An unbelievable 500 million users actively engage with Instagram every month and this is an upward trend, with the figure only likely to increase. This huge volume of potential customers means businesses need to be tapping into this social media platform and using it effectively for their business. Instagram for business is an extremely powerful tool when used properly, but where do you begin?
Building your Business Instagram
There are three key things to keep in mind when setting up your business Instagram account:
Stand out in your Bio
Writing a creative, engaging and interesting bio is essential. In less than a second most visitors will have formed an opinion of your brand, so do your best to make it a good one. Get across the essence your company, whether that’s your core products or simply your tagline. Appeal to your target customer directly and keep the tone in line with your brand voice.
Don’t Forget your Link
The Instagram bio is the only place you can put a clickable link so you need to make it a good one. Most Instagram accounts use this single link as a chance to drive content to their homepage but you could choose to link it to a specific campaign or landing page, or even your latest piece of content.
Consider Instagram Business
Instagram has launched a range of dedicated business tools which help you to delve deeper into how users interact with your account. When you convert your profile into a Business one you can add in additional information including phone number, email address and physical business address.
How to Get the Most from Instagram for Business
If you want your Instagram marketing to succeed, then you need to work it in the right way. In time, you’ll trial different methods and find what works for you but the following styles of post and content go down well:
Be Creative about your Business
Focus your photographs and content on the solutions you provide, even if you’re a product-based business. The hard sell will not work on Instagram. Customers want value added to their streams, not blatant advertising. If you run a service orientated business then focus on the people behind the scenes, your company culture and even snaps of things such as meetings in progress, brainstorming or even share your industry tips and hints.
Go Behind the Scenes
Much like microvideo formats, Instagram is great for giving your followers a sneak peek at behind the scenes. Use Instagram to show customers the lifecycle of your products or services. From the first prototypes to the construction of products to the notebooks filled with sketches and whiteboards covered in potential product and brand names you decided against. This fun, light-hearted approach will help your followers warm to your business and appreciate the chance to get the inside track.
Remember Hashtags and @Mentions
Instagram makes it easy to further the reach of your content with its users au fait and used to using hashtags for everything. Best practice dictates you should use between five and ten hashtags to your Instagram posts and with a little research you can find those most suitable for your audience and to position you against your competitors. Highlighting collaborators and showing off customer responses is also easy with the @mention function. Mentioning other brands which align with your values and match your mission can help expand your reach and they may return the favour.
To get the most out of your Instagram Business account you have to invest time and effort to develop your following and then deliver content which suits their feed. This requires continual analysis and adapting your content to suit your audience. Like all social media marketing services, it does take time to get used to but the results are worth it.
