If you have been following us and growing your business, you know the importance of Social Media advertising. One of the most affordable and cost effective ways to promoting your business is using Instagram, Facebook, Yelp, Pinetrest, etc.
Today we will dig into some knowledge about the importance of Instagram and how to do it the right way. View on to see the potential of growing your business exponentially using the Instagram platform.
1. Using The Right Hashtags For Your Audience
While you post pictures and videos of your services or inventory, gain recognition with hashtags to compliment your content. For example, if you have a promotion going on or you are trying to sell a certain type of inventory, you could use detailed and specific hashtags.
I will give you a simple example by demonstrating how a flower shop would be advertising using hashtags:
As you can see, they are trying to target hospitals. A flower would be a perfect gift for someone trying to get well. Stepping outside of your niche and trying to find a sub-niche to target is a perfect way to gain a few clients or customers.
While also maintaining your loyal audience by using Hashtags such as:
Sub-niche Hashtags:
You get where this is going. using this strategy is by far one of the cheapest forms of advertising there is in today's marketplace. This method of practice is practically free, and by using the right Hashtags to target your specific audience will be a tremendous asset for your business. Just make sure you are doing it the right way.
Another key tip is if you are targeting a specific region try mentioning the name of your city in a hashtag, you’re able to engage with your community and pick up on local leads if they are searching for you.
Customers will appreciate details in the post's description without having to click on it. Be transparent with your viewer and make sure you give a brief introduction or sales pitch without being "that annoying ad that keeps popping up". Those who are truly interested will follow up by visiting your website, stopping by your store, or simply commenting on the Instagram post.
2. Time Your Posts & Set A Schedule
Knowing when your audience is on and when Instagram has the most users active is vital to your success in showing your content to as many people as possible. To do this, identify who your ideal target audience is for individual posts. Think of when they’re likely to be on Instagram on any given day and time.
For example, individuals who work a 9-5 may check their phone in the early morning(still in bed), mid-afternoon(lunch time), and evening(coming back from work). If you are seeking a different audience, make sure to be familiar with their everyday life and try to gauge your plan of attack off that.
Start by experimenting with a few time slots to see the level of engagement. After a few posts you will have a clear indication of where your audience lies. Track the number of likes and comments you receive for particular time slots to find a posting strategy that works best for your business.
The leading reason in your success on Instagram can be described in one word: activity. You need to post regularly for your following and potential following in order to grow. Just make sure to never be that Instagram account that posts 3 times a day. I can assure you, that will be a nuisance for your followers and will result in a unfollow.
Do not be that business that force feeds their clients or customers. Post great content, be generous, be kind and transparent. This will only bring social growth and will develop a presence that will be recognized. Ultimately, generating the clients you need or sales you want.
Here’s a general list of when to post on Instagram:
Mornings from 2 a.m. to 7 a.m.
Midday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Evenings from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Make sure to follow up on Instagram analytics to fully optimize your posting strategy.
If you do the what is written on this blog and have patience your insights will look a little something like this:
3. Setting Goals For Your Business On Instagram
This tip is a very straight forward one, in order to measure any success in life you need to make a goal. Same principle applies to setting goals for your business on Instagram.
A bit more in depth is asking yourself:
What is your business hoping to achieve by using Instagram?
What is my audience?
How can I create content for them?
Do I need to hire a team?
Can I spot trends on my industry via Instagram?
Make simple and straight forward goals, for example:
Increase product sales
Drive traffic to your website
Increase brand awareness
Increase customer satisfaction
Attract top talent
Identifying and establishing relationships with influencers
Not matter what you’re trying to accomplish, your Instagram goals need to be specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely or better known as S.M.A.R.T.
4. Using Visual Content To Engage Your Audience
You can add up to 10 photos and videos to a single Instagram post, giving users the opportunity to swipe through and see each individual piece of content. These albums offer businesses a way to combine photos and videos to tell stories and convey information in a highly engaging way. Use this to your advantage.
A very highly effective way for your audience to get to your know company and actually get connected is by using Instagram Stories. IG stories have quickly amassed 250 million average daily users and growing! If you really are serious about developing your business identity, there is no better way then using this technique.
Disappearing content and live broadcasting features make Instagram Stories the perfect marketing tool for businesses to take creative risks and create attention-grabbing photos and videos for their audience.
The last tip for engaging your audience is... Identify influential people on Instagram that are relevant to your brand or industry, and begin building a relationship. Get to know how they operate and see if there can be a collaboration.
This can grow your business rapidly as they expose your brand to their large Instagram community. While many influencers charge for these promotions, prices will fluctuate depending on popularity of the influencer's page. Even small and medium size businesses can use this tactic by partnering with local influencers.
By using some of these tips will surely bring you growth to your business. Harness this technology and make sure to stay ahead of the trends every business faces to stay relevant in 2019 and beyond.