100 million users each month, 40 million new images every day, 1,000 comments and 8,500 likes every second. Would you like to get at least a small share of that for your business? You most definitely would.
All these astonishing figures are about Instagram. And if you used to think that Instagram is the place for selfies and photos of your meals, not for business and product marketing, it’s time to reconsider. Instagram is a great platform to connect with your existing and potential fans, giving them an insight into your brand, promoting your products, and introducing new ones.
Of course, unless your business is Dolce & Gabbana, you don’t expect millions of fans to find and follow it just like that. Getting noticed on Instagram requires the know-how. Here are a few tips for your business to win over new followers and turn them into customers.
Use Effective Hashtags
You probably know that hashtags help people find the information they need easily. So when they are looking for a topic, related to your business, you will appear in the search results only if you use the right hastags. Take the most popular hashtags and pick the ones that describe your business and the topics of your posts better.
Connect to Other Social Media
If you’re already active on other social media platforms, it’s a must to link your Instagram to them. Your photos will be posted to your other accounts, which will save you some time and encourage your Facebook or Twitter followers to join you on Instagram as well.
Launch Photo Contests
People love contests and love prizes. But if you want all the participants to stay around after the contest is over, make sure it is centered around your brand. The theme of the contest should be related to your business, and the best idea for the prize is one of your products. Sure, a lot of people will join a contest where something “hot” like an iPhone is the prize, but they will probably forget about your brand as soon as the contest is over.
Give Your Followers a Real Insight
Showcasing your products or new promo campaigns is great, but what customers love is seeing something more personalized. They want to get an insight into how your business works and who the people that make it happen are. So think of the opportunities for your followers to gain a real insight: perhaps, post photos of your office on a regular business day, or the photos of your team discussing a new product.
Take Advantage of the “Photo-a-Day” Challenge
Like photo contests, “Photo-a-Day” is a good trick for attracting new followers. You will create a list to encourage your followers to take and post new pictures every day. It’s a good idea to connect this challenge to your brand and perhaps to one of your photo contests.
Instagram proves a simple idea: we all like things that look nice, and a sure way to win people over is to offer a treat to their eyes. So why not take advantage of that?
Now, does your business currently use Instagram? Do you find it effective? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.
