Is your business on Instagram? Great! If it’s not, well, too bad. Considering Instagram has about 1. 1 billion people using it every month, you really need to have a good reason for not using Instagram for business promotions.
One can always assume that a good brand on Instagram is the one with the most likes/comments, but, that is far from true. Brands need to do a little more than that to be on top of their game.
To get you started, here’s a list of 5 things you must do while using Instagram for business:
1) Knowing your audience is the key to success
Instagram is one platform that allows your brand to evolve basis what the audience wants. This is why you should start by learning about your audience.
Get to know them, understand where they’re from and what sort of content they like. In order to engage the audience with your brand, you would need to know what kind of content your audience is sharing.
Try using Instagram Insights to know more about the people following you. Get an insight into interesting stuff like follower activity, content impressions and audience demographics.
For e.g., the time when your followers are most active/online on Instagram on a typical day, or particular days of the week your followers are most active on.
2) Humanize your brand with content (and context)
Pushing out content is one thing, but pushing out ‘personalized’ content is another.
[bctt tweet=”If ‘content’ is the king, ‘context’ is the real ruler!” username=”myHQSpace”]
As a platform, Instagram might be visual first, but that does not mean that your followers do not communicate with the content you’re putting out there. People love video content and a great way to interact with your audience and engage them is through Instagram Stories.
Humanize your brand by sharing updates or stories that give your audience further insight into your brand.
Be authentic and focus on delivering value, always.
After all, Instagram is indeed a “social” platform. So while using Instagram for business, try and post content that grabs attention, is relevant, and fun!
3) How many hashtags are too many hashtags?
Want people to easily find your brand on Instagram? Use hashtags! (oh, of course, you know this one)
This should be a no-brainer while using Instagram for business. If you’ve just started out, try and use branded and non-branded but relevant hashtags that will get the desired audience to your page. If you’ve been on it for a while, understand what kind of hashtags work for you.
For e.g., a branded hashtag for the brand Nike will be #JustDoIt. Similarly, try and use branded hashtags to engage better with your audience.
Do’s and Don’ts
- Use as many, but ‘relevant’ hashtags
- Don’t repeat them
- Don’t spam: Using random hashtags that don’t connect with the post or the brand will do no good.
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4) Add a CTA, whenever you post something
A Call-To-Action, rather, a good Call-To-Action will always tell your audience what to do next.
Want your audience to visit your website? Want them to buy your product? Want them to share your content? Tell them!
Add a link, put it in the caption/bio, put a promo code for them, or simply shout out from the rooftops (NOT).
To avoid your CTA from being missed in the caption, try putting it in the image itself.
5) Instagram ads are UNDERPRICED!
Spend some bucks. Make your posts reach out to the people you care about, and people who care about your product/service/brand. Instagram ads are extremely cheap (at the moment). It’s a massive ROI. Better than Facebook, at least for youth-centric brands.
While ‘organic reach’ is still better on Instagram at the moment as compared to Facebook, it is declining. Remember, Zucks ain’t running a charity. It is a good idea to spend some money, and make the most of the platform until the time it is underpriced.
Start Gramming for Good
Don’t be intimidated by the platform. Combining your brand with the right kind of strategy and planning can help your brand ace the Instagram game.
Just have your brand story ready for the world to hear (and see) and start now!
Liked it? Read more here:
8 Super Effective Social Media Listening Tools For Every Marketer
Quick Steps To Define And Measure Social Media ROI For Your Business
9 Steps To Create A Powerful Video Marketing Strategy
Are you a marketer/entrepreneur looking for an economical workspace? Want to connect with like-minded achievers? Download the myHQ app today!
About the author:
Felicitated by the World Federation of Digital Marketing and CMO Asia as one of the 100 Smartest Digital Marketing Leaders, the engineer turned marketer Amit Dhawan currently leads the digital business at Sociowash. He has helped brands like Panasonic, Samsung, Godrej, realme, Casio, wework, and more meet their marketing goals.
From having worked as an engineer at Samsung (Seoul, South Korea) to working as a marketer at Sociowash, Amit has always been driven by his zest to “add value”.