Instagram is no longer just a one photo at a time posting app. It has become such a phenomenon amongst the young crowd that in the recent years the social media has over 600 million active users. This platform has transformed from a fun social media to a great marketing platform for your business as it helps you to reach out to potential customers not just near you but all over the world as well.  

Instagram gives your business the kind of online exposure that may prove very beneficial to you and your business. Here’s seven marketing tips that will surely boost your business through Instagram.

1.      First step: Create a business profile with a solid bio

Your business will not grow as steadily if you have a normal account on Instagram. So, switch to a business account and get use of its full benefits. Some of which are:

Ø  There is a high chance that you will get customers via Instagram without them having to visit your website.

Ø  You will get access to analytics tools that will help you track your activity and engagement with stats like impressions, reach and follower information.

Ø  Without the help of Facebook’s advertising tools, you can easily create and publish ads and promote yourselves.

With all these benefits, wouldn’t it surely help your business grow? Of course!

Well, just a business profile will not suffice, your bio needs to be strong and informative as well to get noticed. Make sure that your business bio clearly states what your business is about, what it does and the kind of audience it is looking for. For this, you need to mainly take care of your profile photo, username, a short description, your website link and some sure to click CTAs.

 

2.      Use creative content to engage more with your users

To grab the attention of the desired audience, you need to pay extra attention to your content. Take time, research and prepare your content in advance so as to stay in loop with the viral trend and post accordingly. But make sure that your content is relevant and useful.

If you want your audience to know about your product, then include product-centric videos and images with relative caption and links. Other than the product, you can post pictures and clips of your employees, customer feedback, work space or something personal so as to connect with your audience on a more personal level.

3.      Keep in mind the caption length

After a glance at your photo or video, the next thing an Instagram user does is read the caption. This is where the actual engagement starts.

So, what do you think is the ideal length for the caption?

Well, a study done by Sprout Social says that for maximum engagement, the caption should be within 138-150 characters and the hashtags should 5-10 characters. As you may have noticed that Instagram only displays the first three lines of your caption and hides the rest behind more. So, it would be ideal to put your caption within the stated limit.

4.      Create engaging hashtags to interact more

Don’t assume that using viral and popular hashtags will drive engagement to your post. Also, the myth – the more the merrier. Nope, not in case of hashtags. You need to make sure that you use hashtags in the correct and the most useful way.

One of the easiest method is to make a hashtag for your brand or product and then using it on many of your posts. This is called Brand Specific hashtags and are usually catchy lines or slogans. Your aim is to allow customers to post images with your product and using this hashtag. In short, more exposure, that too freely!!!

Another way is to use Content hashtags relevant to your product and use them in between your captions. This is a simpler hashtag and are mostly just for informative purpose, but it will surely make you discoverable.

Bonus tip: Include location tags along with your post for more engagement.

5.      Photos or Videos: Which drives more audience?

In case of Facebook, videos have become so popular that photos seem bland compared to it. But for Instagram, it a bit unclear.  

The best content to be posted highly depends on your business and your brand, the type of message that you are trying to convey. So, for some photos may work wonders and for some videos are the way to go. Well, you need to experiment this on your own. Post some photos and then post some videos. Take in the insights and compare the engagement performance. The results will tell you what works for you.

6.      Instagram Stories are hard to ignore

The best thing about an Instagram story is that it disappears after 24 hours. So, you must be thinking – “How will that benefit me?” It’s simple. Since the story will be gone in a few hours, viewers will share amongst their circle and even send direct messages to you with the time constraint. Also, you can post relevant and creative content with such stories to have a more engaging relation with your notice and promote your brand simultaneously. Another good thing is that, you don’t have to invest as much time preparing your story as compared to the prep needed for a post.

7.      Use other social media channels to promote your Instagram posts

If you have active followers on other social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, then invite them to follow you on Instagram as well. This is known as cross-promotion and helps you to get more exposure and increase your followers, hence giving a boost to your brand. Also, using various social media channels to promote your brand or product ensures that you reach out to as many people as possible and stay connected with them.  

So, does your business have an active Instagram profile? If not, then it’s high time you set up one. Try out these tips and see the success for yourselves.