Social media is an integral and irreplaceable part of the internet. While it has been a thing since the beginning of the 2000s, it really took off in the previous decade. So many new platforms were introduced to help us connect with new and old people. One such example is Instagram. Founded in 2010, Instagram has shown insane growth in the previous decade. Today, it hosts over 800 million monthly users which is nothing but impressive. It has also made Instagram a favorite among brands for digital marketing purposes. Not only are most of the international brands active here but small businesses are boosting their sales as well. Many businesses take help from some of the top social media marketing agencies to get their work done. If you represent a small business, here are some tips to make the most out of Instagram.
1. Publish Relevant Content Regularly
Content is the king, be it whatever platform you are using. Without content, you can not promote your products. Praying for customers to miraculously get drawn to your brand without you making content to reach them is not a good idea. You can not be complacent while creating content either. For a small business, you might have to create a community from scratch. For that, you need attractive content. It should be relevant, non-repetitive, and importantly original. You can publish unrelated content once in a while but the majority of it should be in association with what you offer.
2. Keep An Eye On The Trends
Staying updated with internet and Instagram trends can be beneficial in multiple ways. First of all, it helps you keep coming up with new content regularly. Secondly, trends obviously generate more attention than outdated content. Thus, incorporating trends into your content strategy will help you create eye-grabbing content for the long run.
3. Use The Right Hashtags
Hashtags can come in handy in improving your Instagram engagement and getting a big exposure. These keywords are associated with the content of a post. All the posts containing a similar hashtag are grouped together and displayed to whoever searches for the term. Including 3 to 5 relevant keywords in your posts can heavily increase the chances of it getting viral. It is tempting to use the most popular tags but it is not a good idea for a small business. Popular hashtags include thousands and millions of posts where you can easily get buried under accounts more popular than you. Choose hashtags that are relevant, trending, and don’t have more than a few thousand posts.
4. Increase Customer Interaction
The consumer base is the most important part of any business, small or big. When it comes to a small business, every single customer becomes even more important. It becomes crucial to not only attract new but retain the existing ones as well. Instagram gives you plenty of ways of customer retention through interaction. For direct one-to-one communication, there are comments and direct messages. You can host live sessions and invite members of your community to interact with you. Another way of boosting retention is through hosting contests and giveaways.
5. Invest In Instagram Advertising
Instagram provides paid ad services for all of its users. Having them promote your account is a near-guaranteed way of boosting your reach and online presence. The ads allow you to reach a specific type of audience that you might believe to be easier to convert to customers. Ads also let you showcase your multiple works through photos, videos, carousels, and slideshows. One can also promote specific posts through their boost option.
6. Choose Right Influencers For Promotions
Influencer marketing is an immensely popular and effective approach to digital marketing. Influencers can be considered as internet celebrities. They have loyal fanbases who they can influence with their opinions which is why they have been proven effective in boosting sales of a brand. But not every influencer is fit for a small business. Going for huge names will cost you a fortune and it’s not easy to settle deals with them either. Instagram shoutouts Micro and Nano-influencers are the best choices for a small business. If they are related to the category of your products, then you can expect to have even better results.
7. Buy Instagram Engagement
Believe it or not, you can buy Instagram likes if you feel like there is no other resort left. Even if you are progressing well, these bought metrics can provide a huge boost to it. There are many websites from where you can buy Instagram followers, likes, views, and everything else possible. They are completely legal, ethical, and secure as long as you choose a reputed name.
8. Make The Most Out Of Platform’s Features
Instagram is loaded with many features that you can use to showcase your creativity, interact with your audience, and boost engagement. Post stories, reels, create polls, IGTV videos, use filters, and they’re still will be more left to explore. Stories, for example, can be used to create shoppable tags for your featured products.
Conclusion
Instagram is one of the three biggest social media platforms today. What it lacks in numbers compared to the ones bigger to it, it makes up for with friendly algorithms. Being exclusive to visual content makes Instagram easier and suitable for digital marketing. As it is also cheap and cost-effective, you get better results for lower expenses. This makes Instagram a perfect fit for new and growing small businesses.
The platform can help you reach more people than ever without costing anywhere near the expenditure that traditional advertisement demands. But to maximize its potential, you must keep the aforementioned 8 tips in your mind.
Comments