In today’s day and age, a social media presence is vital to the success of your business, no matter what kind of good or service you provide. For some of us, though, social media isn’t the easiest thing to figure out. One of the fastest-growing social media sites of the year is Instagram, so it’s important to establish your presence.
Where do you start? We’ve together a few tips that will help you optimize your business’s Instagram account in no time.
This might sound a little obvious, but the very first thing you’ll want to do when you set up an Instagram account is double check that it’s a “business” profile, rather than a personal profile. The “business” profiles can do much more than a “personal” profile, like provide insights/analytics and display contact information directly on your page.
Head to your profile > click the three lines in the top right corner > click settings > click account > in blue text at the bottom you will see “switch to personal account” and “switch to creator account” if you’re registered as a business account.
Although there are a plethora of options you can choose when thinking of a username for your Instagram account, you want to make sure it’s something people would actually search for.
For example, if your company name is “abcde”, people are more likely to search for “abcde” itself than “abcde_1837”.
A good trick to use if your desired username is taken is to add “shop” before or after. “ShopAbcde” makes a lot more sense than a random combination of letters and numbers.
You want to make sure your profile photo is recognizable by your customers. What’s a better way to showcase your brand than your logo itself?
That being said, Instagram’s profile photos are shown in circles, so be sure to adjust accordingly.
Your bio on Instagram only has so many characters, so it’s important to make sure you’re using it to your advantage.
Rather than speaking directly about you and your brand, try talking about the customers themselves. Let them know what you can do for them, rather than the other way around.
A huge part of growing a following on Instagram is to engage with your community. That being said, your ultimate goal is generally to drive people back to your page and interact with your business. This is why it’s absolutely necessary to establish who you are with your posts before you try actively engaging.
Prior to sending out thoughtful DMs or going on a following spree, I recommend having at least three photos up on your page that are meaningful, have intriguing captions, and inspire the reader to take action. You may post these photos one right after another, but make sure this is done before the following begins. This way, when people click on your account, they are able to look at your content and decide if you’re follow-worthy. With no posts, the answer is automatically no.
At the end of the day, Instagram is a fun, engaging platform that allows your customers to see the real “you” behind your business. Learning how to use the app to your advantage allows you to stand out quickly and gain an audience doubles as devoted customers.