How To Use Instagram For Business
If you want to use Instagram for business purposes, think about your own personal experience with the app before you start. You’re scrolling through Instagram, taking in the sights and sounds of your carefully curated feed. Your friends, content creators, cute animals, and brands make up the majority of your network. No one forced you to follow those business accounts; you made the decision to do so. And every time you see one of their Instagram posts or Instagram Stories, you actively choose to continue following them on the social media platform. But why is this so? When you’re running a business on Instagram, that’s the question you have to answer for your potential customers: why should they continue to follow you? We’ve compiled our best Instagram for business tips to assist you in promoting your company on the social media platform.
Table of Contents
Business Instagram Com
Instagram, which has hundreds of millions of daily active users, is one of the most effective free tools for reaching your target market, according to a recent study. But you can’t just throw yourself into a posting frenzy and expect to see results. It is important to post on a regular basis on Instagram, but this should be done as part of a larger strategy for promoting your account. As users gain more familiarity with your brand on this platform, the more trust you can earn and the more effective your other marketing efforts will be, your brand will become more well-known to them. One of the best things about Instagram is that there are numerous ways to promote your profile—all of which are completely free. As a result, I’m going to walk you through 20 different strategies in this post. I’ll go over the following topics:
- How to cross-promote your profile on other social media platforms.
- Using relationship-building to promote your account in a natural and organic way
- Instagram’s built-in features that can assist you in promoting your profile
- Using content-driven methods to increase the number of people who see your account
I even threw in a couple of [not-so-free] bonus strategies for those of you who have the means. You’ll find that the overarching theme of this post is that of promoting your Instagram account to the appropriate audience, regardless of the strategy you choose. Indeed, what is the point of having people who aren’t a good fit for your company’s brand following and engaging with you?
Read More: How To Unfollowing On Instagram Complete Detail
How To Use Instagram For Business
Between posts, ads, and stories on Instagram, there is no shortage of potential marketing tools to choose from. Now that you’ve learned how to create an Instagram profile and are familiar with the common Instagram jargon, let’s talk about how to use Instagram to grow your business.
1. Add Professional-Looking Photos.
Due to the fact that Instagram is a photo-sharing social media platform, it is critical to share visually appealing content with your followers. Generic photographs will not suffice. Prepare your Instagram grid by taking photos, editing them, and spending the necessary time to ensure that your photos are in sync with one another. To upload a new photo, click on the camera icon at the bottom of your screen and take a picture. You have the option of taking a new photo or selecting an image from your camera roll. On the following screen, you can choose from a variety of options to make your post more personalised. You have the ability to apply a filter, tag other users, write a caption, and specify a location. The advanced settings on this page allow you to turn off comments on this page as well.
2. Use Instagram Stories.
Instagram Stories is one of the most widely used features on the platform. These images and videos are only available for 24 hours after they are posted. Instagram provides a variety of tools that make it simple to create visually appealing and creative stories.Laura Kenat, the content coordinator at Jo Chicago, advised small businesses to use Instagram Stories to market their products and services because they reach followers who would otherwise miss out on regular Instagram posts as a result of recent algorithm changes. The following are the types of content you can share on Instagram Stories: recorded video clips, still photos, live videos, boomerangs (videos that loop backward), basic text, music, and focused photos. Additionally, you can include stickers that indicate your location, temperature, user tags, and hashtags. User interaction and feedback are made simple with polls and questions, as well as sliding bars, stickers, and other elements. Some accounts make use of the questions feature to host a weekly Ask Me Anything session, which is a fun way to answer frequently asked questions in a relaxed setting. Stories Highlights are another way to draw attention to your brand, and they remain on your profile until you choose to remove them from it.
Read More: The Best Examples Of Instagram Post To Inspire You
3. Stream Live Videos.
Moreover, in addition to Instagram Stories, users can also record and stream live video that disappears after it is finished, similar to a hybrid of Facebook Live and Snapchat. Through the comments, you can provide customers with a behind-the-scenes look at interesting aspects of your business, demonstrate products, and respond to live questions from customers. Once the video has concluded, it will remain in your Instagram Stories for a period of 24 hours. To keep a video on your Instagram feed, you can either upload a video you’ve taken yourself or shoot one directly through the app before posting it. Whether you choose to shoot or upload a video, you can still customize it with filters and a different cover.
