Hello, hello all! I’m still talking about personal PR for your brand through social media, and my last three posts dealt with Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. Today’s post is going to talk about Instagram, which is still a relatively new social media platform that many businesses are still trying to figure out how to optimize for themselves and their customers.
Just like Twitter and somewhat like Pinterest, Instagram is a fun and easy way for people to interact with your business. It’s also an easy way to keep people interested in what’s going on with your business. Still fairly new, Instagram has 150+ million users with 55 + million pictures being uploaded per day (Constant Contact). That’s a lot of pictures and a lot of potential for someone to be seen. So, how can a small business use this for its advantage? Below I’ll provide a few tips and ideas to help a small business utilize Instagram for further awareness and interaction.
Tip 1: Add Your Personal Touch
This is your chance to show off your personality and/or the personality of your business. Many people only interact with a business in a transaction sense: I need to purchase something from you, so you sell me that something. One aspect of small businesses that I think is really cool is the opportunity to know where exactly your products/services are coming from. What I mean is a lot of small business owners make it a point to be seen by their customers and to let them know that they appreciate said customers supporting their business. This is nice because usually small business owners put a lot of time and money into their business, and, of course, nothing can replace that basic need for human interaction. Instagram can help you take this a bit further. People are interested about the brands they interact with. They like to see daily happenings and the inner-workings of a company and its culture. Use Instagram to show your business’ culture off. Personal touches leave lasting impressions on people. So how can you do this? Anyway you can think of! Post a picture of you playing a prank on your team; post a picture of you and your team in a meeting discussing the future of your business; post a picture of a fun new way to interact with your products/services. Anything you can think of that accurately portrays your business culture and values will keep the attention of your audience, and help them feel as if they know you on a more personal basis.
Tip 2: Network & Reach New Demographics
Given the sheer number of people and pictures on Instagram, you’re bound to find some who have no idea about your business/brand. This is a good thing! You’ll be able to reach a whole new audience in addition to keeping your current one interested. Also, Instagram is still a social network that goes beyond pictures. Use it to its fullest extent. Don’t be afraid to comment on other people’s content, tagging followers, following new people so you’re on their radar, etc. The key word is NETWORK. So get to some networking and help Instagram work for you.
Tip 3: Use Hashtags
People stumble upon other people’s accounts through the searching of hashtags. However, no one likes clutter? What am I referring to? If you have an Instagram, personal or otherwise, you’ve seen people who take a picture of somethings and use 20+ hashtags to describe it. Don’t. Be. This. Person. It’s annoying and honestly, it comes across as a bit unprofessional. People will pass you over, or not respect you because they’ll think you’re just hashtagging for more follows and likes. Let your pictures, content, and interactions speak for themselves. Uee a few hashtags (I personally think more than 5 is too much) that speak about the important parts of your picture/brand, and let people find you.
A Few More Tips:
- make sure to link your Instagram to your personal website and on your other social media platforms
- post pictures with a plan in mind – it’s ok to post the odd random photo, but mainly, let your photos serve your business and your interests; you don’t want them to be a visual reflection of incoherent/ADD tangents that have nothing to do with you promoting your image
- in addition to hashtags, use mentions to gain attention; this is simply by tagging a follower or someone you want to follow you in a comment or photo
- get people to interact with you! offer instagram-only contests
That’s all for now, everyone! Stay tuned for Youtube, Vine, and Snapchat as I close out this series. Here are a few articles if you’d like further reading:
- http://blogs.constantcontact.com/fresh-insights/instagram-for-your-business-2/
- http://www.webpronews.com/5-ways-to-make-your-small-business-shine-on-instagram-2014-01
- http://www.nfib.com/article/how-3-small-businesses-use-instagram-for-marketing-60237/
Until then!
I really like how you went into detail on exactly how to use Instagram to your benefit. The fact that there are so many Instagram users should be taken advantage of and help your business out. I really like how you made the point to add your own personality to your Instagram, which is so important and a great way to have your audience connect with you on a personal level.
It’s clear that Instagram isn’t just for personal use anymore. It’s now a instagram’s primary advantage over other social media platforms is its visual nature. To get the list of secret shortcuts Hootsuite’s own social media team .