What is Instagram? Why is it important to use it? These are common questions people have when thinking about starting social media marketing for their companies. Instagram is the ultimate platform for sharing photos and has around 1.16 active users on the site. The site also has a ton of influencers who each have their own massive number of followers. This platform allows for companies and small businesses to amass large followings, which help bring in new customers. We have listed some tips to help your business succeed on this popular platform.
Switch Your Profile to the Business Side
Before you start thinking about a marketing plan for Instagram, make sure you switch your profile to an Instagram Business Account. This is a super simple step; all you do is just go into the settings and click “Switch to Business Profile”. There are some great benefits to switching your account to a business profile.
An example of these benefits is that you can have your followers click your contact button to get in touch with you directly on your Instagram page. This makes it easier for them to reach out to you. You also can create and publish Instagram ads, without needing to use Facebook’s advertising tools. This comes in handy in case you do not have a business Facebook account. Another great perk about having a business account is that you can get access to Instagram’s analytics tools. They are known as Insights which provide you with statistics about the reach and impressions of your posts. Unlocking these perks allows your business to really track and understand your audience, and even gain new customers.
Use the Free Marketing Tools on Instagram
Instagram and Facebook have similar business profiles. Through Insights, you are able to see different types of statistics like engagement data, impressions, and more. There is even an option to get a breakdown of the demographics of your followers. This can include information on their location, gender, age, and even their most active times. These insights aren’t just over your whole account. You can get insights on posts for the week that shows what your top post was, and how many impressions you earned. The more you can learn about how your audience reacts to your posts, the more you can adjust your content to improve overall engagements.
Collect Photos from Users
The best way for you to create more user engagement on your page is by posting user-submitted photos. You already have an audience that is engaged. No matter if it is hundreds of people or thousands, you can leverage your audience to gain useful content for your business. Your followers will enjoy the user-generated content because it is unpredictable and authentic. When you do this, we recommend you make sure to use “#regram” or “#repost” and tag the user who posted the photo. This was you are not seen directly stealing from your audience, and you are able to credit the user who took the photo.
You may be wondering how you get your users to create this kind of engaging content without being pushy. It’s a fairly simple process, as your audience probably wants to grow their own following, just like you do. Just let them know that you will tag them in your post if you choose to regram their photo. This is the incentive that will drive them to create user-generated content on a consistent basis. It’s a win-win situation for both you and your followers.
Use the Instagram Stories Feature
Instagram Stories is a newer feature that has become quite popular on this social media platform. It is where users and creators can post in a “slideshow” format. Similar to Snapchat’s story feature, they are only live for 24 hours, however, you can save your own stories to your device. This allows users to be able to reuse their old stories at a later date. These stories are displayed above the regular newsfeed, and all users have access to this feature. Once a user clicks on your photo at the top, a new window appears that will show them your story.
The benefits of these stories are endless. For starters, they are automatically displayed at the top of the newsfeeds of all of your followers. This gives them immediate access to your content, where they can check it daily. Businesses use the stories feature to show more of the behind-the-scenes of what they do. It also can be used to give a more human aspect to your business.
Instagram is currently dominating the social media world. It’s best to get your business involved in this type of social media marketing, so you can benefit from sites such as Instagram. If you have any questions about social media marketing give us a call at Hometown Marketing Group today!
