Social media has a sole purpose. Simply to connect. From a business perspective, we will use social media to connect with customers. Starting a conversation can help to get customers to know your company and posting regularly keeps the conversation going.
Instagram is one of the best platforms to reach your audience, with an estimated over 1 billion users a month and over 25 million brands, you need to make your profile stand out amongst the competition.
CREATE A FEASIBLE PLAN WITH REALISTIC GOALS
Firstly, you need to create a social media plan that is easy to follow but also easy to change and adapt when needed. Marketing trends are ever-changing, so you may need to adjust your content from time to time. Creating a plan will help to define your business strategy and how you will engage your customers with your brand. You also need to identify how you will measure results. Instagram has tools on the platform to measure your results, such as engagement and following.When creating your plan, be sure to identify key social events you want to post around, however, make sure they are relevant to your brand. If you are not in support of a certain movement or if a key event doesn’t relate to your visual identity, then do not post about it. This will firstly not identify with your following and could also lead to controversy if it looks as though you’re trying to profit off of something you don’t support. So ensure you choose your key events accordingly. Also, take a look at your competitors and document their most successful posts. You don’t want to directly copy other accounts, be researching your competition will give you an idea of what’s getting the most attention in your field.
CHOOSE A RELEVANT USERNAME
Once you have planned your content, you need to create an account. This is a simple step, but when creating your profile, ensure that the username is centred around your business name. If your business name is already taken on Instagram, try one of the following:@officialbrandname@brandnameofficial@brandname_@brandname.official
SWITCH TO A BUSINESS PROFILE
This is extremely easy to do and is the only way you’ll be able to see analytics surrounding your posts. To do this follow the below steps.
BE SMART ABOUT YOUR BIO
You have 150 characters to get across what your business is about, so ensure to include relevant information, such as a catchy mission statement or the services you provide (great for agencies). Use fun and relevant emojis to make your bio more eye-catching. Don’t forget to link your website. A great tip to get your profile noticed is to include your type of service in your name.
DESIGN HIGHLIGHTS TO MATCH YOUR BRANDING
It’s important that you are consistent with your branding right across your content and your entire profile. Remember you are trying to attract new customers, so when people come to your profile, they need to know exactly what your brand is about from one glance. Highlights can showcase some of your best story content, so creating icons to display this will help with brand consistency.
CREATE YOUR CONTENT
Instagram is a visual-first platform, so your posts need to be compelling enough to attract attention. Make sure your content is of high quality and aesthetically pleasing. Unsure what to post? Check out some ideas below to get you started –
BTS (Behind The Scenes) Content: A photoshoot coming up? Just sorted your new office space? Customers love seeing the ins and outs of what goes into a brand. Content like this is more personable and allows consumers to connect
Motivational Quotes and/or Text-Based Images: If you have a graphic designer in-house, you may want to post some branded quotes or text-based imagery. Ensure these are on-brand, using your brand colours and fonts and that they include your logo.
Post people using your product: Whether this is customer re-posts or blogger content, showing that people actually use your product is a great way of attracting customers.
Product Flat Lays: This can be a great way to showcase what you sell and you can take these just from your iPhone. Play around with adding props and nice backgrounds to make your post stand out.
DON’T OVERDO IT ON THE HASHTAGS
It’s easy to get carried away with hashtags. Make sure you hashtag your brand name and only use relevant hashtags for your brand and post. The algorithm on Instagram is constantly changing, so check what the most popular hashtags are daily and adjust with every new post you do. Do NOT encourage follow or like swapping. This looks unprofessional and will easily get lost in the algorithm.
REMEMBER THAT THE LIKES AND COMMENTS YOU RECEIVE ARE FROM REAL PEOPLE! ENGAGE BACK
When we are posting as a brand, it’s easy to forget that people sit behind the screen. When someone has engaged with your content, reply back! You become more personable and build a strong relationship with your customers, meaning they’re going to want to return to your brand and profile.
KEEP REFINING YOUR STRATEGY
The algorithm is ever-changing and the content you post will respond differently with your followers compared to your competition. Make sure you are using analytics to refine and change your content to suit your audience. So now is the time to get started. Don’t hesitate. There’s no perfect formula to grow your Instagram. It’s about consistency through branding, posting and connecting.
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