Instagram has rapidly grown in popularity as both a social media platform and a useful tool for marketers in its short six-year history. There are already more than 400 million people who log on each month, and 80 million photos are created each day. The platform has an unmatched engagement rate when compared to other social networking sites because it is a mobile-based application that allows users the ability to submit photographs and videos.
How to Create an Account for Your Business?
Instagram is an app-based social media platform in contrast to other social media. Consequently, downloading the app on your smartphone is the best place to start when setting up your business account. Once downloaded, you will have the option to sign up for an account by using your Facebook login. Use caution with this! It frequently connects to your personal Facebook account rather than your business page. After you’re all set up on Instagram, make a different account using your work email and manually link it to each of your other social media profiles to prevent this.
Selecting the ideal profile photo is the final step in account setup, and it’s crucial! To achieve this, click the +Photo button and select a picture of your logo, place of business, or other instantly recognisable symbol of your brand.
How to Post on Instagram?
The next step is to create your first posts once your Instagram account is fully configured. Try to write these initial posts as soon as you can before you start requesting followers and growing your audience. By doing this, visitors to your page will have something to glance at to get a sense of your brand.
1) Hashtags: Instagram users can use hashtags to filter and find new content and accounts to follow. In order to increase the exposure of your postings, it is crucial for your business to include at least one hashtag in each one. Hashtags can be a terrific method to increase exposure for your posts on Instagram since you can use up to 30 of them in a post or comment, especially if you’re just starting out. In Instagram’s search tab, you may explore popular hashtags to uncover chances for your company to participate in pertinent conversations.
2) Caption: Depending on their Instagram marketing plan, firms can get creative with the 2,200-character limit on Instagram’s captions. The answer in this situation is to stick to your style. Will you or won’t you write captions? Emojis and hashtags will they have them or not? Will you change the URL in your bio so readers can click on a pertinent link? Since each of these approaches to Instagram captions is successful, it’s best to choose one and stay with it for your company.
3) Use the link in your bio: As we briefly said previously, Instagram only permits clickable URLs in the bio. Because of this, businesses can update this link to reflect the most recent content, offers, or events. The URL can point to a blog post, the corporate website, or any other page with additional details on the campaign or event the brand wants to promote. Since URLs can be pretty long, try using a tool like goo.gl to shorten it and enable your brand to track the followers that click on that specific Instagram link to visit your website.
4) Influencers: Instagram is a fantastic medium for influencer marketing initiatives. When you’re first starting out, it can not only help you expand your audience, but it can also help you establish trust with both your target market and other firms in the same niche. Continue reading to learn more about this and to get these suggestions!
The best Instagram post formats
There are a tonne of things you can share on Instagram that can improve interaction and promote your brand. A few of these are:
1) Behind-the-scenes photos are a terrific method for a brand to show off both the character of the business and give a sneak peek into a new project that the business has in the works. For instance, a post showcasing an ongoing fashion shoot including a few brand-new items from a spring collection can promote excitement, engagement, and anticipation before the collection is made available.
2) Timely posts assist the business in demonstrating that they are knowledgeable about both current affairs and online trends. There are now holidays to honour “National Sibling Day,” “National Croissant Day,” and many other topics. A firm may truly benefit from it with a similar post if it can keep track of the days that are important to its target audience and brand, like the one from Starbucks below.
3) GIFS and hyperlapse help to keep your followers’ attention for a few extra seconds as they pause to view the video you’ve created or posted. These posts can feature your goods, a function you organised, or just an amusing item. Animals are a popular topic on Instagram right now; whether or not your business is directly tied to animals, putting an animal in your post can assist to enhance interaction.
4) One of the best ways to use Instagram is through contests and giveaways. They are a significant engagement booster and quite simple to use by adding a URL to the bio, mentioning followers in comments, or creating your own contest hashtag. A contest may be implemented in a variety of ways, and by doing so on the platform known as the “King of Social Engagement,” you can be sure to expand your audience and up the frequency of interactions with them. An effective Instagram giveaway we ran for one of our clients is shown here as an example.
