Instagram is a great tool to grow your brand
It’s hard to believe there was a time when everyone wasn’t carrying a smartphone in their pocket and selfies weren’t a thing. Today, social media has become a huge part of everyday lives. Most of our social interactions are infused with graphics-posing for a selfie with family at the dinner table, scrolling through newsfeed filled with pictures and videos or sharing a live video with friends sitting across the world. One of the biggest contributors to this rise of visual content is Instagram. Instagram has grown astronomically in the last decade. No wonder business owners are scrambling to understand how they can use Instagram to boost their company.
Here are some interesting facts about Instagram that you may be interested to know:
- More than 1 billion people use Instagram every month • It ranks as the 6th most visited website.
- Instagram has the 4th highest number of users of any mobile app • It reaches 140 million users in the United States.
- Users spend an average of 30 minutes on Instagram every day • 130 million users click on shopping posts each month.
- 50% of people have visited a website to buy a product/service after seeing an ad.
- 81% of people use Instagram to research products/services.
- 200 million users visit at least one business profile each day.
If there is one thing we can infer from these statistics, it’s that Instagram is a great platform for businesses to connect with their target audience. It shows that having a website alone is not enough. You need to be on social media to reach out to a bigger audience. It is important to be where your potential customers are, and most of them are on Instagram.
Businesses can use Instagram to:
- Build a community
- Increase brand awareness
- Sell products and services
- Stay relevant
Once you have set up your business account, you can optimize your Instagram profile. Include contact information such as address, phone number and email address so that followers can contact you. Update your category so that the users know what your business is about. Choose a quality profile image that correctly reflects your brand. It is a good idea to use your logo as your profile photo as it helps you stay visually consistent across different channels. Also, you’ll want to include keywords in your description. This allows people to know what kind of content they can expect from your account. You may also add a Call To Action before the link to your latest offer or blog.
Post quality content consistently
It is important that you create a posting schedule and stick to that. This ensures that you regularly show up on your follower’s timelines. Instagram uses machine learning to analyze each user’s activity and then customizes their timeline accordingly. The algorithm also tries to show each user the content they are likely to enjoy. So, you must post quality content consistently to ensure that you show up on your follower’s timelines. The more they engage with your content, the more you will show up on their timelines. This will give you more opportunities to engage with them and eventually turn them into paying customers. Don’t stop at just posting content. Engage with the community- a good way is to respond to their comments.
Use videos, stories, highlights, and guides
Instagram has some amazing features that can help you engage your audience in different ways. While the platform is all about photos, you can also share live videos to drive engagement. You can use Instagram stories, highlights, and guides to share more information about your business. Instagram stories stay for 24 hours but Instagram’s Stories Highlights can stay permanently on your profile, so you can use them to showcase and promote your business. Guides are catalog-like collections of content and makes it easy for your followers to quickly find and view the posts. Guides save your visitors the trouble of scrolling through all of your content.
Keep an eye on metrics
Make sure you constantly monitor your Instagram metrics to see if you are making progress in the right direction. Instagram has a built-in analytics tool called Instagram insights, which can give you a good idea of how your content is performing. For more in-depth analysis, there are third party analytic tools available such as Hootsuite, Sprout social and Keyhole.
If you want to start using Instagram to promote your business, it is best to seek professional help. Managing a business Instagram account is not easy as managing a personal account, so it is best left to social media professionals that can help get the most from your social media presence.