Did you know that Instagram is used by 83 percent of people to discover new products and services? With 87 percent of those users taking a specific action, such as making a purchase, this is one target audience you don’t want to miss.
With that in mind, you should use Instagram not only as a platform for sharing photos and videos but also converting your audience into new customers. Creating an Instagram page, however, is not enough to grow your small business.
You also need a marketing plan to ensure the success of your business. Here are 7 effective Instagram marketing tips that can be effectively leveraged to help you scaling your small business.
- Customer Journey and Lifestyle Should Be Your Focus
The vast majority of Instagram users are more attracted to artsy, lifestyle-based posts. If you are a small business owner looking to attract attention to your products and/or services, you should join in on that.
Your posts need to be captured in a raw, creative way that engages viewers. You should feature behind-the-scenes moments in your stories such as candid shots of your office premises, customer testimonials, as well as advocacy-based projects.
To make your Instagram updates even more interesting, you should rely on lifestyle photography to promote your product and service. This means you need to show customers how your products and/or services work in their intended environment.
It gives them a hint on what they should expect after buying your products or seeking out your services. Furthermore, it helps build an emotional bond with prospective customers, increasing their chances of engaging with your business. Buy Instagram likes fast to give a new profile an added boost and increase your reach.
- Use Hashtags Wisely
Would you like your Instagram posts to have a higher rate of engagement? You should start using hashtags that are relevant. Instagram users tend to interact more with posts with hashtags compared to posts without them.
Hashtags can help you boost the optimization of your posts, increasing users’ discovery rates. When you use hashtags on the platform, you need to make sure that you first see how they perform before actually using them.
You can search your specific hashtags and monitor their performance when you include them in your posts. To be sure that your hashtags are performing well, they need to contain at least 8 to 10 characters in length and be easy to read.
- Post Product Teasers
Instagram is a great platform for advertising your products and/or services. If you are too pushy with your social media marketing ads, however, your followers will likely feel overwhelmed and start dropping like flies. That’s why you need to play your cards right by using product teaser posts to increase customer excitement, without appearing to try too hard.
You can tease users with captivating images of your products and/services as well as discounts. If you choose to tease potential customers this way, without pushing them into making any purchases, they are far more likely to take the initiative and start making purchases. If they don’t wish to buy anything, they can at the very least engage with posts by liking them, commenting on them, or sharing them with their loved ones.
- Get a Wider Reach by Partnering with Influencers
Are you looking to reach potential customers on Instagram quickly? You should consider adding influencer marketing to your Instagram marketing strategy. People usually trust the influential people that they follow and prefer buying products and services that they see in their feed.
Influencers already have a massive following, which means that you can capture potential clients if you let them promote your products and services. If you promote your business on an influencer’s Instagram page that has about 400,000 followers, it means that your brand has just been exposed to thousands of potential customers.
To get started with this digital marketing campaign, you need to first identify influencers with an audience that’s relevant to your products and services. Besides the direct sales and short-term gains, you will build long-lasting brand awareness with a different audience should you decide to build a relationship with an influencer.
- Use Instagram Stories and Live
Instagram Stories and Live can help you grow your business if you are looking to generate leads. While Instagram stories come in a “slideshow” format that appears at the top of news feeds for just 24 hours, Instagram Live lets you have real-time interaction with followers.
Instagram stories can be used for capturing behind-the-scenes posts about your small business. The content posted here doesn’t necessarily have to align with your brand’s aesthetic. It makes it easy for you to experiment with various content types, including short videos, photos, boomerangs, and more.
If you are collaborating with another brand or influencer, you can tag their account on your stories.
When it comes to Instagram Live, you can have instant communication and feedback with the audience in case you turn the comments on. You can use it to go behind the scenes and run a Q&A, showcase your creative process, or conduct interviews.
- Utilize the Link in Your Bio
Are you looking to direct followers to your website? Instagram does not allow clickable links within the caption of a post, which can make it appear difficult to market your website. Still, this isn’t something to worry about.
Instagram lets you add hyperlinks to the bio section within your profile. You can place a link to the homepage of your website or links about current events, sign-ups, and promotions.
- Track Your Instagram Metrics
Unless you know just how your posts and page are performing, it will be impossible to improve your Instagram marketing strategy. Having measurable results helps you figure out what is working and what is not. The first thing you can start tracking is your follower growth rate since it will help you see how posts are affecting things.
Ensure that you also measure engagement rates, including your comments and likes. You should find out the average engagement rate of every post and the average engagement percentage of your total followers. Your engagement rate should be higher if you have a small following.
You should also not forget to track your URL click-through rate, which requires you to have a link on your bio. It helps you know the number of people that go back to your website.