Are you wondering if your business should be on Instagram? Or you might already be on Instagram but you’re not sure how to get the most out of it? Check out our Instagram guide to get all the tips!
In this Instagram Guide I will discuss:
- How to know if Instagram is right for your business
- What are the best ways to use Instagram for business
- Establish your KPIs
- Instagram Posting Tips
- Instagram Profile Tips
- How to create amazing content!
- Creating Great static posts
- Creating Video Ads
- What is User Generated Content
- Instagram Stories
- Instagram Reels
- How to get more Instagram followers
- Influencer Marketing and Instagram
- Tips to convert Instagram followers into customers
What are the best ways to use Instagram for business?
- Brand awareness
- Customer delight
- Customer loyalty and retention
- Attracting new prospects
- Directing sales for B2C companies
- Advertising
Establish your KPIs
Before you jump into any social media platform it is important to ask yourself, why you are there, and establish your KPIs.
Start with a competitor analysis to get an understanding of what platforms your competitors are using. What others in your industry are posting, what hashtags are they using, how often are they posting?
Use this as a benchmark for your business.
Establish your KPIs. Be clear on the objectives you want to achieve by being on the platform. Do you want increased followers, higher engagement, referral traffic?
If you are going to invest time creating content, you need to make sure it is for a specific purpose.
Instagram Posting Tips
- Always post QUALITY OVER QANTITY. Provide content that entertains, educates, and provides value.
- Be consistent.
- Reply to comments quickly.
- Use relevant hashtags, try hashtagify.
- Use high quality images and video.
- Use live video and pre promote that live video for increased engagement.
Instagram Profile Tips
Having a properly set up Instagram profile doesn’t just look better, it will actually assist with search traffic.
Ensure your Instrgram Profile has:
- The Right Username (keep it simple, use keywords, make it memorable, be consistent).
- Awesome Avatar Photo.
- Subtitle – Use your keywords in this to maximise search engine opportunities.
- Bio – Who you are, what you do and why you do it. Again, use keywords, you have 150 characters, include hashtags and one link in Bio.
- TIP – Use Linktree to drive people to multiple links or a UTM link to track traffic.
- Call to action – Link you can track, use UTM link tracker.
- Connect to a business email.
- Switch to Instagram business profile as it has more in-depth insights.
TIP – Must have a Facebook Business page to switch to business profile
Tracking your insights is only accessible from mobile.
How to create amazing content!
Instagram is a visual platform and it is great to have a cohesive visual content strategy.
Think about your USERS. What colours, tone and voice would they resonate with?
Create a look, feel and theme for your Instagram page.
If starting out, best times to post are Mondays and Thursday between 8-9am.
Avoid posting between 3-4pm. If you have an audience already, you can look at insights to see when content is most viewed.
Content scheduling options:
Hootsuite, Hubspot, Loomly, Sendible, Buffer, Tailwind, Sprout Social, Canva and Facebook business suite.
How your images can engage:
- Educate
- Entertain
- Solve a problem
- Motivate and Inspire
Instagram Post Ideas
- Post around upcoming holidays/events
- Trending – what’s hot
- Original – unique content
- Snackable – easily digestible
- Actionable – include a call to action
- Images to TELL A STORY – Captivate and Engage
- Behind the scenes post
- Repost from employees
- Events, shoots and more
- User generated content – from fans and followers
- Quick Tips
- Influencer posts
- Motivational posts
- News jacking
Creating Great static posts
3 main sizes for Instagram content
- Square 1080 x 1080 pixel
- Panarama 1920 x 1080
- Portrait 1080 x 1350
Tips
- Great lighting
- Interesting angles – clear point of interest
- Not too cluttered. Take advantage of white space
- Make sure text is legible
- Create QUALITY OVER QUANTITY
- Consistent
- Descriptive captions
- Ask questions to boost engagement
- Mix up your hashtags (research other hashtags)
- Edit images. Snapseed – VSCO Cam
Creating Video Posts
It’s important before jumping into making a video that you establish the goal of your video.
- Product showcase or demo
- Branding and awareness
- Education
- How to
- Sneak Peek
- Behind the scenes
Video Specifications
600 x 600 pixels
Stories 1080 x 1920
TIPS
- First 2 seconds of video MOST IMPORTANT
- Compelling video start
- Keep video short as possible
- Use words and captions to grab attention without sound
- Sound is important – use a mic
- Lighting is important
- Make the thumbnail APPEALING
Instagram Video editing options:
- Hyperlapse speeds up video
- Boomerang makes video loop
To take advantage of these tools, you will need to download separate apps.
