How to Grow Your Small Business on Instagram
In case you are not too familiar with social media, Instagram is a perfect platform to share photos and 15-second videos. The visual content of people you follow is presented in a mode similar to a timeline. The post from your side can be seen only by those following you. The social media platform is winning hearts of netizen due to its simplicity. This explains the growing popularity of Instagram.
As things stand today, Instagram, with over 500 million active users, happens to be one of the most popular social media platforms across the globe. It happens to be very popular with the young population. It is believed that 72% of teenagers are using it. The business potential of Instagram is also phenomenal. It is believed that 80 percent of accounts follow a business. All these prove beyond doubt that Instagram can be a handy weapon for business, especially smaller ones.
Why Instagram is an ideal marketing tool?
The power of social media in promoting your brand is humongous, and it’s very easy to reach out to your target audience. In case you are not using Instagram for promoting your business activities, then you are missing out on a lot of things as one out of every 3 most-viewed stories on the social media platform pertains to business. One of the primary aims for any small business is to make the most out of Instagram or any other social media platforms these days. This will be discussed later in the article. For now, let us explore some new facets of Instagram.
Instagram Goes Local
This is one of the game-changing features for small business as far as Instagram is concerned. With this welcome addition, the social media giant aims to offer local businesses a platform to showcase their business hour, website and address on Instagram. With this, it would be possible for businesses to link their Instagram accounts with their Instagram local pages also. So now, small and local businesses get one more option to share and promote their Instagram accounts.
What do local pages on Instagram imply for small business?
With Instagram local pages, location tags assume more significance. In case your images get tagged with your location on Instagram, people can easily access any things related to your business. This used to be a bit laborious in the past as people had to look at the tag, then Google the name of the business, before getting the info related to your business. Now, this process has become easier.
How Instagram can be beneficial for small businesses?
It is almost evident that Instagram is a potent tool for enhancing your business potentials. This helps you in creating a good vibe about your organization through attractive images. However, Instagram can offer you a lot apart from some photo editing tools. Now let us understand how Instagram can be beneficial for small businesses.
#Engage your customers with ease:
Everyone thinks Facebook and Twitter as ideal platforms to connect with customers online. However, Instagram is very effective on this count. According to a Forrester Research report, Instagram can facilitate 120 times more engagement with each follower than Twitter.
This aspect makes Instagram a perfect platform to establish good ties with customers, get their feedback, and forge better ties with them. This is particularly useful for small companies as they don’t have to spend any big money on this.
#Gain valuable insights into what people like:
Imagine the scenario where your customers are sharing photos of your business and talking about it on Instagram. This can be extremely beneficial if you have started a small restaurant, where people come constantly. You can also enhance your brand visibility without spending anything on publicity as customers would not only post pictures of food being served but also tag your location as well. It also gives you an idea of what people like about your business by keeping a track on what they are sharing on Instagram.
#Find new customers:
Through Instagram, you can easily find new customers for your business as well. This can be extremely beneficial for small businesses as they work on a tight budget. On Instagram finding anything new becomes easy with hashtags. If someone posts something about your business using a relevant hashtag, it can attract new customers who are looking for something similar. This way, Instagram can take your small business to new customers.
#Trigger off various marketing channels:
The best part about Instagram is that your content can be sent across varied marketing channels. Even in your Instagram Settings by activating social sharing, you can share anything on other social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. This ensures that once you post something useful about your business on Instagram, this goes automatically to other social media channels as well. This helps you in fueling other marketing channels and gain good publicity.
Instagram for small business: Strategies and Tips
Instagram has immense potential for small businesses. However, the companies should not expect everything on a platter. In order to extract the best out of Instagram, there are certain plans and strategies to be implemented. By merely having an Instagram account, a company can’t gain anything at all. Let us understand what small companies need to do to best utilize the Instagram platform.