4. Interact with other Instagram users.
As with any social media platform, it’s critical to engage with and interact with your Instagram followers in order to grow your following. Here’s how to do it. Liking other users is a simple way to establish a connection with them. You can either double-tap a photo or click on the heart button under the post to indicate that you like it. The comment button is located directly next to the like button; by tapping it, the app will take you to a comment page for that particular photo, where you can type your thoughts in a text box to be displayed alongside the photo. When you’re finished, click the “Post” button. Commenting and tagging: Just like on Twitter, you can mention other users in your Instagram comments or post captions by using the @ symbol. Tagging: Instagram allows you to add tags to your content before you publish it. Tag People before sharing your photo and then tap where you want to add a tag to a specific part of the photo. It then prompts you to enter the person’s name in order for the app to search for their account. Other users can tap on a photo to see the people who have been tagged in it after you’ve tagged other users in it and shared it with the world.
Accessing Instagram Direct is as simple as visiting the homepage and tapping the button in the top right corner. You can communicate with other users through private instant messages, photos, and videos. Click on the + button in the top right corner of your screen and select Send Photo or Video or Send Message from the drop-down menu. Once you’ve sent the message, you and the recipients will be able to communicate with one another. Users who are not already following you will be asked if they agree to allow you to send them photos and videos before they can view your DM, if they do not already consentFacebook, which owns Instagram, announced earlier this year that it intends to integrate Instagram messaging with Facebook Messenger. This enables you to communicate with your followers on both Facebook and Instagram from a single application, saving you time.
5. Use Hashtags.
Hashtags are an excellent tool for assisting users in finding content on Instagram. Hashtags can contain letters and numbers, but they cannot contain any characters other than those in the numeric character set. For example, the hashtag DaveAndBusters is effective, but the phrase Dave & Busters is not. Because users can search for hashtags in the app as well as click on hashtags they see in posts, relevant hashtags can be a highly effective tool for getting noticed. Make certain, however, that you are using the appropriate hashtags for your brand. Popular Instagram hashtags such as nofilter (a photo that hasn’t been heavily edited with filters), selfie (a picture of yourself), and #tbt or #throwback Thursday (old photos) are all popular choices, but they may not be appropriate for you or your company’s needs. Take a look at other well-established brands, as well as personal users and bloggers in your industry, for inspiration on which hashtags to use. A maximum of 30 hashtags are allowed in a post or comment on Instagram, but that many would be considered excessive. In order to receive high-quality responses, the fewer hashtags you can use the better. Using a large number of popular hashtags may result in a large number of likes from other users, but it is unlikely to result in a significant increase in your following, and the interactions you receive are unlikely to come from people who are interested in your brand, but rather from people who simply saw and liked your image.
Once you have a basic understanding of hashtags, you can branch out and experiment to determine which ones are most effective for your brand’s needs. Create a custom hashtag for your company, or even an event you’re hosting, to help people find you on social media. Customers will be able to follow along with an event even if they are not present in person as a result.
Read More: Is Buying Instagram Followers Worth It
Decide why you are Using Instagram for Business
When utilizing any marketing channel, it is critical to establish objectives that you hope to achieve. Instagram follows the same rules as other social media platforms. Consider the following when deciding whether or not to invest your time and money in Instagram marketing: “What do we want to achieve?”Typical Instagram business objectives include the following:Make a list of your objectives and keep track of them on a regular basis. Consider your written objectives as a formalized version of a gut check. It encourages you and your team to be more deliberate with your Instagram content because you and your team can always refer back to it and ensure that everything you share serves those objectives. Tips for boosting sales on Instagram: If you’re using Instagram for business to drive more sales, we’ve put together an in-depth guide (with a free worksheet) that will teach you everything you need to know to set up your shop, optimize your Instagram page and posts to drive more sales for your company. You can get it by clicking here.
