With Instagram now achieving 200 million users visiting daily, this site is definitely recommended for your business to thrive and become a success. This blog provides some great tips on how you can help your business grow using an Instagram platform.

 

Image

The first step to consider is using an image that stands out. Consumers want to see that quality brand image, along with a professional platform. Like the image below, you can see that it has a high quality resolution and shows the branding efficiently.

On Instagram, there is a set image size in order for the image to fit the grid. This image size is 1080 x 1080 px. However, if you are posting an image from a mobile, ensure your image fits the grid size, fully covering the profile grid. If the image is cropped to fit the grid, please ensure the image is not too zoomed in, or looked pixelated.

It is also important to keep your branding consistent when it comes to images and making them stand out/link together. A theme will help you gain attention and associate you with the theme you have chosen.

In order to do this, you should use your branding colours in your images so people will recognise you. You should also colour coordinate your images by having a colour pallet so they look nice next to the previous image you have posted.

 

 

   Influencers

   You may want to consider working with influencers to help with your brand awareness. Consumers may follow Instagram influencers and         like to see what products they have bought, to help the consumer see if they should purchase too.

 

   Consistent Theme

   Creating a brand theme and colour scheme can help bring a together feel to your page. The colours should reflect on who you are as a           brand and your personality. Theme can also relate to hashtags, captions, stories and photos. The more consistent and specific you are, the     more likely you will attract your audience. Here is Instax Instagram, which shows that great consistency of colours and detail

 

Hashtags

On Instagram, it is important to gain new engagement through the use of hashtags. This enables your image to be found by users of Instagram who search for the particular hashtag. The limit of hashtags is 30, however, it is said around 11 is plenty to use.

 

Stories & Highlights 

Another easy way to gain followers and recognition is to add stories and highlights to your Instagram.

A story is an image or video which is visible to followers and appears at the top of their feed to see. The content only lasts 24 hours but is great for your audience. It can be a simple image such as ‘Wonderful Morning here!’ with an image of your businesses or a view. This helps your followers see your post and feel you are engaging with them. One story a day is great for user engagement and that reminder to the consumer that you are still there.

To post a story, press the plus button on your icon at the top of your Instagram feed. You can swipe up to add an image already taken.

Once posted, you can click to view the story and click add to highlight at the bottom of the story.

 

Highlights are a story that is constantly on your Instagram page for people to view. They are important because they allow you to showcase the content you want people to see first. You can create a topic for each highlight to promote your company. Think of it as the best aspects to your company that you want people to see. This example below shows you what highlights look like and the potential highlight topics you can have depending on your business type. 

 

All that is needed for each highlight is some images/videos. When you have taken one of those, in the top you will notice a box with a smiley face, if you press this, you will be able to add things to your image/video for the highlight. This can be things such as the time, location, hashtag, countdown to something, mentioning another Instagram account etc. You can also engage with the audience by adding a poll or adding a question for the audience to respond to. For example, it could be ‘What would you like to see more at the Vale of Avalon?’ Then people can respond to your question for your eyes only. This can just be a 24-hour story, this is not necessary for a highlight.

 

Call to Action

Instagram users spend a short amount of time browsing pages; therefore, you may want to consider a call to action in your posts. This is so you can lead the consumers by directing them to your stories and highlights, where they can see work you’ve done, or requesting an email list which they could sign up to. With call to action, you can tease your consumers with little hints on what’s new, without pushing them to buy. Costa do this by announcing new items, without any force to buy.

 

Diverse Content

You may want to consider diversifying your content. This is so there are a good range of content on your page. This could be a mini video clip, which then you can attach the full video link below for consumers to click on, which can take them to your website to finish watching the video, or to your YouTube channel where they can subscribe and like. Video content is 60 seconds long for Instagram, however, if you attach the link in your bio or caption, this will attract consumers to carry on watching the rest if your video is longer. Instead of images and videos, you can also add a Reel to your page. A reel is similar to a TikTok video but for Instagram. You could make a short video about your day or how you wrap your packaging etc. These videos will not be on your feed, they will be on another page on your profile for people to view. Here is an example below on Instagram reels. 

 

 

 

Competition

Another tip that is great for your brand is to have a competition. They are very popular for Instagram users who like the idea of winning something. If you get the consumer to share your image on their page or their story, tag your business and tag friends in the comments, it can boost your brand awareness and increase more consumers to do the competition and gain recognition. This helps to engage with your audience and make consumers feel valued and more connected to your business.

 

Automate posts

You can now automate posts using available software online. This is a great way to post content if your business is busy. You can schedule your posts for a certain date and time which will post automatically for you, regardless of your online presence. This helps show that you are still active online and posting regular content for consumers. However, you cant schedule stories but this will only take a minute of your time. 

With the right planning and corporation, using these resources will help boost your brand on Instagram and help make your business become a success online. Combining these resources may seem a little daunting, however with the right strategic planning, your efforts will lead to greater engagement and a successful business online.

 

References

https://www.shortstack.com/blog/instagram-business-tips/

https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/instagram-for-business-guide

https://neilpatel.com/blog/instagram-marketing-tips/