As a small business owner, you are well aware that you can get a lot of “bang for your marketing buck” by focusing on social media. Like many, you may spend most of your resources on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. While these may be the three biggest social media platforms, at least from a marketing potential perspective, there is another to consider: Instagram.
Why Instagram? There are many reasons for this, including the fact that the photo sharing site has more than 300 million monthly active users. If you aren’t tapping into this market you could be leaving a lot of opportunity on the table.
Now that you are intrigued by the power of Instagram, let’s take a close look at five tips for getting started:
- Connect your Facebook account. This is one of the quickest and most efficient ways to boost your followers without delay. Once you have both accounts running strong, you can cross-promote from time to time.
- Use popular hashtags. You want people to find your photos, right? One of the best ways of doing so is by using popular, relevant hashtags. Don’t worry if you are a bit lost as you get started. Once you become more familiar, it will become clear as to how you should select hashtags.
- Engage with others. Just the same as any social media service, you need to give in order to receive. Are you following others? Are you liking their photos? Are you leaving comments? You need to do this if you want to get the most possible from your Instagram marketing strategy.
- Business and pleasure. It goes without saying that you will post business related pictures on a regular basis. After all, this is the entire point of using Instagram. At the same time, you want to keep your profile fresh and fun. One example of doing so is to post random pictures that will make others laugh.
Note: if you do nothing more than market your business, people will see right through you. Subsequently, your marketing strategy won’t be nearly as effective.
- Don’t post too much. Unlike Twitter, for instance, you shouldn’t feel the need to post on Instagram throughout the day. In fact, you don’t want to go overboard, as doing so can scare followers away.
If you have yet to consider the benefits of using Instagram for business, 2015 is the best time to make a change.
