With a variety of social media platforms available at the touch of a button, it can be difficult to determine which channels best suit your small business. Whether you’re a small business, not-for-profit, or association – every dollar counts and it can be challenging to justify spending money on marketing. Because small businesses tend to have limited marketing budgets, low-cost social media platforms, such as Instagram, are a great way to engage your target audience and increase your overall brand awareness and recall.
With a well-crafted social media plan and insight on how best to leverage the platform to execute your strategy, Instagram can be a very effective marketing tool. Check out the tips below for utilizing Instagram to grow your business.
Determine Your Target Audience
This is the most crucial step in developing your marketing strategy for Instagram. Just like any other marketing tactic, you need to determine your target audience in order for your content to resonate. It’s easy to get caught up in the noise on Instagram and lose sight of your strategic goals. Identify your target audience on Instagram right from the outset and develop posts with the intent to capture the attention of your target audience.
Establish A Posting Schedule
Posting on a consistent schedule is the most effective way to engage your following. Take the time to analyze the best time to reach and engage your target audience. In order to stay organized and ensure content is curated in advance, scheduling platforms, such as Hootsuite, can be utilized.
Maintain Visual Consistency
Creating engaging content is crucial, although this is of course easier said than done. Captivating photos with concise captions are a great way to attract your target audience. You should ensure your content remains consistent with your brand and overall strategic goals. Photo editing apps, such as VSCO, can help adjust your photos to create a cohesive feed. Consistency is key!
Optimize Content
Utilize hashtags and geo-tags to optimize your content and increase your reach. Relevant hashtags can increase your social media presence, as your post will be categorized with photos that include the same hashtag. Whether you’re tagging your office location or the venue where you’re executing an event, geo-tags can also increase the likelihood of engagement. Lastly, tagging individuals in your post is also a great way to increase your reach and engagement. Keep in mind that you do not want to overwhelm your followers with an overabundance of tags.
Provide Incentives
You’ve created posts that are consistent with your brand and follow an overall theme – now what? A direct call to action accompanied with a reward is a great way to further engage your audience and increase brand awareness. The call to action can be as simple as liking your photo, tagging a friend in the post, or following your page for a chance to win an exclusive offer.
Evaluate Analytics
View the overall performance of your Business account through Instagram Analytics. By analyzing the analytics, you can view which posts generated the most engagement and adjust your social media plan accordingly. Furthermore, you can leverage your content by determining your peak posting times based on insights from the audience metrics.
This list is just the beginning for growing your small business on Instagram! As the platform evolves, the algorithm changes and new challenges arise, so be sure to stay up to date and be prepared to constantly adapt your social media plan.
Does your business use Instagram? If so, let us know your top tips for using the social media platform. Leave a comment below or share them with us on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram!