Instagram is becoming increasingly popular with businesses looking to engage with millennials and portray an aspirational lifestyle associated with their brand.
Here’s a few of our top tips on how to get started with Instagram for business:
Strategy
Your first step towards Instagram success is to create a coherent strategy.
- Start by identify your goal – why are you using Instagram? To increase engagement, sales, or brand recognition? Think about which aspects of your business are most relevant to the platform.
- Ask yourself questions - who are you looking to engage with? Is Instagram the right platform to achieve this goal? Are your competitors using Instagram?
- Once you’ve decided that Instagram is a platform you’re keen to make use of, ensure you create a profile that includes all the information your customers need to know about your business.
- Stuck on social media strategy? Give us a call. Our expert strategists will help you with everything from building customer personas to creating an essential social media strategy for your team; we can be as hands off or as hands on as you need us to be.
Style
Instagram is all about imagery. To succeed in this sphere you need to be able to supply images that are pleasing or intriguing to your page visitors.
- Instagram is hugely popular for the array of filters it offers that can enhance your photographs and create a variety of moods and the suggestion of nostalgia. Pick just a select few filters that best fit your brand, and vary between posting filtered and non-filtered images.
- Instagram is all about creating a lifestyle surrounding your products that your page visitors want to be a part of. To keep your visitors engaged, balance fun images with business specific images. Again, think about who your audience is and what interests them about the world your brand helps create, not just about what you sell. Through Instagram you can sell a lifestyle associated with your products.
Engage
Engaging with your followers can help them feel valued and a part of your brand. In order to effectively engage with your followers you can try these tips:
- When you post an image, don’t leave it at that; tell a story with your caption.
- Reply to your followers & follow them back.
- Use relevant hashtags so new users can find you.
- Host photo competitions with an associated hashtag.
- Make use of video.
- Reward followers with discount codes.
- Use staff photos; allow your followers to join you as you celebrate birthdays and show you value your employees.
If you’d like any further advice on how to use Instagram for business, do not hesitate to get in touch!
