Navigating Instagram For Business (Tips)

With over 700 million users and growing, Instagram is the perfect way to get your business or product seen online. Whether you sell a product or provide a local service, Instagram is a great way to not only show your potential customers what you do, but also communicate with them directly. Finding a social media strategy for Instagram might sound like something super intimidating especially if you’re not very good with technology. In this article – let us find out how we can navigate Instagram for business!

The easy answer to all of this hiring a social media manager but especially if you’re just starting your own business, your budget might not have room for that. That’s why we decided to make it a little more accessible for you and share our best advice for navigating Instagram for your business.

1. Get A Business Profile

Instagram introduced Business Profiles in May 2016 and have been a hugely successful tool for business, brands and even Influencers. Some main features include giving your followers easy access to things like directions, emailing and even calling you. Having the business category under your Business Name also just makes your account just look more professional and customers more likely to trust buying from you. The best part of having a business profile though as to be seeing your account statistics like profile reach, and impressions on individual posts, and also the ability to run Instagram ads, which will help you utilize your Instagram posts even more!

#1 Tip – Navigating Instagram for Business

2. Generate Content Regularly

Being active regularly on Instagram helps you take advantage of those Instagram algorithms and get your posts in front of your followers and potential customers. You can choose to post once every couple days, daily or even a few times a day depending on your capacity for both managing posts and creating the content. A great way to ensure a smooth flow of content is to create your posts in bulk. Either spend a part of your day dedicated to creating content or you can find a friend or some for hire who can do the job for you. Having a pipeline of Instagram posts is a great way to make sure you always have something to publish.

#2 Tip – Navigating Instagram for Business

3. Utilize Hashtags

Some people might tell you that using hashtags looks cheesy and messy in your caption, but when you’re trying to grow your Instagram account they’re a huge asset. Start by ensuring you use captions relevant to your business, whether they are industry, location or seasonally related. Next keep them clean and written out the same, whether you choose to write them all in lowercase, or use capitalized words and be sure to space them all out, and don’t write them all bunched together. Pick hashtags that have lots of posts associated with it, the logic is the most posts it has the most popular and regularly viewed it is. Lastly, you have up to 30 hashtags you can use, but don’t think you have to use them all. If you do want to use all 30, try dropping them as a comment under your caption immediately after you publish. Google hashtag generators to find web based hashtag tools or use a mobile app like Focalmark to easily curate hashtags based on your niche and location!

#3 Tip – Navigating Instagram for Business

4. Engage With Your Followers

Instagram is where you are either keeping in touch with your current customers or where you are meeting potential ones for the first time. Taking time out of your day to reply to direct message and follow up on comments left on your posts is an extreme crucial way to build those relationships, build loyalty, and drive sales. Even the biggest brands with millions of followers respond to their follower engagement.

#4 Tip – Navigating Instagram for Business

5. Run Instagram Marketing Campaigns

Instagram is the new marketing tool for business and brands, with the top campaigns being Giveaways and Influencer Marketing. Giveaways are a great way to build your following and also give back to your customers and followers. You can even look to partner with other brands or influencers that might fit your target market to leverage their following. Influencer marketing campaigns are also a great way to gain followers, but they’re also a way to build brand loyalty and trust among potential customers. Whether you choose to reach out to micro-influencers or Instagram’s top megastars their followers for the most part trust their recommendations and share similar interests or tastes as they do.

#5 Tip – Navigating Instagram for Business

Stay tuned to the blog to find more articles on Instagram for business!