By now, most of you know that social media should be a part of your marketing campaigns. Of course, there’s always a caveat: if your target market is on social. The same thing goes for social platforms. Although we’re strong proponents of using whatever social platforms your market is on, we also believe that it should be done with planning, forethought and good common sense. There are a lot of myths and truths about social media out there; you need to be fully informed before you jump on the bandwagon.
For example, if you know your target market can be found on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram, it’d be great if you could create programs to cover all three, all the time. However, sometimes that just isn’t cost – or time – effective. Sometimes, you can achieve better results by focusing on a few platforms at a time.
That doesn’t mean you ignore the other ones completely, though, and that’s where today’s guest post comes in. Instagram is growing quickly as an effective, quality social media marketing platform. If your target market is there, you have a fight on your hands. According to the company, there are 1 million advertisers and 700 million users. You’ll have to be on top of your game to do well. Read our guest post to get five great tips to get your A game on.
Stand Out from Your Competitors on Instagram
With so many businesses competing to capture new clients on Instagram, it is crucial to ensure your business is always on top of the game. With Instagram having more than 700 million users now, you have an opportunity to get more clients and grow your business if you know how to capture the attention of your target customers. Here are tips that will help you to stand out from your competitors.
Your profile
Make sure that you work on your business profile on Instagram. Your profile is what people will first look at when they get to your Instagram account. Therefore, your profile picture should be clear and be a true representation of your business. This is because your profile picture will show up whenever you share your images and on the news tab when individuals get notifications. Make sure your bio captures what your business is about and includes a link to your website.
Post regularly
With social media, people are inclined to love consistency. Therefore, you must ensure that you consistently update your posts on Instagram. This will help you to get your name to users and enable you to connect with more people. Make sure that you post at least 3 times every week. However, you can still post every day if you want to, but ensure that you have interesting images and posts for your clients.
You should be human
For your business relationship to flourish on Instagram and beyond, you must be available to your target audience. People tend to trust businesses that are there for them. Make sure that you respond to comments within 12 hours after they have been posted. By responding in good time, your followers will know that you are real and will be able to interact with you and your business. Make sure that you engage with people using Like4Like and you will have a loyal following of actual customers buying your products and services.
Get graphic
Instead of just posting normal photos that promote your products and brand, it is advisable that you get a bit graphic. Adding some graphic elements will make your pictures more artistic and appealing. You can also put pictures or images of your services or products on graphic backgrounds and add some graphic overlays. This will make your pictures more unique and will be eye-catching to your followers.
Utilize hashtags
Hashtags are an excellent way of gaining target followers and they will help you bring engagement on your Instagram account. Hashtags will help you make it easy for individuals that know you to follow you. This is because they will be able to distinguish who is talking and about what and what followers are participating in. Make sure that your hashtags are relevant to your business so that they can help you sell.
When using your Instagram account to vouch for your business, you should avoid being too polished. Changing technologies are making people more social and you have to stop appearing too professional or too formal. Get to the level of your followers and interact with them. You can even post less formal pictures that show your employees, your warehouse backgrounds, customers, and your office to increase engagement with your clients.
Author Bio
Walter Moore is a renowned business owner who loves blogging and writing. He has built his businesses through social media networks and has an in-depth understanding of online marketing and utilizing Instagram. You can follow him on Twitter.