#Develop engaging content:
You might be owning a small company on a limited budget. It is to be noted that money can never be a substitute for great ideas. One of the important aspects of social media marketing is providing compelling content. This is where small companies can take big companies head-on by having content that engages the audience big-time. In case you are in the dark about compelling content, then consider these items:
• Inspiring quotes
• Videos featuring behind-the-scenes happenings
• Blog post images
• Product teasers
• Product arrangements
#Start Using Instagram Stories:
Just like Facebook can engage the audience with interesting stories, a similar thing can be done on Instagram as well to lure the target audience. For the uninitiated, the Instagram stories are woven together with different pictures and videos and turned into a “story” that goes off after 24 hours.
The best part about stories is that they will always be at the top of your followers' Instagram feeds, and this leads to more visibility and more engagement.
#Use Instagram reporting tools:
How much attentive are you with the posts on your Instagram account? Do you know which post is attracting maximum likes or which hashtags are performing better? If the answer is no, then you should carefully observe these things. With Instagram’s reporting tools, you can keep track of all the information. By keenly observing these things, you can get a grip on the kind of content that is appealing to your audience. It could be a particular photo or a hashtag. By keeping an eye on such crucial data, you can always plan your content in the best possible manner for the future.
#Use appropriate hashtags:
Hashtags play an integral part in Instagram as they are used to search for anything regarding a particular account. By effectively using hashtags, a small business can go all the way as far as brand building is concerned. The hashtags could be about anything; campaign specific or general; however, they should be relevant. It would be advisable for small companies to create the main company hashtag (#yourbrandname), and use it judiciously across Instagram. This would greatly help people to access content pertaining to you and the main account of yours. As for the usage of hashtags, something between three and five would suffice.
#Feature images with faces:
Even if you are into a clothing line or a footwear business, photos featuring just products will not resonate with customers. However, if you have photos with faces, then it can get you more likes than posts devoid of humans. If people engage more with your posts, then the conversion rates will also go up, helping your small business to evolve. So try to feature images with faces as much as possible.
#Be creative in your approach:
On Instagram, visual content is more important than textual content. So, it is better to fix your attention on the solutions you provide. These solutions should be showcased in an attractive manner.
In case your business is based on service, then it is ideal to project the process involved in offering the same.
Inspiring Instagram Accounts For Small Business
1. Gary Vaynerchuk @garyvee
Gary Vee is very popular on the social media circuit. He is an inspiration for every small venture all across the globe. The Instagram account of his contains some very good strategies for business and finer illustrations on the manner to execute marketing plans.
2. Greats @greatsbrand
Greats is a promising sneaker brand based out of Brooklyn. Its Instagram account is a perfect example of how to create a following and establish the entire business on social media platforms. Thanks to Instagram marketing, the brand has scaled new heights in business excellence.
3. The Honest Co. @honest
Jessica Alba is a name that needs no introduction, a famous model and actress. However, she has also carved a niche as a successful entrepreneur with Honest Company. Apart from being a showbiz celebrity, she took her small business to an IPO in quick time.
4. Manny Khoshbin @mannykhoshbin
This is a classic case of the triumph of the human spirit. The real estate czar can be singled out as one of the prominent success stories on Instagram. Hailing from Iran, he came to America at the age of 14 and was not at all fluent in English. However, he never let the deficiency come between him and his success.
5. Brit Morin @brit
Brit Morin is the founder of Brit&Co. She was a blogger, to begin with, and turned an ordinary venture into a renowned brand. She currently owns a multi-million dollar business. The Instagram handle of her’s defines what a successful brand is all about.
Finally,
By now, it has become very evident that by merely having an Instagram account, a small business cannot achieve anything significant. They need to have a plan in place to take their business to a larger audience. Instagram is perfect for the same, but the right strategy is also very vital.
About Writer:
This post is written by Nishant Gupta - a web developer cum blogger working with iPraxa – A Mobile App & Web Development Company , who has proven expertise in resolving all the technical complexities involved in the development of innovative, unique websites and web apps. I spend my spare time on the web to learn about the latest technologies and love to share my knowledge with others through my content. Find out more about Nishant at Linkedin.
