Whether your business is landscape gardening, a bakery or florist. You may even run an accountancy firm or provide an event co-ordination service. What do these, and all small businesses, have in common? You want to be seen. And, with the 2018 digital marketing trends indicating that being visual is vital, isn’t it time you explored Instagram for business?
Why you should use Instagram?
People tend to remember what they see than what they read or hear, and with a picture being worth more than a thousand words, it seems to make sense to have an Instagram profile for your business. Since September 2017, it has noted that the social media platform has around ‘800 million monthly active users*’– a huge audience you really don’t want to miss out on. A popular inbound marketing tool, Instagram allows customers to interact with content that is already tailored towards them.
How to use Instagram and maximise your social media page
I’m sure the question you’re asking is how can my small business get noticed in a sea of millions of users. Don’t worry, there are a few tricks that can help boost your posts and get your Instagram page off the ground.
#HASHTAG! This means you can reach out to more people on the platform. Furthermore, users can now follow specific hashtags they are interested in. What might you hashtag? For a smaller business, ideas for hashtags can include where your business is located or who you want to target. You’re also going to want to hashtag the focus point of your business. You can use up to 30 hashtags so don’t be shy.Here’s an example that Smart Cow might use on a post: #purley #southlondon #marketing #SEO #PPC #websitedevelopment #emailmarketing.
FOLLOW RELATED ACCOUNTS! Keep your account formal and professional and refrain from following everyone you come across. Make sure you follow similar companies/pages, and both current and potential clients. You can create another account for personal use!
PLAN! Make sure you come up with creative captions and useful hashtags. Also think about a theme or layout out for your page so that it looks aesthetically appealing. Perhaps a colour scheme, or a pattern of posts. Most importantly make sure you post frequently and keep it up to date.
USE A BUSINESS ACCOUNT! Instagram has recently introduced business accounts. It allows you to create photo and video ads with links to your website. You’ll be able to; tailor ads to reach the audience you want, have easy contact information for client’s, and access to analytics.
A few other things to do are:
• Use Insta stories
• Live videos
• Direct Message
Who are the top Instagram users?
Believe it or not but amongst all those A-List celebrities with millions of follows there are also Dogs reigning the world of Instagram. Marnie the Dog, has a huge following of 2.1 million and is also verified on Instagram, or there’s Doug The Pug verified with 3.3 million and is raking in money from his own line of merchandise!
Social media agency Croydon
If you want to keep up with the pets who rule Instagram, contact Smart Cow, we specialise in digital marketing including social media management. We can help elevate your platform to a high standard and give you a kick start.
Source: *www.statista.com