How do you use Instagram for your business?
The number one rule of social media is – BE SOCIAL!
So, what is the purpose of social media?
It is NOT to:
- Promote your product or service shamelessly
- Overwhelm your audience with post after post
- Shout loudly enough and at enough people until they buy
It is about being social and building relationships on a more personal level, humanize your business and make your customers feel valued and appreciated.
The reason we are often overwhelmed by social media is because we constantly compare ourselves to others: “Their photos are so much more professional than mine”, “I wish I had the magic ingredient to make my post go viral”. So, let’s unravel Instagram for you…
Top Tips
- The number one rule of social media is – BE SOCIAL!
- Setup your profile and bio so people know what you’re about
- When posting it isn’t about you – it’s about them
- Think what would my audience like to see?
- Build a relationship and show your personality
%
Instagram users are aged between 18-29
Million Daily Active Users
Million Posts A Day
%
Of Online Women Are On Instagram
Who is on Instagram?
Before you start, make sure your Instagram account is converted from a personal to a Business Account. All you need to do is go to your settings and select ‘Switch to Business Account’. You will need to connect it to your business Facebook Page, but this does not mean that what you post on Instagram will go on your Facebook Page. It just connects it because the two platforms work together.
Once you are on a business profile you will have access to your Insights. This tells you about your followers – a breakdown of men and women for example. This is important to know, because this will tell you who you are ‘speaking’ to and who you are targeting. Check this every couple of months. As your following grows, so your breakdown of followers will change.
Your Instagram Profile
Name
Make this relevant to your business.
Username
This is your identity on Instagram, people will include this when mentioning you.
Your Instagram URL will be instagram.com/yourbusinessname
Make your username consistent with your Facebook business Page, your website and any other platforms you are using.
Bio
- This tells people who you are and what you do
- Your brand’s unique personality is shown
- Stand out!
Make it personal
- Embrace the Emoji in your profile – look at @Asos as an example
- You can break it up with spacing and line breaks – check out @miss604
- Include a call to action – @airbnb is an example of this
Website
- This is the only place where you will have a clickable link, so use this space to drive traffic to your website
- Change this as you need to – you might have a special on your website, so change the link to this page on your website
- Google Analytics reads the traffic going to your website from this link so it is an important source of information for your marketing
Getting Started
What 5 words do you want people to think of when they describe your business? Take a look at our Communication guide to get you started on communicating your business.
Keep these words in mind when you update your profile and should be at the forefront of all your posts.
When you post remember:
It isn’t about you – it’s about them
Think – Not what should I post? But rather what would my audience like to see?
80% of your posts need to be conversational and no more than 20% of your posts should be promotional
Personal Posts
- What are you struggling with?
- Where are you insecure?
- What are the messy parts about life that you are prepared to share about?
Conversational Posts
- What would you text to a friend?
- What does your ideal customer talk about every day?
- What’s frustrating in your customer’s day to day life?
- What is on your customer’s mind?
Humorous Posts
- What’s something you did today that is funny or amusing?
- What’s something you audience thinks, but never says out loud?
- What would make your customer say ‘LOL, they are just like me’?
Inspirational Post
- What thought-provoking thing have you been mulling over?
- What quotes or people inspire you?
- What would you say to a friend who is having a bad day?
Promotional Posts
- How would you tell a friend about your product?
- What message can you add to the photograph of your product that will build relationships?
- What benefits of the product can you share instead of details about your product?
Influencer marketing
- Find someone in your niche (or which works well with your niche) who has a big following with engaged fans
- Message them privately
- Ask them if they would like to exchange one of product with photo of them with your product
- This will help to build a buzz and draw in the right people
3 Metrics you need to keep track of
Reach
How many people have seen your post
Engagement
How many commented or ‘liked’ your post
Referrals
How are people finding you, find this from Google Analytics
#Hashtags
It looks like the most effective to use is 5 unique hashtags and not to use them in your comments as they won’t show up in searches.
All hashtags should be in your caption. You can also now follow a hashtag, so go to ‘search’ and type in for example #Frome and follow it. Your feed will start featuring posts others have made with the #Frome hashtag, which is a good way to connect with other businesses and well as grow your audience. Instagram may favour your profile if you follow hashtags, so follow your favourites.
How to keep your audience engaged
Be willing to give more than you take and the more of YOU that you give on social media, the bigger impact you will make – which is a lot more than the big brands can do.
There are no hard and fast rules about Instagram – you are unique, your audience is unique to you and you just need to do more of what works and less of what doesn’t.
Follower numbers don’t matter – if they don’t convert to sales, then it is not worthwhile. Work towards having true fans, fans who love your brand. Continue to experiment and enjoy the journey!
When to post?
Least optimal time to post is 3pm
3 times of the day most recommended:
- 2am
- 8am – commute
- 5pm – commute
Once a day is fine or 2 per week when you post a really good quality post.
Spend at least an hour a week on social media, but 90% of this time should be responding to your community and engaging them.
Don’t let social media steal your joy – get in and get out – don’t get sucked in!
Attended by over 50 local businesses, the increasingly popular free Discuss & Do workshops from the Frome Chamber of Commerce have become an ideal way to discover new ways of working and meeting other local businesses.