Are you using Instagram’s photo-sharing platform to get more leads for your business?When my clients ask me if they should join Instagram as a business, my answer is simple: if your audience is using it, of course! With over 300 million users (75 million daily active users), Instagram is not one to ignore if you want to reach more customers.
“But how?” This is usually the follow-up question. How can you promote your products in a social media that focuses on sharing memorable memories? How can you succeed in getting leads when users usually stay away from business accounts?
Well today, I thought I’d jot down some tips to help you succeed in Instagram Marketing. I’ve got four super sweet and simple parts for you:
- How to sign up for an Instagram account
- How to quickly gain your first (or next) 1000 followers
- Campaign ideas to encourage new leads to follow your account
- Tools you can use to make Instagram easier
So without further ado
How to sign up for an Instagram account
Step 1: Go to Instagram.com to download the app, or you can go to your app store / Google play directly and search for ‘Instagram’.
Step 2: Sign up using your email, or login using your Facebook account.
Step 3: Add your profile photo, create your username and password.
Tip: Don’t use any “gram” word on your username to avoid being deactivated. Also, avoid using any symbol or punctuation marks.
Step 4: Add your full name and phone number. (Optional)
Step 5: Find your friends / customers who are already in Instagram by letting Instagram view your Facebook account and contacts (optional).
Step 6: Start posting! 🙂
Posting photos on Instagram isn’t hard. However creating an Instagram profile that will effortlessly attract followers QUICKLY?! That’s some challenging stuff. But don’t worry, we’ll make it 100% easier for you.
Here are our awesome tips to gain your first (or next) 1000 followers quickly:
Build anticipation using your active social media accounts.Have you ever seen major brands doing a series of posts on their social media accounts about “something new”? It’s one of the most effective ways to build anticipation.
It’s so effective in making sure your current audience is glued to your channels while you’re creating a bunch of images you’ll soon be sharing on Instagram.
Some of the ways you can build anticipation are:
- Post a trivia on your social media accounts
- Send your email subscribers a sneak preview
- Change your social media headers
Post engaging photos. Here’s a fact we already know: no one likes to follow an account full of ads, campaigns and promotions. So there’s no reason to go in that direction. But if you don’t post about your products, there isn’t any use for you to be in Instagram, right?
Hmmmm Tough situation? Not really.
Here’s my best suggestion: Follow the 80/20 rule.
This rule suggests that 80% of your posts focus on what your leads will love to see, while 20% will cover what you’d like your leads to see.
Why 80 / 20?
By following this rule, you’re keeping your prospect leads engaged without losing the opportunity to showcase your products. So, whenever you post, think about your followers. Ask yourself, if I was to see this in my feed, would I double tap (like) it? Would I repost and share it?
Use hashtags but don’t overdo it. If you’re not familiar with hashtags (on social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram), they are a word or group of words preceded by a hash or pound sign (#) and used to identify messages on a specific topic.
For example, you use the hashtag #ThrowbackThursday, if you want to share an old photo on a Thursday. These hashtags are useful in getting your photos viewed by many people who are not in your network yet.
Another example we posted our featured photo for last week’s post about LinkedIn (see middle photo, second row) and added a #webdesign hashtag in the caption. Thus, anyone who searches for #webdesign in Instagram will be able to view our photo even if they are not following us yet.
We suggest that you use the only 5 – 7 hashtags. These should be composed of the following:
Hashtags 1 – 3: Important to your business.
#YourBusinessName
#YourMainKeyword1
#YourMainKeyword2
Hashtags 5 – 7: Popular ones so you get discovered by leads.
#instagood
#tbt
#picoftheday
#instadaily
Or you can check this list of most popular hashtags and choose what applies to your post best.
Post / engage regularly. Like what we always say, consistency is key. So make sure you add Instagram to your schedule so you can update your profile and engage with your followers regularly.
2 Brilliant campaign ideas to increase and nurture ‘following’
The most challenging part of Instagram is to keep things interesting and not monotonous. That’s why exciting campaigns are a great idea. I have some clever ideas to make sure you give your followers a fun way to engage.
“Double Tap For A Surprise”
Whenever you double tap (like) a photo, a heart appears in the center. Brands and popular accounts have found a way to encourage their followers to like their posts by cleverly positioning their photos to match the heart.
“Double Tap And Tag To Lower The Price”
If you’d like your current followers to talk about you to their friends, the best way to create a “double tap and tag to lower the price” campaign. See this post for inspiration:
Best Apps For Easier Instagram Management
Favorite Photo-editing App: VSCO
Favorite Instagram Scheduler App – Latergramme
Note: Manual posting still required but saves a lot of time
Favorite Reposting App – Repost For Instagram
Favorite Photo Collage App – PicStitch
So what did you think? Are you excited now to start your Instagram journey using the tips and tools above? If so, please follow us @web123.com.au.
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