Instagram is an important tool for businesses in this day and age. In a time where social media is so accessible, why not use it to your businesses advantage? We constantly see businesses popping up all over instagram, but how can you effectively use Instagram for your business? I’m going to provide you with 5 tips on how to utilise your Business Instagram to the best of your ability.
Express what you do in a creative fashion
Instagram is a visual platform, so the content you produce must be aesthetic and pleasing to your customer’s eye. It is vital to your own original visual identity – a vibe your audience will remember you by. You can execute this by having a recurring theme of colours and similar styles of photography and videography. Remember, it is not all about the product you are selling, but more importantly the value of the solution you are providing to your consumers, therefore it is crucial you add value to your content. Illustrate to your audience the process behind your daily business. Share your brand beliefs, culture and image via the use of photos, GIFs and short videos. It is essential you know your audience, so you can create content that fits their needs, wants and desires, all whilst staying true to your brand image.
Make your audience feel exclusive
Humans have a natural curiosity for more and customers love to know the roots of their purchases and investments, whether that be from images from 1st day production or basic sketches of an idea. It makes your consumer feel included in the process of their investment and therefore making them feel more at one with the product or service you are offering to them. This can be especially useful for companies that pride themselves on environmentally friendly products, whether that be eco-friendly, vegan or against animal testing. It shows your truthfulness, which is in line with your company beliefs, and makes consumers want more from you in the future.
Collaborate with influencers and fellow businesses
Show that you’re a sought after brand by collaborating with Instagram influencers and fellow businesses. This not only shows that what you’re offering is worthwhile, but that your business is open minded and embraces their competition. This can say a lot about your brand and will positively impact your reputation. There are two types of ways you can do this – shout-outs or paid shout-outs. An unpaid shout is usually when you partner up with another brand that has a similar amount of followers as you do and promote each other’s products and services. Both companies then benefit from this increased exposure to both audiences. Now, if you have a wider budget, you’re more likely to opt for a paid shout-out. This usually involves the assistance of an Instagram influencer. In short, you would be paying for an “influencer campaign” and, if the influencer has a dedicated following and a gripping campaign for your product, can gain you an extremely large audience.
Expand your outreach
Three important tools to expand your outreach… hashtags, giveaways, stories. It is so vital in expanding your outreach that you use your hashtags wisely. Do not overdo it and only make your hashtags relevant to what you are providing and the content you are producing. It can look scary and unprofessional to overload your captions with hashtags. Nowadays there are a lot of giveaways on Instagram, from beauty treatments, to makeup and even to events. In uploading a giveaway, you are asking your followers to tag a friend, follow your page, share the giveaway post on their story and tag your business in it. If your giveaway is appealing enough, you will gain a lot of exposure to the followers of your current followers. It’s a great way to get your name out there quickly and effectively. The use of stories is also a great tool to utilise. Of course a potential new follower will scroll through previous content, but they will be more inclined to view your story to find out what you are all about. It’s an interactive way for them to find out what you’re all about without the mundane and monotonous task of scrolling through your feed.
Utilising these tips to your advantage can expand your following on Instagram and help to solidify a reputable brand image on social media. If you would like more help using social media to grow your business, reach out to one of the team at Mint Content.
