By Simon Bacher, co-founder of Ling, a mobile edtech company, specializing in language learning.
getty
If your business isn’t utilizing social media, you need to rethink your marketing strategy. It’s estimated that nearly 92% of marketers these days are using social media.
Nearly 38% of respondents even admitted to buying a product after seeing a social media advertisement. If utilized correctly, that could mean a 37.9% increase in sales for your business via Instagram!
Here are three quick tips for using Instagram to grow your business.
1. Define your brand and market to your target audience.
You can’t expect people to engage with your social media if you haven’t defined your niche yet.
First things first, define your brand. What do you stand for? What is your business’s mission? The answers to these questions should be clear and consistent in all your Instagram posts. Once people see what your business stands for, they’ll be more likely to not only engage with a post but become loyal followers.
By defining your niche, you’re defining your target audience. Therefore, create all posts with your target audience in mind.
2. Utilize hashtags to find local and international followers.
Never underestimate the power of a good hashtag, but remember, there’s a healthy balance.
If your Instagram page is new, start with hashtags with less than 1 million hits. If not, your page will be one in a sea of millions. Instead, use less popular but still relevant hashtags on your posts. An easy way to get hashtag ideas is to look at the autogenerated hashtags in the search bar.
A good rule of thumb when using hashtags is to prioritize connecting locally before connecting internationally. Don’t expect your Instagram page to go viral overnight. Typically, the process starts slow and should pick up more and more each day.
Use popular hashtags in your local area. Then, once locals start discovering your page, it can grow organically and you’ll gain loyal followers who are genuinely interested in your posts.
Next, you can focus on growing more followers in nearby communities, states and, eventually, countries. Getting too ahead of yourself too fast is a good way for your Instagram to stay stuck.
3. Be authentic with your followers.
Nowadays, authenticity is the new beautiful. Similar to having a consistent brand identity, followers want to see that your posts are original and can add value to their lives. So, don’t push your product too aggressively if you’re a business.
Make your posts unfiltered and real. Along the same lines, be sure to engage with your followers. If they follow you, follow back. If they comment, respond. If they send a private message, reply promptly. Engaging with your followers is a great way for them to see you as a real person instead of just another company trying to attract more followers.
Get your Instagram noticed!
Businesses are sitting on a goldmine that didn’t exist 20 or even 10 years ago. Whether you want to boost your brand awareness, sales, revenue or number of users, use these tips to get started!