Social Media

Well, Instagram doesn’t literally go shopping, but it is trialling a new shopping function.

So, if you’re a business to consumer (B2C) brand and your target audience is on Instagram then this could, at some point in the not so distance future, be an interesting avenue to explore.

Currently Instagram has the ability for businesses to place shopping-enabled adverts, as already seen on Facebook. These appear like a catalogue of images but allow the customer to buy without leaving the site.

This is in its early days with only a couple of big fashion and beauty brands utilising it, but is already an indicator of how the channel may evolve. But, the difference with this new shopping function, currently being trialled in the US, is that it allows you to tag products in a post and each of these tags carries more product detail. This is great for a retail brand giving potential buyers loads more information and quickly. While these new functions are in their early stages, why not review your channel to get it up to speed and ready for these new options.

Review your hashtags

Reach out to more potential customers and followers by reviewing the hashtags you’re using. Look at which hashtags your competitors are using. Are there any key influencers in your industry that you should be following? If so, what do they use? When you use the search function to look at hashtags don’t forget to look at those ‘related’ to your search as they could lead you to other popular hashtags.

Branding and content

Make sure your branding is consistent across all your social media channels. Your customers want to feel happy moving from one platform to the next. People like familiarity. Not only is it important to have stunning, eye-catching imagery, it is also vital to have engaging content. Getting likes and comments is good, but creating interesting comment that entices people to comment on your posts also mean that the Instagram algorithm will favour you more.

Future shopping

So, if you start to make headway now and get your Instagram channel into tip top shape, you’ll be in a great position as and when the new shopping function is available.

Social media Croydon

Incorporating social media into your marketing strategy can raise brand awareness and online presence. Visit our blog for tips on how you can improve social media presence.

If you feel you need support in getting your business noticed on social media, then get in touch with Smart Cow Marketing to discuss your needs further.

With the new year underway and plans a plenty for kick starting the year with the goal of getting your business message out there, considering a digital marketing strategy will help set you on your way. So, if you’re embarking on a social media push, we’ve got a few tips for you in our series of blogs. Here, we explore Instagram. Instagram’s a great way for businesses to raise brand awareness, while also interacting with their consumers.

Company bio

First things first, what do you do? The space for your company bio offers 150 characters to spell out what you do. With such a limited amount of words take a bit of time to think about what you should include. Think about who your target audience is? Make sure the phrases you use are relevant to them.

Contact details

Remember to add a call to action as well as a telephone number or email address so potential customers can get in touch.

It is important to include your website details in your bio too as in an Instagram post you can’t click on links, so make sure you have a link in your bio. You will often see people write ‘link in bio’ when they post, so when you have a new blog on your website simply update the web address so you have a direct link to it. Then change it when you have something new you want to highlight.

Be visual

Include emojis in your bio to make it visual, but make sure they are relevant, for example if you are a photographer use a camera emoji.

Make your page visual, from time to time check that your homepage looks consistent. If you have a couple of blurry images these will look out of place if all the other posts are pristine.

Hashtags

Research relevant hashtags to not only use in your posts but also think about creating one for your products or services. Use it in your bio to help extend reach and encourage others to share images with that hashtag. For example, Caffe Nero uses #CoffeeAndBlue in its bio. This way customers can share their lovely coffee images and Caffe Nero has a way of seeing what is posted. They can then easily choose images to repost – but don’t forget to credit the instagrammer when you repost.

Posts

Keep your posts succinct and to the point with the aim of directing traffic to your website for more detail, offers, tips and advice.

Social media agency Croydon

Drop us a line on 020 3137 1826 or email saymoo@smart-cow.com if you have any questions about social media for your business and developing a digital marketing strategy.

If you’re not a regular follower of @KFC, then you may have missed this subtle social media marketing stunt. Well we say stunt, but it’s been a somewhat long-con until one follower questioned the real meaning of its random number of followers.

@KFC only follows 11 accounts. While large companies are renowned for only following a few key people relative to their business, they’ve got to be selective, however, 11 is a somewhat odd number. Until you take a closer look.

The food company has chosen to follow six accounts of people with the name ‘Herb’ alongside all members of the Spice Girls, totalling 11 accounts.
We think the word you’re looking for is genius! The company’s key message is there for all to see, just surreptitiously. You see, the fast food giant’s recipe comprises of a secret mix of 11 herbs and spices.

But how can this be reflected in an SMEs own social media marketing? Well, it is all about a good mix of clever content and tactics. This particular campaign illustrates a clever way to get people engaged on social media as followers share, like and tweet their thoughts about the bizarre collection of accounts.

If you’re an SME starting out on social media for your business or would like to get some consistency in your feed, then our advice is to put in place a content strategy. This can be as simple as creating a timeline of key events, national days, product launches and so forth. Then map this out for the year. Then you can begin to tie in relevant blogs so that they are timely. It also means that your social media accounts are joined up and you have a consistent business message being delivered at one time.

Drop us a line on 020 3137 1826 if you have any questions about social media for your small business and we can help guide you through.