As we all know, Instagram is no longer just a platform to stay in touch with friends and families or to see what Elon Musk or the Kardashians are doing. Today, it has expanded substantially, so much so that it has the potential for small businesses to blow up and achieve an extraordinary reach and maximize their sales.
However, with so many users, so many creators, and so many pages, your small business may be sidelined or submerged in the sea of content. And to help you rise by causing more people to find you and engage with your brand, we’re here with our thoughtfully curated list of some of the best Instagram tips.
Continue reading this write-up, and be ready to learn from the best, as these tips run parallel with the thoughts of several social media experts. Let’s get started!
First of all, why should Instagram be preferred by small businesses to promote their products?
Well, to begin with, the number of users that Instagram has today is mind-blowing. With more than a billion users, it is fair to say that Instagram is one of the best platforms to reach many people at a time. Other than that, Instagram has done a wonderful job at creating and offering some really helpful tools such as Instagram ads, Instagram analytics, Hashtags, Stories, Reels, and so on.
If these tools are collectively used in the right way, Instagram can truly be a blessing to your small business. And to give you the ideal guidance for the same, we’re here with some practical tips, let’s discuss!
Here are the top 10 tips to take your small business to the next level
Use hashtags
Hashtags have proven to be a game-changing element because not only are they search-able, but also save-able. This means anyone looking for the product that you’re offering can simply search for it and manage to reach your profile without even knowing about it. This will eventually increase your chances of attracting new followers, who become potential buyers and become your loyal customers. Even such a small step can bring you great profits.
Don’t forget the relevance
Indeed, hashtags can be of great help, but if you don’t add hashtags thoughtfully, your account and likewise your business would have to face a major loss. The deal with Instagram is that when a post has irrelevant hashtags associated with it, Insta bots identify the user’s sneaky behavior and shadow-bans. And when your account gets shadow-banned, none of your content will be promoted to the explore page or suggested content for a significant amount of time.
Go crazy with reels
Reels is one of the freshest additions of Instagram, which allows you to create short 15-30 second content with great creative freedom in terms of music, filters, effects, transitions, etc. The best part about reels is that they have a huge viewership, majorly because they are short and easy to consume. Even if a single reel of yours blows up, you can attract many customers at a time. In order to make your reel go viral, follow the visual and audio trends, use relevant hashtags, and promote with creativity.
Post interactive stories
Instagram stories are a great way to ensure interacting with your current followers and sustain your existing customers. This will subtly promote your brand as your customers will feel valued and heard. There are a number of features, such as the question and answer tag, polls, and so on, which can help you ask for suggestions, receive feedback, and know your customer’s opinions about your brand. This will ensure a healthy interaction which will cause you to frame better strategies to satisfy them.
Use Instagram ads
This is probably one of the most beneficial features for small businesses because you can advertise your products with maximum efficiency. The reason behind Instagram ads being efficient is that you can easily target your niche audience and directly promote them. After curating your ad post, Instagram allows you to select the target audience, in terms of age, gender, location, and even interests, for that matter. This means you can go straight to the ones to whom your brand caters.
Pay attention to the bio
Your Instagram bio plays a huge role because every time a user visits your profile, before even checking your posts, he/she will read your bio. If they find your bio interesting and appealing to their needs, they will continue viewing the content. A piece of advice would be to keep the bio simple and crisp. Make sure it covers all the essential points such as the location your business is based in, accepted payment modes, shipping details, and even the link to your website if you have one.
Create highlights
Highlights are essential to keep all the important information at the top and easily accessible. Existing and new customers should not find any difficulty finding information about your brand; everything should be readily available in the bio and highlights. You can create user-friendly highlights regarding the story of your brand, business policy, behind the scenes, and most importantly, customer reviews. Every time you deliver an order, ask for the review and add the screenshot to the highlight.
Host a giveaway
If you haven’t hosted a giveaway yet, you are losing out on a significant amount of followers and overall engagement. Giveaways can be hosted every time you achieve a milestone, such as 1K, 5K, 10K followers, and so on. Set guidelines for participation such as getting two more people to follow and participate, tagging friends in the comment section, sharing the post, etc. This clever marketing trick will take your engagement to the next level and cause more people to find and follow your profile.
Collaborate with influencers
Instagram influencers are your key to maximize your reach, attract more customers, and create a sense of brand awareness. Try to collaborate with the influencers whose target audience matches your brand’s so that it’s a win-win for both of you. If not full-fledged, you may simply send a free package and ask for a simple shoutout. Even this small step can fetch you a significant amount of followers without having to do anything other than sending some free goodies.
Monitor your growth
Indeed, growing your profile is essential, but don’t forget to monitor this growth from time to time, and the best way to do this is by using the Instagram Analytics tool. Keep track of the engagement level under each post. This will help you see which posts are doing well, and accordingly, you can promote those posts even more. You can also understand the dos and don’ts based on the ups and downs that your strategy faces. Monitoring growth can help you learn new things and grow even more.
These were some of the most practically effective tips to boost your small business. You may also consider the following points:
- Respond to as many comments as possible
- Create more visual content
- Keep the captions short and sweet
- Keep the content user-friendly
- Hardcore selling is a big no
- Advertise your brand subtly
- Consistency in posting content is a must
- Add “Call To Action” in your posts
Conclusion
In a nutshell, there are several ways to level up on Instagram and set your small business apart. However, even with all these tricks, you need to be patient to see real-time results because growth doesn’t happen overnight, except for the rare times when all your stars are aligned. Keep the hustle going, and the growth will never stop. Work hard, work smart, and turn your dreams into reality.
