A marketing strategy for Instagram guides your account and helps you figure out what to post.
As with any strategy, defining your goal is the best place to start. Instagram for small businesses can help you achieve any number of goals. Once you settle on the specific objectives, you can create your strategy.
Ideas for your Instagram marketing strategy include:
- Building a community by engaging your audience with thoughtful captions
- Giving your product more context with video tutorials
- Showing off your company’s personality with unique posts
- Increasing conversions with shoppable posts
- Enhancing brand awareness with curated content
Defining your target audience is also an Instagram for business best practice
Once you know who you’re aiming to reach, you can tailor your content to fit that audience. Different social media platforms are better for particular audiences, so ensure your Instagram content is targeted at its key demographics.
Creating a social media calendar goes a long way, as well. It helps you plan out your posts and ensure you’re posting consistently. Setting up a calendar can give you time to prepare for events, such as holidays and product launches.
Content To Post on Instagram for Small Business
Content is one of the best ways to build your Instagram following. If you post quality content, it’ll be easier to amass followers because they’ll want to see what you share. It’s an Instagram for business best practice to be thoughtful with the content you post.
There are various ideas for the types of content you could post that all depend on your brand and goals, such as:
- How-tos
- Behind the scenes
- Q&As
- Customer testimonials
- Giveaways and contests
- Product tutorials
- Sneak peeks
- User-generated content
- Announcements
- Trending topics
Instagram helps give your customers insight into your brand and tells them your personality, aesthetic, passions, and story.
Go beyond just promoting your product into what your brand represents. Red Bull and GoPro are two companies that have physical products. But their Instagram pages capture adventure, adrenaline, and action.
Post what your audience cares about. If you run a business that sells rock climbing equipment, it’s a good bet your customers care about rock climbing. You can share information about the sport, interviews with rock climbers, tips, stories, reviews, or even memes. Don’t despair if you think your business doesn’t lend easily to content. There are still plenty of ways to take advantage. You can post customer testimonials, interviews, graphics, quotes, or animations that always capture the essence of your company and brand. If you need more inspiration, look at your competitors’ social media profiles or brands you admire.
Instagram for Business Best Practices
To make the most out of your Instagram marketing, here are some of the best Instagram business tips.
Craft the Perfect Bio
Your Instagram Bio is essential because it is one of the only places you can put a link. So there’s a good chance you’ll be directing people to it often. Moreover, this is where you establish your company. Use the 150-character space strategically. Introduce people to your company and tell them what to do once they land on your page with a call to action.
Post More Than Just Photos — Create Videos, Stories, Reels
Remember that Instagram is more than just photos. Diversify your posts by using video posts or IGTV, which lets you post up to 60-minute videos. Stories are also valuable tools on Instagram for businesses, with one-third of the most-viewed Instagram Stories posted by companies.
And don’t forget about Reels Instagram’s competitor to TikTok, which companies are gaining popularity with, such as Louis Vuitton.
Engage With Your Followers
Social media is about being social. Take the opportunity to talk to your customers and interact with them. Ask questions in your posts, create polls, put interactive stickers on your stories, and respond to comments from your audience.
Create an Aesthetic
Follow a visual aesthetic with what you post so if someone looks at your page, it looks cohesive when tiled together. Make sure the photos flow together and use similar fonts and accent colors like Under Armour's use of red and white, which are used in its logo.
Use Hashtags Strategically
Hashtags are still one of the best features to use on Instagram to connect with certain audiences. Plus, users can follow a specific hashtag to see similar content. Use hashtags for your product, industry, location, and other relevant details. Follow Instagram for business best practices, and don’t overload your posts with several hashtags. You can use up to 30, but your posts look spammy with too many. The sweet spot is around 11 hashtags. Consider creating a brand-specific hashtag like #ShareACoke. It helps with branding and is an excellent way to connect with customers and find user-generated content, to share on your page with their permission.
Instagram for small businesses is an excellent tool to help you succeed with goals, including promotion, conversions, awareness, and content creation. The possibilities of the platform can be tailored to your company’s needs and creativity.
Devote time to creating an Instagram marketing strategy and think about what kind of content you want to post. Make use of an Instagram business account and keep in mind all the different methods to optimize your account, like hashtags and a comprehensive bio.
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