on casual visitors of your page determines whether you will get more followers or not. You want to intrigue people. But you also want to deliver the message right then there.
- Post regularly. Ideally, you should post every day. If that’s impossible, try posting every two days. Don’t let a week pass without posting anything. Regular posts keep your brand’s momentum. It gives people an impression that your business is active.
Achieving Your Goals
Your business goals are probably the following: brand awareness, customer acquisition, website traffic, conversion, and ROI. These goals vary from business to business. So before you can achieve your goals, you need to determine what you want at the outset.
What do you want to do?
What are your plans on Instagram?
How do you think Instagram can help you advance your business?
What are your short-term and long-term goals?
- Put up your ads based on your goals. Everything you post should advance your goal. Avoiding posting irrelevant memes or snapshots. Keeping every post relevant ensures you have a solid business page with high signal-to-noise ration.
- Make calls to action. Sometimes all you have to do is ask. If you want them to subscribe to your newsletter, ask them. If you want them to go to your website, give them a good reason. If you want them to try a new product, say so.
- Consider customer demographics. A 35-year-old thinks differently and has different buying behavior than a 15-year-old. It’s worth noting who your audience is, what age bracket most of them belong to, and what their interests are. It’s work, but one that you need to do in order to succeed.
- Operate on a budget. Instagram is just part of your social media marketing strategy, which in turn is a slice of your overall marketing plan. That means only a small fraction of your resources will go to this specific aspect of your business. You can choose to advertise on Instagram or you can market organically without paying for ads. Choose whichever fits your needs and budget.
- If you’re advertising on Instagram, it makes sense to use Ads Manager to allow you a quick and easy way to set up and manage your campaigns. Another tool to utilize is the Power Editor, which comes really handy as your business grows and your marketing needs increase.
