Don’t fall into a mindset trap and think, “my business doesn’t have anything visually interesting to post.” There’s always something to share on social media with a bit of creativity and strategic planning.
Speaking of “something to post,” what better platform to consider when reaching out to the right audience than Instagram. Businesses spent more than 25 million Instagram accounts and more than USD7B on advertising. This channel screams potential for consumer awareness and a potential conversion when used correctly.
Projected to gain 1.2 billion users by 2023, Instagram has a massive prospect for small business owners to boost marketing potential. According to the 2021 Social Media Marketing Industry Report, 78% of marketers use Instagram in their business. The potential of Instagram lies in consumer behavior than a large number of active users because they like to connect with brands! According to Instagram Business, 90% of users follow at least one business, and 2 in 3 say that Instagram enables interaction with brands. 50% of the user are more interested in a brand when they see the ads on Instagram.
This platform is suited for small businesses that don’t have much time or budget for expensive marketing campaigns. A small fraction of a budget for social media marketing lets you grow your customer base without having a big budget. When using this platform, presence is significant.
There are small businesses that have successes using this image-based platform. Engagement with Instagram is ten times higher than on Facebook. With Instagram, you can place yourself in the limelight with the right kind of audience through proper BRANDING. By branding, your images must also be cohesive. Get inspired by some of these creative brands that use Instagram efficiently.
Why Instagram matters?
Here are nine reasons why Instagram matters
CONSUMERS EXPECT IT
When you are a brand, they’ll expect you to have a social presence. They want to visually see your product, what it can do and how you do it. It doesn’t matter how big or small your product is; people will search for you.
They might search you by name or any hashtag related to your business.
#airpurifiers soared searches during the pandemic.
Use the proper hashtag to reach the right audience
who are searching for a specific product.
For example, if a kdrama fan watched a drama and found your product (or something related to yours) and is interested, they will most likely search for it on Instagram. You don’t want your search to be empty, especially if you don’t hashtag your product well, then you won’t be found.
This consumer behavior will turn into a lead. It will help your product better if you’re searchable and have great images or marketing imagery to help them solve their interest. Lead them to your door through appropriate content writing and hashtagging. Don’t forget to geotag your business location!
BUILDING YOUR TRUST
Those blue stickers on your business name mean everything to a consumer. Verifying your account means you have a good reputation, your business is real and proven, and your company is transparent.
Building trust is crucial for new customers. It is essential to give customers a
YOUR VALUED CUSTOMERS CAN TAG YOU IN THEIR IMAGES
Gain leads from customers, and customers will bring you more clients. Let the power of organic networking help you reach the right audience. A lookalike audience is critical in reaching organically.
When a customer shares their story, that is also considered a review. You want to be tagged so the next “interested” consumer feels involved and will also take an interest in your product. Like in any funnel, INTREST is noteworthy.
Don’t miss out on the opportunity of being tagged by a customer.
BRING POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS TO YOUR SITE
You can drive traffic to your site by simply tagging your product. Instagram now has a note-worthy feature of sharing your webpage link. More than just that, “Link on our bio,” you can now put your website link in Instagram stories.
You can turn interested parties into invested parties with just a couple of clicks.
TAG AND SELL YOUR PRODUCT
This brings us to – selling your products via IG! If customers want to purchase your product directly from IG, you can also do that. Customers can send direct messages.
You can check insights and see metrics like product views to learn which products have more engagement using just Instagram. Don’t forget to include a call-to-action in your caption. Remind your followers to purchase! Learn more about selling your products on Instagram to better take advantage of the platform.
IMPROVING YOUR ONLINE MANAGEMENT REPUTATION
Your Social channels usually display up on the first page of your search engine results. Creating an excellent visual account with your brand name is good practice. Instagram can help win new customers, and getting comments and reviews of your product through your post will increase your reputation score.
Instagram is more than just a platform to promote your products, services, and content. It’s a two-way street for communication that can engage your customers and prospects. These interactions help build brand trust and form a community around your brand.
A WELL-MARKETED REACH
Before we talk about collaboration and how you can use Reels and stories, you first have to understand that IG is a place to target Gen Z and Millenial users. If your demographic market is 18-34 years old, this platform is for you. According to Hootesuite, Gen Z’s favorite social platform is still IG.
Well, tackle the age demographic and the household income demographic. According to Statista, only 44% of households with an annual income of less than $30,000 use Instagram, while households that bring in over $100,000 are more likely to use the app: 60%.
In case this still isn’t clear, Instagram is very popular. 1.22 billion people use Instagram each month, and it is the 4th most used social media platform as of today. If you don’t consider this platform, you’re missing out.
COLLABORATING WITH OTHER BRANDS
There are more ways to create content than just regular social posts. Instagram Collab tag may be at least available for Reels and Feed Posts for now, but it makes it easier to connect with your audiences.
These are two ways to show a partnership:
- Directly tag a brand or creator.
- Using a branded content tag to bridge the gap between organic content and paid ads, authentic recommendations, and commercial partnerships. It would help if you found the right partnerships, set the guidelines for your content, and created a plan for boosting and reshares.
Influencers and content creators create this content on your behalf. Branded content helps you reach your target audience effectively, and the “Paid Partnership” tag works for all the formats.
This can be an excellent tool for content marketing, such as how-to’s, masterclasses, or unboxing videos. Branded content can easily be shared organically by your followers or across your social media as any form of user-generated content.
Collaboration is also a great way to increase your reach. Make sure your branding is consistent. Not only can you tie up with influencers, but you can also connect with businesses. Following the BRAND X BRAND Collaborations can create something unique and exclusive for a specific campaign. This way, you can help each other grow.
Read here on how to do a collaboration post.
LOOK AT COMPETITORS
If your competitors are on Instagram, and they’re doing pretty well on their campaigns, then it’s time for you to amp up your gameplay. Competitors are also potential new customers for you. However, if your competitors aren’t on Instagram, it’s time to check on your target audience and go back to the drawing board.
Here are some great examples and practices of Instagram Marketing using different strategies:
Letterfolk is a small business that creates and sells beautiful, handcrafted felt letterboards. Each letterboard comes with a complete set of characters – people can personalize the walls of their homes.
Flodesk is very inspirational from a marketer’s perspective, and it contains materials for email marketing: gorgeous designs and inviting content. Their followers can gain tips on using its platform and general tips to optimize their email marketing strategy. With lively colors and vibrant designs, each post is an attention grabber.
Simple. Straightforward contests
can definitely lure people to checking into your product. Here’s an example from
Giveaways aren’t bad at increasing your following!
Interested parties will definitely try to tag friends in the
comment section for a chance to win the promo!
