In recent years Instagram has proven to be one of the most important platforms for digital marketing. The firm has hundreds of millions of users and an incredibly engaged audience. The scrolling photos connect with consumers who like, comment, follow, share and engage over and over again. That makes the platform and incredible tool to create lasting impressions in consumers.
Businesses can get out a powerful message that converts to real revenue. There are a few tips to make sure that you use this platform to be the best of your ability.
How a business can get started with instagram.
1. Utilize Instagram Stories
Stories are the short video clips that are displayed very prominently in user feeds. They are right under the logo at the top of the page within the circles. They can include behind-the-scenes content that is not as high quality as the photos because they are temporary. You can even play around with different lighting, transitions, text and fun filters to see what gets the best reaction. Finally, make sure to tag other prominent accounts and influencers so that it shows up in other people’s feeds. Stories receive extremely high engagement and are a great way to connect with consumers more informally.
2. Create a Clear Bio
Once someone sees an intriguing post, they are likely to visit your corporate bio to learn more. This should include a well made logo that is descriptive or potent visually. It should include the name of the company as well as a tag line that describes what you do. For example, you might say “Green Architects – Delivering the highest quality, sustainable housing”. Next, insert a couple hashtags that will help people searching to find your profile. Hashtags like #greenhomes, #envirohomes could be good examples. Lastly, include your website and potentially a phone number or email address.
3. Post Regularly
No matter how high quality or innovative your post, the odds are that only a small portion of your followers will view and engage with each one. You probably will not get more than 10% or 20% of your followers to see each post. For that reason, you have to be sure to post regularly with on average a post a day. Accounts that post more than once per day are even more likely to be in their follower’s feeds and gain additional followers.
Repetition is one of the keys to this form of marketing because the more a follower sees your post, the more they engage with the brand. Over time they will feel more connected and be much more likely to buy.
4. Make Sure to Include Many Hashtags
Each post should include several hashtags in the comments section. These will appear harmlessly underneath the photo. However, they are instrumental at attracting new followers that are searching for that topic. The Instagram algorithm will utilize the hashtags to organize your post to group with other similar posts and pop up on the screens of people that will likely become followers. It is also a fun, creative way to add personality to your posts.
5. Collaborate with Others
The best way to get new followers is to team up with another account or influencer who has a broader reach or a different segment of the population. You can make a formal agreement with an influencer to pay them in exchange for tagging you and highlighting your products. However, a much more fruitful partnership might be to simply team up with another company and tag each other in frequent posts. That way, followers from one account will flow to the other and vice versa. Both companies will grow their follower counts and hopefully increase revenue as a result.
ThinkFlame is a leading digital marketing firm. For more information, please contact us.
Cassandra is the Content & Social Media Strategist at ThinkFlame. There is no challenge too big or too small. She enjoys creating, integrating and managing online communities and working with clients to building up their social footprint.