We all know the power of Instagram. Huge companies like Coca-Cola, Starbucks and Nike have mastered their use of Instagram. Companies with established followings seem to have no problems getting engagement and results. However, if you’re an entrepreneur or small business owner, utilizing Instagram is a lot tougher.
However, you don’t have to be an enterprise-sized company to get value from Instagram. In fact, the mobile app allows small businesses to compete with the “big guys.” If you’re not using Instagram for your small business yet, you’re missing out on a potential goldmine of opportunities.
Here are ways on how to leverage an Instagram as an entrepreneur in 2018:
1. Know Your Market
The first rule for growing your business through the power of social media is to know your market. The clearer you are about your target demographic, the better you’ll be able to appeal to your customers. The less you know about your target demographic, the less likely you’ll be able to succeed through social media.
2. Start With A Goal and Personas
A solid Instagram campaign begins like many other aspects of the business, with a goal. Why are you on Instagram? What do you hope to accomplish by promoting your business on an app that’s popular with millennials?
Be sure to get specific on your goals as well. Don’t just say that you want more clicks on your website as a result of Instagram marketing. Instead, quantify that goal with a percentage increase in clicks you’d like to see. Once you’ve established your goal, make sure to take the time to create personas (models of your potential customers) to experiment with targeting the right audience.
3. Start Using Instagram Stories
Instagram Stories have been a controversial feature to say the least. In case you haven’t heard, Instagram Stories lets you string together multiple pictures and videos into a “story” that disappears after 24 hours.
Small businesses have been slow to use Instagram Stories while they try to figure out how to best weave the feature into their own strategies. However, there’s a lot of potential opportunity from Stories you shouldn’t pass up. Like with any big change, the companies that adopt and figure it out first tend to reap the biggest benefits. Start experimenting and get creative to see how you can really engage with your audience.
4. Focus On Quality Over Quantity of Posts
The goal isn’t about bombarding users with posts. It’s never about quantity, it’s always about the quality of the posts. Ensuring that the posts are targeted towards your market and that each of them conveys an important message or unique display of something relevant to that demographic will help you to gain the most traction while also adding on more followers.
5. Dive Into Your Comments
Do you publish Instagram posts and never look at them again? You’re not alone. A lot of small businesses spend little to no time monitoring their comments, partially because it’s not the easiest thing to do with the Instagram app. However, comments are an extremely way to stay engaged and learn about your audience.
6. Make Sure Your Photos Look 100% Professional
If you want to present a positive image of your brand online, you’re probably going to have to fork over some cash for professional photography. Yes, it’s an expense but keep in mind that you’re displaying yourself prominently on a network that reaches hundreds of millions of users. If you present a good image to even a fraction of that many people, that’s going to be great news for your reputation. On the other hand, if your photo looks unprofessional, people will immediately get the impression that your business isn’t ready to be taken seriously.
7. Follow High-Profile Accounts
All of the Instagram Influencers that I’ve spoken to started out by following other high-profile accounts. This created their first bits of visibility for them. It also helped them to gauge what was working for those who were already at the top of their game. By following other high end profiles, you can learn what strategies really work on Instagram.
8. Use Hashtags
When it comes to social media marketing, hashtags can be some of your best friends. That’s why you should post your photos and videos with hashtags. It’s often the case that you’ll pick up a few extra followers from people who were just browsing through posts tagged with a hashtag that you added and those people can potentially turn into lifelong loyal customers.
There are a couple of rules to keep in mind about hashtags though. For starters, only use hashtags relevant to your niche and your post. Otherwise, your content could be considered “spammy” and will not be hitting your demographic. Finally, use the most popular hashtags relevant to your brand. You might have to do some digging to find the tags that are used most frequently, but it’s worth the effort.
Conclusion
The perfect Instagram campaign requires a series of flawless Instagram posts. Fortunately, with the right know-how and a little bit of experience, you can be well on your way to capturing more leads by unlocking the power of Instagram marketing. In this post, I shared with you ways on how to leverage an Instagram as an entrepreneur in 2018.
