You’ve probably realised Instagram’s power. The platform offers various advantages for small businesses, from customer complaints to a product going viral, leveling the proverbial digital playing field between small and large firms. However, because it has been there for a while, there is so much information on how brands may use it. From utilising the platform’s capabilities to specific suggestions for expanding your digital footprint, continue reading to know how to use Instagram for small businesses.
Instagram for Small Businesses
When well-managed, Instagram can offer small businesses a wide range of benefits. If you’re utilising Instagram for small businesses, you’ll need a documented Instagram marketing strategy. Yes, even if the account is only managed by you.
A study by Instagram found that 81% of users used the platform to research products and services. Don’t let the lack of network access prevent you from obtaining a large number of clients. Continue reading for advice on how to use Instagram for small businesses.
1. Get started: Create your profile
You may giggle at this, but it’s an important reminder. Check out your Instagram profile once you’ve set it up as a business account. New features and settings are added regularly, so It is a good idea to see if there are any new features to try out. Among the basics, you should consider are business categories, hours, location, a contact method, and connecting any product or service catalogs. It is important to ensure that the details of your profile, such as your bio and profile picture, are consistent with your overall social media branding.
2. Make sure your bio-link is optimised
Social media managers have been inventive in how to make the most of Instagram’s solitary link box. In posts, it’s become usual to refer to your “link in bio,” and to use this link to serve up a landing page with a mix of new content and evergreen connections to your most significant product and service pages.
3. Add a geotag to your posts
When posting from your small business’s actual location, include the name of the location. In case you neglected to do so when you originally posted, you can modify previous posts. What is the purpose of geotagging? Instagram gathers all the posts tagged with that area and categorises them as top or recent. Customer images are mixed in with your brand photos. The “View Information” link in the top-right corner will take you to information about the selected business. All this contributes to brand awareness and assists clients in researching your company.
4. Highlights are a great way to show off what your company is all about
Stories Highlights allow you to share even more information about your business on an app and utilise Instagram for small businesses. Highlights let you collect those Stories into an easy source of evergreen content by displaying them on your profile after they would normally disappear. Since they will be visible above your grid, you should start with the basics, which include:
- About: A few posts about your values, hours, and brand.
- If you have many locations, talk about each one and include images from each one.
- Feedback from customers: repurpose posts on customer feeds or create a visual that promotes reviews that come from other sources.
- FAQs: Provide answers to frequently asked questions. You’ll save time when responding to consumers because you’ll be able to direct them to this Highlight.
5. Make a guide
Guides let you gather your favorite posts into a single piece of content, much like Instagram Highlights. It is written in an editorial style, almost like an essay. The application allows you to store posts from your feed and others’ feeds.
The caption field of each embed lets you provide more details about the product or venue you are promoting. Guides are fantastic for building a list of site recommendations, and the ideas already given in the Highlights section. In case you are hesitant about using this feature, don’t be. You can store drafts of guides until you’re ready to publish them.
6. Read the captions carefully
It is your opening sentence that will capture viewers’ attention, determining whether they will continue to read. After paying attention to the first line of your caption, you should check the rest of it. With Instagram’s latest addition to keyword search, what you write in your caption is more crucial than ever. You used to be cutesy or stylised with your words, and while you can still do so, you should make sure you’re using terms that you want others to associate with you. This could include your brand and product names, as well as broad terms linked to your business sector, similar to basic keyword research.
7. Constantly use instagram live
Going live soon became more popular for companies in 2020 when marketing managers and business owners found themselves working from home but still wanting to communicate with customers.
Using Instagram Live has so many advantages. Followers are notified when an account they follow goes live, and that is the biggest advantage. It is an essential use of Instagram for small businesses, to maintain real-time communication, especially if you intend to stand out in the network.
8. Make “followers-only” promos available
Everyone enjoys a good bargain. But a one-time sale? That’s putting FOMO (fear of missing out) and urgency into play. If you offer a limited-time followers-only promotion, it gives your followers still more reason to stay engaged and return for the next one. The countdown Stories sticker will make promotions more surprising if you want to create a buzz or run a flash sale.
9. Organise a giveaway
Hosting a giveaway is one of the best ways to expand your Instagram account naturally. Free things are something that people enjoy even more than a good sale. Depending on how you structure the gift, you might be able to get more post-engagement. Add conditions such as saving a post, commenting on a post, or forwarding it to a friend and encouraging people to follow your account. You can also collaborate with other small businesses with a similar target audience to increase brand exposure.
10. Organise a takeover
Hosting a takeover or taking over another business account is another strategy to improve brand awareness for your small business. Typically, a social media takeover entails a series of pre-scheduled posts spread out over a while. Some take a whole day to complete, while others upload every day for a week. These posts can be feed-only, stories-only, Live, or a combination of all of Instagram’s posting options. Introduce the individual, discuss the topics they’ll be covering, post the takeover’s contents, and conclude with a last goodbye.
11. Increase the time you spend on DM
Creating that connection between you and your customer is one component of community building, which takes time. Personal messaging is a great way to do this. Increasing your DM usage does not imply that you must just react. You should also interact with the customer on their feed and in their tales. As your Instagram DM usage grows, you’ll need a way to keep track of all the messages.
12. Keep track of your data
Keep an eye on your Instagram stats. Your tactics will fail if you don’t have statistics to back up your gut feeling of success. If you’re just getting started, you can use the Instagram app or Facebook to get your native insights. You should also be aware of the distinctions between impressions, reach, and other network-specific metrics.
Conclusion
You can begin by reviewing this list of effective use of Instagram for small businesses, use to increase your presence on the social media platform. Adding strategies like using Stories Highlights and using Instagram Live regularly to your Instagram strategy can help you develop a relationship with your clients.
