By Nyah Scott
Founded in 2010, Instagram has since grown to become one of the top social media platforms in the world.
Expanding your online presence is one of the best ways to spread information about your business and reach potential customers and clientele. With over one billion monthly users and user-friendly in-app business tools, Instagram continues to be a prime social media platform for individuals and businesses alike. During the current pandemic, there are restrictions that limit networking in-person. By sharing relevant content on Instagram, users can establish a manageable online presence that piques the interests of consumers and clientele and directs them to your business.
1) Set up a business profile.
By setting up your Instagram page as a Business Profile, you will be given access to analytical tools and statistics that can help you better understand your audience, how to engage them, and how effective your content is. As a Business profile, you can include “Buttons” or clickable contact information in your bio that streamlines the process of connecting your business and users. The ‘Insights’ feature offers statistics about how many accounts your posts are reaching, how many users visited your profile from your posts, and other metrics that are only available for Business or Creator profiles. Creator profiles are usually reserved for individuals building a brand around themselves while Business profiles are reserved for (…you guessed it) businesses and organizations.
2) Take time curating your feed.
Instagram is a photo-oriented platform. The content you share should be visually appealing enough that users are enticed to like, share, and comment on your posts. Make sure the photos, videos, and graphics on your feed are cohesive in quality or share a recognizable part of your branding. Filters, colors, and logos are some of the easiest ways to make your business’ posts recognizable as users scroll down their personal feeds. Diversify your content where need be, but make sure the visual aspect of the information you are sharing aligns with your business’ brand.
3) Engage with your target audience.
Responding to comments and direct messages (DMs) provide an opportunity to not only share more information about your business but to show your followers and potential profile viewers that your business is an accessible and personable entity. Interact with the accounts you follow by liking photos and even sharing relevant content that you are tagged or mentioned in. Should you come across a post from another user that you want to share with your audience, you can repost it onto your feed (with credit to the original poster) or share it onto your Instagram Story.
4) Make the algorithm work in your favor.
Having a basic understanding of the current Instagram algorithm can be an asset to any business. While posts are no longer displayed chronologically on users’ personal feeds, there are tips that can help your content be seen by a greater number of people. The algorithm rewards activity and interaction. Posting consistently, using appropriate hashtags in your posts, tagging relevant profiles on your photos, and homing in on your top performing content (by checking Insights) are just a few ways to expand the reach of your content. Interacting with other users by liking, commenting, sharing, or saving their posts will also signal to the algorithm that your business is a priority in the feeds of your followers and the accounts you are following.
5) Don’t shy away from cross-platform content sharing.
Instagram has a feature that allows users to share posts to other platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Traffic can be directed from one platform or another depending upon the content you share. Directly sharing your Instagram posts onto another platform will not only diversify your media presence but alleviate the potential stress of constant content output. In simpler terms, work smarter not harder.
Conclusion
With these tips, your business can begin to create a successful Instagram profile that you can utilize to reach prospective customers and clientele while solidifying your online presence on the ever-growing platform that is Instagram.