Instagram, with the option to have a business profile, has opened gates for brands to promote themselves in a novel, graphic style. By bringing in a culture that relates your pictures to your lifestyle, it has altered both, the social and professional aspects of a business. There are about 25+ million businesses profiles on Instagram today. Using social media for business requires some netiquettes to stand out among a pool of these potential competitors. Here are some tips which can help you promote your brand using Instagram:
Set up an optimized account
The first step in promoting your brand name is to change your profile to a business one, especially if you haven’t already. It lets you put up your business details and contact information to help customers find and reach out to you easily. Another important aspect of an optimized account is to have a suitable username. Decide on a name that is similar to or same as the name of your business. Choosing a different name could make it hard for the customers to find you. To ensure effective promotions, you can make use of other social media for business. Link your Facebook and Twitter business profiles with your Instagram account. Do not forget to link your website in the bio. Instagram is known for its hashtags. Plan on a suitable hashtag to make it easier for your customers to find you and your products. For instance, Reebok uses hashtags like #reebox, #reeboxclassic, #reebokrunning, and #yogainspo to differentiate their products on Instagram.
Post engaging content
Unlike Facebook and Twitter, Instagram uses pictures as the promotional content. Firstly, have a posting schedule and stick to it. This creates consistency in your marketing and your customers know when to look up to you for a new product. High-quality professionally curated photographs with better resolution and lighting are known to create the visual impact on the audience. You can also choose to have a pattern or a theme when posting the images. For example, the beauty brand, RMS beauty(@rmsbeauty) uses a white tile layout for most of their pictures to maintain a consistency in the photo grid. Upgrade your pictures to integrate your product with a lifestyle. For example, if you run a shoe business, photos which depict commoners, models, and artists wearing your shoes scream a better marketing strategy than just lining them up and photographing them. Demonstrate your product in a way that they feel the need to buy it.
Connect with customers and ensure that their questions are answered.
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Connect with the customers
Engaging with your customers is an integral part of the process of growing your business. While you sell your product to the people, it is important you hear them out when they call out for you. Encourage them to leave product reviews and suggestions in the comments. Appreciate their response through likes and comments. Take into consideration their grievances and take appropriate measures to set them right. You may also follow back customers who are active participants on your profile. Customer engagement can also be enhanced through fun and interactive posts and stories. Use Instagram stories to connect with your customers. Give them a glimpse of your culture or product making process through these short videos. You can also follow hashtags like #selfiesunday and use them to interact with your customers. Implementing these tips will help you promote your brand by connecting with your audience on a personal level.
There’s no denying of the importance of social media for business today. If you’ve not yet started using social media for your brand, then here are all the reasons you should start using social media now! If you’re already implementing social media marketing, then these top 2018 social media trends can help you further enhance your brand promotions.