When you think of using social media to promote and advertise your business, Instagram probably isn’t the first network to come to mind.
Typically, you think of Facebook Ads or networking on Twitter as traditional avenues many businesses use.
But, with Instagram being one of the fastest growing social media platforms in the last year or two, more and more businesses, brands and solopreneurs are looking there to reach a new, younger market.
And it makes sense if your brand has a strong visual component to it. But, Instagram is also great even for businesses that are more content focused. So, whether you are a freelancer, blogger, or small business, it’s time to start looking at how Instagram can help you grow.
What is Instagram?
Instagram started out as a trendy, mobile photo-sharing app on iOS.
It made the square photo hip, it let people add digital filters to their photos – the “Instagram look” – and it incorporated social features like profiles, followers and comments.
In the spring of 2012, Instagram launched on Android phones and was bought by Facebook for one billion dollars – cementing itself as the social photo-sharing app.
Nowadays, Instagram also allows you to share video, and they have a growing advertising platform, but it’s still mainly a mobile app. You can’t, for instance, upload new pictures to your account from Instagram’s website.
Instagram and Business
With Instagram primarily photo-based can businesses of all shapes and sizes really succeed on this platform?
As of September 2015, Instagram had 400 million active users, and it’s still growing. Thirty-one percent of all women online use Instagram, with 24% of men using it too – over half of these users are 18-29 years old.
That would put Millennials as the largest demographic and if you’re targeting teens in particular, they consider Instagram to be the most important social network.
So, if your target audience is in this demographic, using Instagram can be the perfect platform to reach them. And if you’re in the food, travel or fashion niches, there’s no better place to be than on Instagram since those industries rely on visual marketing strategies.
But even if you’re not in those niches, don’t overlook the brand building and audience engagement potential of Instagram.
With a solid strategy, your business can really get a boost from spending some time using this platform.
Developing your Instagram strategy
You probably have a content strategy for your blog, and a social strategy for Twitter, Pinterest and Facebook; Instagram should be no different.
Without a strong visual presence on Instagram, your business and brand will be easily ignored by the short-attention span of its demographic.
To start, try using Instagram yourself to get accustomed with the platform. Go ahead and download the app (it’s free) for either iOS or Android.
Also, look at other businesses in your niche to see how they are positioning themselves on Instagram, and to see what sort of images they post.
Once you create an account for your business, you’ll need to choose a username. For brand consistency and recognizability, use the same nickname you use on other social platforms, if it’s available.
Once you create your account and update your bio (which we cover later), you’re going to want to start participating. Follow influencers in your industry and follow engaging users and past clients – some should follow you back – to get the ball rolling.
From there you’ll want to establish your presence by commenting on other people’s photos. You’ll quickly see how fast your Instagram follower count grows by doing a few simple things.
But, don’t feel you have to devote hours a day to developing your strategy. For entrepreneurs and business owners, social media is usually a task that’s automated or outsourced.
Scheduling apps like Hootsuite allow you to schedule your Instagram posts, but it’s not entirely hands-off like many other platforms.
Instagram requires all posts to be published through its mobile app so you’ll receive a notification from Hootsuite on your phone when it’s time for a post to go live. Then, you just open the photo in the Instagram app and share it.
Let’s look at three ways you can strategically build your presence on Instagram and grow your business at the same time. browse this site
