Small businesses can really benefit from a great Instagram strategy according to Blastup. Here are some of the ways they can do so.
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Identify, Follow, And Interact With Ideal/Potential Customers
Running an Instagram page for business only requires some level of creativity and knowing what you want. Finding target and potential customers on the platform is a straightforward process, you only need to look for businesses offering similar services as you, or within the niche, and see who’s following them. The fact that these accounts are following the business means they could be interested in what your business has to offer. Start following them as well. Chances are they will check your business out and follow you back in return. Identify a marketing agency within the same field and follow them as well. Social media is all about giving to receive, ‘follows’ in this case. Be sure to follow as many potential customers as possible. Although most of them might not follow you back, a good percentage will – hence a good start.
Following and getting followers on Instagram is one thing, seeing to it that they enjoy or appreciate your content is another. It would thus be advisable to start creating and publishing content on your wall to create a connection with them. Perhaps buy instagram likes to give the posts a push. Be sure to respond to comments or impressions from the followers as well. Steer clear of sending autogenerated messages to your followers – this could freak them out.
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Create And Publish Appealing Content For Your Audience
The key to attracting a huge follower base is in creating content your followers will like and appreciate. That said, you’ll need to know who your followers are, what they are looking for, and if you can satisfy their desires or quest. Figure out photos or reels they will appreciate. Research and see what your competition is doing to get an idea of what content to create and publish. Do not copy their content, but strive to create something better and more inspiring. There are numerous ways to get your audience glued to your channel. Here are a few ideas to get you started:
– Upload behind-the-scenes videos and photos
– Upload employee selfies
– Inspirational quotes
– Product sneak peeks
– Blog post images
– Product lineup.
You could try two or all these options to see which works best for your business.
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Fill Out Your Bio – Strategically
Unlike LinkedIn, Instagram is laid back and casual, especially in matters bio. You can thus be creative with your bio to make it more appealing and worth a read. Craft the bio in a manner that is appealing to the target and potential customer. Instagram allows users to use vertical spacing, emojis, and hashtags, and other formats that would make your bio unique. Visit a few bio pages from various companies to get an idea.
– Make The Bio Noticeable
Have your target audience and customers in mind when drafting the bio. Think of what they would want to see in your bio. How you weave your words can have a significant impact on them, and likely attract more followers. As mentioned earlier, you can use everything from tags, emojis, and vertical spacing to make it stand out.
Pro tip: Never sacrifice clarity for creativity when creating your bio. Your bio should provide all the necessary information about what the company is about, the products/services offered, etc., with no complicated wording. It should link to blogs and other media of yours that showcases you as an expert in your field – both on sites, editorials about you or even guest blogs that show you as a thought leader.
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Post High-Quality Photos Only
Never compromise image quality when uploading content on Instagram. Poor quality photos can be a turn-off even for your most valued and loyal customers, a reason you want to take the perfect shot, and in the best quality possible. Luckily, modern-day smartphones are quite capable of taking decent photos. Some skill is however required to take the perfect shot. Here are a few tips to help you take great photos for your business Instagram page.
– Take advantage of natural light: This is especially important when doing photoshoots outdoors during the day. Early mornings and late afternoons are the best times to take photos. The natural light is about enough to take excellent photos without needing additional artificial lighting. If indoors, consider drawing the curtains to let the light in.
– Use the back camera only: The back camera is designed to take better quality, higher resolution, and definition photos compared to the front camera. It would thus be advisable to use it for main photo shoots, and only use the front camera for selfies.
– Always edit your photos: Although the photo might seem perfect to you, it might not be to a professional. That said, you want to use a good photo editing software/app to remove any blemishes it might have. Avoid using the default Instagram App filters where possible.
iPhones have capable cameras, sometimes rivaling professional cameras. In the right setting and with enough skill, your phone should be enough to take all the photos you’ll need.
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Take Advantage of Hashtags
The hashtag is a handy feature that makes it easier to find your business with ease online. Proper use of this feature can help promote and get your business known far and wide. All you have to do is identify best-selling and competitive words to use as hashtags. Proper research is however required to identify tags that most people would remember easily, and especially your audience. Experiment with different hashtags depending on the content you are publishing, time, as well as trending topics. It however needs to be relevant to your business for the best results.
As effective as hashtags might be, you mustn’t misuse or overuse them. You need to use just enough to attract attention without seeming spammy. You don’t want to use tags that could hurt your band down the road either. As a rule of thumb, 3-5 hashtags are enough per post. The tags should also be naturally driven and to the point.
Interesting Related Article: “How to Download Instagram Reels Online?“
Instagram For Small Business: Pro Tips And Tricks with Blastup first appeared on Web and IT News.
