A Brief Introduction to Instagram for Businesses

Over 1 billion people use Instagram every month. 500 million of these people use the social media network on a daily basis. If you have decided to tap into this potential for your business, there are four important things to know first.

High-Quality Photos Are King

Instagram is centralized around photos, so it's essential to only upload high-quality photos to gain attention, according to Foo Plugins. Lifestyle photos are popular. If you sell a service, you can upload photos showing what type of life they can live when they have your software or hire your services. For product-based businesses, don't make the mistake of only uploading pictures of your products. Take a creative approach and reach out to customers for user-generated content. You can ask them to take pictures using your product and tag you. Remember to always get permission if you want to post their photos directly on your Instagram.

Clickable Links Can Only Fit in Your Bio

An effective strategy that businesses use on Instagram is directing their audience to the link in their bio in an Instagram post when they want to share a link. This causes people to check your bio and makes it convenient for them to view the link. You should change the link in your bio as needed.

Your Following is Your Social Capital

According to CertifiedLikes, the size of a profile's following is a common metric that brands use to measure the success of their efforts on Instagram. The more followers you have, the more reputable you'll appear. Potential customers will show an interest in your brand when you have a decent following and the verified badge. These factors are your social capital on Instagram and build trust among those who come across your posts. To gain followers on Instagram, you should post engaging content, use good hashtags, write a bio, use influencer marketing and participate in hot topic conversations that are relevant. Also ask people to follow you on Instagram every once in a while as a call to action.

Hashtags Expand Your Reach

Hashtags are how Instagram users come across your content when they don't know who you are yet. Always include around three to five hashtags in your Instagram posts. You're allowed up to 30, but you don't want to appear spammy. The hashtags you use should always be relevant as well. Social media users become annoyed when people use irrelevant hashtags, and it could get your post reported as spam. Use a mixture of branded and non-branded hashtags for the best results. Branded hashtags give your followers an easy way to find your content through search.

Keep these important points in mind to help you get started on the right foot with Instagram marketing. Continue to learn about Instagram marketing to master it, and don't forget to have fun too. When you enjoy connecting with your audience on social media, it helps improve your results.

If your business is struggling with social media strategy, Candescent Group can help. Contact us for a quote!