Instagram for Business: 6 Actionable Ways to Promote Your Products
Let’s get to the point, Instagram is the world’s biggest photo sharing site. With over 400 million active users (i.e. 20% of the Internet users) sharing over 80 million photos every day, there is so much happening on this network. If you are not using Instagram for business, then you may be missing something. Don’t dismiss it out of hand, even if you don’t think you have a visual business. Find out if your target prospect uses Instagram. If they are you, should be, too.
Incorporating the following techniques should help drive more engagement and sales on your Instagram account:
1. Create a business-friendly profile
In order to create a memorable first impression, you need to pay close attention to every minute detail in your profile – starting from your username. Your name lets your audience know who you are and which niche you belong to. Make sure you choose a catchy profile name that includes your brand name and niche. The profile picture can be your brand logo itself.
2. Include relevant hashtags
Hashtags are the keywords on Instagram. Any user who is interested to order your product or service is going to enter relevant hashtags in the search bar to find the best offers and deals. Explore the most popular hashtags relevant to your industry and tag them with your photos and videos. Do not hesitate to come up with your unique hashtag ideas as well.
3. Post realistic pictures
Posting original pictures in an organized manner will go a long way in convincing people to order your products. If you are a restaurant owner, you could post pictures of the best served food in your place. If you are looking to advertise your beauty products, a good idea would be to post before and after pictures of someone applying your products and looking good on them.
4. Steps to increase your followers
Sometimes, you might feel that posting quality content isn’t just enough to get more people to follow you. In that case, following these tips should help:
Ask questions to your followers and your competitors’ fans as well
Choose filters and colors that have a psychological impact on users
Make your followers happy by sharing their updates
Be quick to respond to comments on your timeline
5. Diversify your updates
Posting too many self-promotional images might seem a bit spammy for your audience. For every image of your brand, make sure you post one related to the latest industry happenings or something interesting outside of your niche. As far as posting, see to that your posts go live during the peak hours i.e. when your target audiences are online. This will help increase your shares and likes naturally.
6. Run contests
Running contests is the best way to boost your traffic and sales using Instagram. There are so many types of contests that different brands have experimented with and succeeded in the past. Make sure to do your own research to determine what type of contest might work well for your brand.
In order to get more people involved in the contest, you could offer gifts and coupons related to your products.
Final Words
Engaging with online consumers was once a nightmare for businesses across the globe. But now with platforms like Instagram offering high engagement, you have an easy option to connect with your target audience and boost your reputation and growth.
