Instagram is an online mobile photo-sharing, video-sharing and social network service that enables users to take pictures and videos and share them either publicly or privately. There are over 400 million Instagram users, which places it right behind Facebook. This means if your business is on Instagram, you have the opportunity to reach all of these users and expand your company as long as you follow these 4 steps:
1) Use Popular Hashtags
A hashtag is used to tag or group content of a common topic, which eventually becomes a hyperlink. By putting a hashtag(s) in your caption that pertains to your brand, it gives your company the opportunity to gain and engage with new customers. For instance, say that your company sells watches and you hashtag #watches in your caption, when a user types in watches in the search box, your photo will appear. This is because it has become a category since you used a hashtag. Using hashtags also gives you the opportunity to gain customer insight, and gives the user the opportunity to engage with the brand. Just remember, don’t use too many hashtags, keep them short, simple, and relevant to your company.
2) Interact With Your Followers
Two ways to interact with your followers would be to follow them back and respond to comments they post on your photos or videos. By following your followers back, it shows that you want to have a connection with them. It gives you the opportunity to see what they are interested in and how you can improve your business in different ways to help fit theirs needs. Responding to their comments on your posts makes them feel like you are listening to what they have to say and you do care about how they feel towards your brand.
3) Create a Posting Plan
Although you want to keep your followers up to date with your business, Instagram is not the place to post five pictures or videos a day. Creating a plan on when to post will benefit you in a few ways. You will be able to track what times are working best when you post on different days, you have the ability to track when you should switch from posting pictures to videos to give your followers a variety of different content, and it also reminds you what to post when.
4) Be Creative
It’s important to use high quality photos with your posts on Instagram. You can also experiment with different styles of shots such as action shots, snapshots of staff, products shots and different images that relate to your business. Remember, Instagram is a visual social media platform, so image is everything here!
5) Be Specific
On Instagram there is a feature where you can add your location. Use this feature to your advantage. If someone is randomly looking through photos and likes your picture, they are able to see where your business is located and find out more about your product/ service. This will lead to an increased customer base for your company as well as increase brand awareness. Not only is it important to add your location, but it’s important to add a caption that is descriptive as well as professional to give your followers an idea of what’s going on in the picture. The more descriptive your captions are, the more informed your followers are about your company and product/service.
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