Optimize Your Profile
If you’re using Instagram for business purposes, consider your profile to be your website’s homepage. Your profile has only 150 characters, one link, and a couple of action buttons to entice potential customers—so make sure it leaves a positive first impression! First and foremost, make sure you’re using an Instagram business profile. Instagram business accounts provide additional features that allow you to expand your profile, track the performance of your content, and sell on the platform. After that, craft an unforgettable Instagram bio. The following information should be included in your profile: You can share a clickable link in your Instagram bio, which is the only place on the app where you can do so, so this is valuable real estate. You have the option of maintaining a static link to your homepage or changing the link on a regular basis to reflect current content. However, link-in-bio tools such as Buffer’s Shop Grid assist you in using the link more strategically by transforming the single link into a catalog of resources that can be used in conjunction with other content. Additionally, Instagram business accounts have access to Action Buttons, which are additional clickable buttons that can be used to direct users to specific calls to action such as Book Now, Contact, View Shop, and so on. A great way to increase the number of links in your profile and make it easier for your fans to interact with you is to include action buttons. Finally, don’t forget to take into account your grid. Your most recent posts will be displayed in a grid format when people visit your profile page. Avoid sharing posts that are visually similar back-to-back so that your grid remains visually appealing.
Post Consistently
Maintaining a regular posting schedule allows you to appear in the timelines of your target audience more frequently. Instagram strives to show each user the content that they are most likely to enjoy, so it looks for content that is both recent and relevant to the person’s interests, among other things. Instagram’s algorithm employs machine learning to continuously monitor each user’s activity and tailor their timeline to suit their needs and interests. What people don’t see is what they don’t like—posting regularly helps you appear in people’s feeds and provides
them with more opportunities to interact with you. The more they engage with your content, the more likely it is that they will see it in their Instagram timeline.
Analyze Your Results
One of the most important Instagram for business tips we can give you is to look at your Instagram analytics on a consistent basis. If you want to grow your Instagram following, keep your audience engaged, and promote your business, you must closely monitor the performance of your content. Instagram’s built-in analytics tool, Instagram Insights, is a good place to start, but it can only be accessed through the Instagram mobile application. In addition, you’ll have to open up each individual post to check on key metrics such as likes, comments, shares, and saves, which will require additional time. If you want to dig deeper and examine the analytics on a desktop computer, you’ll need to use third-party software. For example, Buffer’s analytics can assist you in tracking trends, comparing post-performance, and creating customized reports based on the metrics that are most important to you. Remember those aspirations we discussed a moment ago? Custom reports can assist you in keeping track of your employees. Keep in mind that metrics are only important if they provide you with useful information. Likes are great for boosting one’s ego, but is that the primary reason you’re using Instagram for business purposes? If you look at metrics that tell you what motivates your fans to keep coming back to your content and paying for your products or services, you’ll be able to gain more useful information. Consider the following scenario: you create a tutorial video for IGTV. Saves and shares indicate that people found the tutorial useful and want to return to it, whereas likes indicate that people are more passive in their response. Likes and new followers, on the other hand, are valuable success metrics if you’re running a brand awareness marketing campaign to raise awareness. When evaluating results, it is important to consider them in the context of the goals you hope to achieve.
Make The Most Of Instagram for Business
It’s simple to get your friends to like photos of your fancy brunch or to garner views with a video of a puppy on your social media accounts. Even though it is more difficult to establish a business account on Instagram, we are willing to bet that you are still following a number of brands from your personal account, as 90 percent of Instagram users do. We’re not suggesting that you copy the strategies of your favorite companies, but that you consider what makes those business accounts worth following and allow that to serve as inspiration. Then, take that inspiration and combine it with the information we’ve provided here to develop an Instagram marketing strategy that is tailored to your company’s needs. Instagram is a powerful tool that can connect you with millions of potential customers, regardless of your business objectives. Starting today, you can use Buffer to manage everything from scheduling to reporting in a centralized location
Follow Techwaver for more Technology and Business News.
