With over one billion active users, Instagram has quickly become one of the most popular social networks. Many small businesses- from hair salons to restaurants have been quite successful thanks to Instagram. They have found a community who like, comment, and share their content. This in turn helps bring in new customers.
Today we will share different Instagram strategies that will help your content stand out, drive engagement, and build a community around your business.
Let’s go!
1. Tell your story!
First, Instagram is all about telling a story through visuals, therefore, you should strive to create visually appealing, eye-catching content which someone will be compelled to engage with as they scroll through their newsfeed. Similar to any social network, the lifeline of a post on Instagram is short-lived without meaningful engagement which is why you should strive to post high-quality content. But post often enough to keep your followers engaged. If you don’t post on your page daily, use stories as an alternative. Outside of your photo or video post, your post caption is intended to tell a short story to gain a like or a comment. However, keep your caption short and boost your engagement by asking your followers what they think or how they feel.
@natgeo proves that words matter. The caption tells you what is happening in the photo, dives deeper into a related issue that matters to the photographer and brand, and provides a simple action the audience can take to help combat that issue.
2. Tag Locations, Websites
Within all of your posts or stories’ content, you can tag a location. Do this to expand your reach to those who are following the location versus your account. And if you have a website or blog, embed your Instagram content to leverage website or blog traffic. You might be successful in gaining new followers and engaging current followers this way as well.
3. Hashtags
Hashtags can also help amplify your content reach beyond followers. It’s important though that you first research hashtags that are popular among your intended audience. You can do this by running a hashtag search in Instagram, type in the hashtag such as #business, and then see what other hashtags are related. As a growth hack store between 20 or 30 hashtags in the notes section of your iPhone or Android device, so you can go back and copy and paste those hashtags easily into your next Instagram post. Because your post caption should be visually appealing, don’t clutter your caption, you can add up to 10 hashtags in stories by adding them as a text overlay, which you can then shrink and hide so they are out of view.
4. Mix it up!
Like any social network, Instagram is no different. The key is to post a mix of personal and professional content. People don’t want to be sold to, they want to be engaged. So for every business post that you put on your Instagram account, mix it up with a couple of personal posts as a follow-up.
Don’t forget to check out: how to use Instagram Reels to drive results
More Tips!
In their latest installment, Instagram for Business invited beauty brand @glowrecipe to share their top 5 tips for building and growing a community on Instagram.
1. CREATE SPACES FOR HONEST CONVERSATIONS ABOUT YOUR PRODUCTS AND SERVICES.
2. ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION BY ASKING QUESTIONS AND PROMPTING PEOPLE TO ENGAGE WITH YOUR POSTS.
3. PRIORITIZE ACCESSIBILITY BY ADDING SUBTITLES TO YOUR VIDEOS.
4. BE AUTHENTIC BY SHARING IMAGERY YOUR AUDIENCE CAN RELATE TO.
5. INTRODUCE YOUR FOLLOWERS TO NEW PRODUCTS AND DEMONSTRATE HOW TO USE THEM.
4 Ways to Write Captivating Captions
1. START WITH A SENTENCE THAT SPARKS INTEREST OR CURIOSITY.
2. INCLUDE USEFUL ADVICE AND TIPS.
3. ADD EMOJIS TO EMPHASIZE IMPORTANT INFORMATION.
4. EXPAND YOUR REACH BY USING RELEVANT HASHTAGS!
Building an online community around your business can help you retain customers and acquire new ones. Instagram is a great platform where you can engage your customers with strong captions, encourage conversation among your followers and create entertaining, interactive content.