What is User Generated Content?
User Generated Content (UGC) is content followers are creating about your brand.
92% of customers trust UGC more than other forms of advertising.
Sharing User Generated Content can:
- Extend marketing reach
- Increase follower growth
- Provide clarity on what your customers love
- Increase engagement
To get maximum benefit from UGC, you can create a custom hashtag relevant to your business.
Ways to increase UGC
Ask a question or create a challenge. Share the answer via own Instagram channel using the hashtag.
Regrammming – Act of sharing others Instagram content to your feed, always get permission!
Comment on other business posts.
Instagram Stories
Over 400 million daily users and one of the fastest growing platforms with high engagement.
Instagram Stories enable us to share behind the scenes activities which help to humanise us. Stories allows you to post more day-to-day activities and you can post at a higher frequency and use less polished images.
Instagram Stories only last for 24 hours!
For business accounts, they are stored as highlights to:
- Tease your company and products
- Organise stories into themes
You can only share links in your Instagram story if you have 10,000 followers.
Instagram stories help build a strong relationship with audience.
The best insta stories are AUTHENTIC, fun moments, behind the scenes.
Stories are vertical 1080 x 1920px
Types of Stories:
- Text Only
- Music (stickers go to music button)
- Steam live
- Normal (video /images)
- Boomerang 1 second looping feature
- Rewind
- Superzoom
TIP – Set up your story highlights to keep your favourite stories on your profile.
Instagram Reels
Instagram Reels compete with Tik Tok. You can create 3-30 second videos in 9 x 16 portrait mode.
Key differences from Instagram Stories is that there are more editing tools in Reels.
You can:
- Film directly in app or upload prerecorded audio
- Stitch takes together
- Reels can be shared to Feed, Explore and Stories
- Reels show up in a specific section
- Reels are only available on mobile
- Uses algorithm to show you content
- Can create custom audiences from people who have viewed your reels. Can use Facebook Advertising to re-target
- Demostrates expertise
- TikTok content can be used on Reels
How to get more Instagram followers
Big Tip – never, ever BUY followers. They are usually fake and they won’t be engaged
- Your content will be promoted more if it has HIGH engagement
- Make sure your profile is optimised
- Post when your audience is online
- Post consistently
- Great visuals
- Show up and engage
- Hanging out on other accounts that have a similar audience
- Content needs to feel authentic (not ad style)
- User-generated content can expand reach
- Having unique hashtags
- Host contests that require a follow of your account (votigo, gleam viral sweep)
- Use the right hashtags
- Geotags for local product and services
- Instagram Stories takeover (agreement with another company where you take over their feed for 24 hours and share stories). Story is saved as a highlight and used as a resource on that business account
- Follow, like and comment on your competition! (can only follow 50-100 accounts per day)
- Promote your Instagram outside of Instagram
Influencer Marketing and Instagram
Are you wondering if Influencer marketing on Instagram is right for your business?
Why do businesses use an Influencer?
- Product placement
- Product launches
- Instagram takeover
- Live video
- Create static posts that they place in their feeds
Influencers do cost money and there are no guarantees that you will get results.
Many small businesses find that many big influencers are out of their budget, and we have seen a growth of micro-influencers which can be more beneficial for small businesses.
Things to consider when choosing an Influencer
- Choose the RIGHT influencer for your audience.
- Do your background checks.
- Ask who else they worked for.
- Ask for metrics.
- Look at their feed and make sure their values matches your values and brand.
- Check engagement rates.
- Number of followers (at least a few thousands).
- Quality of followers.
- Overall Brand.
- Other sponsors they work with.
- Establish GOALS for influencer.
Tips to convert Instagram followers into customers
You’ve gone to all the effort to create a large Instagram following, now you need to convert them into customers.
Tips:
- Set up a shop profile which enables followers to purchase from posts and video.
- Ensure you have a call to action with a link in your BIO.
- Ensure posts tell the audience what action you want them to take.
- Set-up Facebook Lead Ads that target Instagram.
- Ebook offers.
- Exclusive materials.
- Coupon codes.
- Special product discounts.
- Provide educational material.
- Click the link in my bio to get…….
- Instagram contest to convert to email.
Instagram is a fantastic social media platform, but like any social media platform it is essential you make sure your audience is using it, you set KPIs and you create a consistent posting frequency that aligns with your brand.
