As a social media platform, Instagram provides businesses with opportunities for massive promotions. Companies can reach a large and engaged audience with over a billion active monthly users. Instagram also offers extensive targeting capabilities so that businesses can reach just the right person that needs their services while also driving website traffic and creating targeted leads.
While advertising alone can reach about one billion monthly active users on Instagram, there are multiple ways businesses can use to promote their products or services.
This article will look at how businesses can use Instagram effectively to promote their business, reach a broad audience, and engage with potential customers. If you've been thinking about using this social media platform to advance your business, keep reading to learn more.
Top Instagram Business Features
Instagram is a powerful social media marketing tool because it allows you to show your presence through interaction, pictures, and videos. This is why businesses need to learn how to use Instagram to promote their business.
Businesses can also utilize many features designed to help companies grow their reach and engagement by having an Instagram business account.
Some of these features include:
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Top Reasons Why Businesses Should Use Instagram
Now that we know some of the features that businesses can take advantage of, let's look at the top reasons businesses should use Instagram.
1. Reach A Wider Audience
With a virtually endless amount of active monthly users, businesses have a large pool of potential customers to reach out to. Using relevant hashtags and location tags, these companies can reach out to many more users interested in their products or services - compared to traditional media or even other digital media channels.
2. Engage With Potential Customers
Instagram provides businesses with an opportunity to engage with potential customers through comments, likes, and direct messages. Companies can show their commitment to customer service by responding to comments and questions in the best way possible. Additionally, businesses can create a sense of community and build relationships with potential customers by liking and commenting on relevant users' posts.
3. Drive Website Traffic
Businesses can use Instagram to drive website traffic by including links to their website in their bio and posts. By doing this, companies can provide potential customers with a way to learn more about their products or services. Additionally, companies can use Instagram Stories to direct users to specific pages on their websites with just a single tap.
4. Create Leads
Instagram provides businesses with an opportunity to create leads through Instagram ads and promoted posts. Companies can target potential customers with specific interests and demographics by using these features. Additionally, businesses can use call-to-action buttons to encourage users to take particular actions, such as signing up for a newsletter or scheduling a consultation - the sky's the limit when it comes to specific calls to action.
5. Increase Brand Awareness
Instagram is an excellent platform for businesses to increase brand awareness. Businesses can ensure that potential customers see their content by using relevant hashtags, geotags, and branded hashtags. Additionally, businesses can target specific demographics and interests with the content they create and post.
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6. Gain Insights Into Your Audience
Instagram Insights provides businesses with detailed information about their followers. This information includes the follower's age, gender, location, and interests. Companies can better tailor their content to appeal to their target audience by understanding this information and making the necessary adjustments. Additionally, businesses can use this information to improve their products and services over time.
7. Increase Sales
8. Instagram Is Free To Use
Unlike some other marketing platforms, Instagram is free to use. This means that businesses of all sizes can use the platform to reach out to potential customers organically.
9. Instagram Is Easy To Use
Instagram is a very user-friendly platform that is easy to navigate and doesn't involve much learning at all. Even if you're not familiar with social media, you'll be able to figure out how to use the platform in no time. Additionally, there are a variety of resources, such as tutorials and guides, that can help you get started on the platform.
10. Instagram Is Great For Showcasing Services
Maybe the best thing about Instagram for businesses is that it's great for showcasing services. If you offer a service, such as a home renovation or gardening, you can use Instagram to show potential customers what you do. By posting before-and-after photos, businesses can show the quality of their work and differentiate themselves from competitors.
Additionally, businesses can make sure that potential customers see their content by using hashtags, geotags, and branded hashtags, allowing them to target those they can potentially serve.
Tactics On How To Promote Business On Instagram
Let's get into some specific tactics you can use to promote your business on Instagram.
1. Create An Instagram Marketing Strategy
An Instagram marketing strategy is an essential first step for any business that wants to use the platform to sell its products or services. Without a process, it will be challenging to set goals, measure success, and create content that resonates with your target audience.
To create an effective Instagram marketing strategy, you should start by understanding your audience.
Ask yourself:
Answering these questions will help you create content that appeals to your target audience. Once you have a good understanding of your target audience, you can begin to create content that appeals to them. Additionally, it would help if you considered the goals you want to achieve with your Instagram marketing campaign. Do you want to increase brand awareness? Drive traffic to your website? Increase sales? All of these require a different train of thought and is definitely something that should go into your strategy.
When building a strategy, also think of your content calendar. Utilizing a social media content calendar template can help you map out what content you post, when you post it, and what call to action you will use in each post. This will help you stay on track and be consistent with your posting.
