How To Effectively Use Instagram For Your Business

In today’s digital age, it’s vital for every business owner to effectively utilize and leverage social media. Most entrepreneurs already know the importance of Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. However, although Instagram is revolutionizing advertisement strategies, sales tactics and business promotions, many have yet to capitalize on this booming social media platform.

Looking to launch an Instagram account for your business, but not sure where to start? Here’s our guide for Instagram success:

Instagram’s Value to Businesses

Instagram is a great platform for visual storytelling—allowing businesses to successfully build a strong community around their brand. Its unique features enable you to give your followers a behind-the-scenes look at your business, showcase your team and talk to them directly through Instagram Stories, which also let you post polls and post videos in real time. Unlike other social media platforms, Instagram emphasizes the use of photos and videos when telling stories—making it a go-to resource for the growing number of consumers who value visuals when making their purchasing decisions.

Be Strategic With Your Instagram Strategy

The first step to successfully utilizing Instagram is creating an effective strategy that’s fueled by your business goals. Instagram is a great tool for building brand awareness, enhancing customer service and driving sales—and your content and activity should all be molded around achieving whichever goal fits your specific company. Ensure you’re posting regularly and engaging with your followers by responding to all comments and answering all questions. It’s also important to develop a consistent visual identity through your content and a matching tone of voice through your captions. A winning combination may compel a customer to stop scrolling and check out your company website!

Learn From Successful Instagram Accounts

When we first started our Humans.net Instagram account, we had about 150 followers and posted three times a week. After implementing an effective strategy based on our audience and business goals, we were able to post content every day and grow our following to almost 1,200. Here’s how we did it:

• We diversified our content to include posts from our own Instagram video series in addition to visually-appealing content from other amazingly talented Instagram users.
• We maximized the use of hashtags on our posts and cross promoted our content on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and our blog to broaden our reach.
• We ramped up audience engagement by commenting on user posts, responding to comments and sending direct messages.

As social media continues to transform the ways in which we do business, it’s important for every business owner to stay on top of the latest trends and platforms that are most valued by consumers. Instagram has exploded in popularity over the last few years and shows no signs of slowing down. Leveraging this platform’s high number of users and building a strategy tailored to your business goals and target audiences is key for the long term success of any entrepreneur.