Various categories that should go into your content calendar include:
Having a mix of these different types of content will help you maintain a well-rounded and compelling presence on Instagram. In addition, if you want to create a visual experience, knowing what your Instagram grid will look like in advance will help you plan and design your posts in a visually appealing way while staying on-brand.
Hashtags are keywords or phrases preceded by a pound sign (#) on Instagram. They help categorize content and make it easier for users to find. For businesses, hashtags can be a great way to reach a larger audience and connect with potential customers.
When using hashtags, it's essential to use relevant ones related to your business. Additionally, it would help if you used a variety of hashtags so that as many people see your content as possible. You can use tools like Hootsuite or RiteTag to help you find the right hashtags for your content.
Using relevant hashtags can connect with potential customers and increase brand awareness.
3. Create Interactive Stories
Instagram Stories allow businesses to create interactive, engaging content that one can use to promote their products or services. Companies should use various features, such as stickers and filters, to make their content more interactive when creating Stories.
In addition, the ability to add polls and allow users to vote in these interactive stories can help businesses increase engagement and get feedback from potential customers.
If you want to engage with potential customers even more, consider using Instagram Live. This feature allows businesses to do so much more compared to simply posting content and can give their followers a behind-the-scenes look at the company.
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Businesses can interact with their viewers by answering questions and comments in real-time when running a live stream. Additionally, they can use this opportunity to promote their products or services while answering the top questions that those interested in such products have.
Companies can also use the Instagram countdown sticker to create a sense of urgency for product launches or sales.
4. Get On The Instagram Explore Page
The Instagram explore page is a section of the app dedicated to featuring content from users all over the platform. It includes posts from people that users follow and posts relevant to the user's interests and location.
The Instagram explore page can be an excellent way for businesses to reach new audiences and promote their products or services. By using relevant hashtags and creating engaging content, companies can also increase their chances of being featured on the explore page.
Additionally, businesses can use paid advertising to guarantee that new users on the explore page see their content. By using relevant keywords and targeting such users who are likely to be interested in their products or services, businesses can ensure that their user base expands.
If you want to get on the explore page organically, here are some ideas to implement:
5. Partner With Influencers
Influencers have a large following on social media and can be partnered with to promote a brand or product. If you can find local celebrities or people with a large following in a specific market, that's even better.
Businesses can work with such influencers to create content that promotes their products or services. Additionally, companies can use influencers as brand ambassadors to help increase their brand awareness. If you can find an influencer that works within your industry and already has an audience of people who would be interested in your products or services, that's ideal.
You can also partner with micro-influencers, who have a smaller but more engaged following in a specific area.
Here are some tips for working with influencers:
Working with an influencer can be a great way to promote your business on Instagram. They can increase the credibility of your brand and help you reach new audiences.
6. Promote Business On Instagram With Paid Advertising
While some companies are hesitant about investing in paid advertising, this can be a great way to reach new audiences and move your company forward. Paid advertising on Instagram allows businesses to target specific users with relevant content they're interested in.
Businesses can use paid advertising to target users based on their interests, demographics, and even specific behavior. Additionally, businesses can use paid advertising to guarantee that users on the explore page see their content.
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When creating a paid advertising campaign on Instagram, there are a few criteria to clearly define, including:
With the help of a business Instagram account and/or a Facebook page, you can very flexibly set up advertising using the right targeting elements.
7. Pin The Top Three Comments
Did you know that Instagram allows you to pin comments on your posts? This is a great way to draw attention to positive comments you want your audience to focus on while promoting your business in the best light possible.
To pin a comment, go to the post and tap on the comment you want to pin. Then, tap on the "pin" icon. Instagram will then pin the comment to the top of the post.
This can encourage a conversation with your followers about your products or services and is another way to increase discussion, engagement, and interest in your content.
8. Get Verified On Instagram
Building trust with your followers is essential to growing your business on Instagram and other channels. One way to build trust is to get verified by Instagram.
Getting verified on Instagram shows your followers that you are an authentic and credible source of data. Additionally, it can help you reach new audiences and build brand awareness.
To get verified on Instagram, you need to:
Verification can also help you reach new audiences. If you meet the requirements mentioned above, it is definitely worth applying for verification.
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If you succeed in this process, it can also open the door for other businesses to partner with you, leading to more opportunities for growth.
Conclusion
There are many ways to promote your business on Instagram. Using the tips and tricks in this article, you can reach new audiences, build brand awareness, and increase sales.
If you have been using the social networking platform but do not seem to be getting the results you want, consider trying out some of the strategies in this article. With a little bit of effort, you can see a big difference in the success of your business on Instagram - which can lead to success on other related channels.
