Instagram Marketing: How to Use Instagram to Promote Your Business

Ecommerce has gained huge traction in the business and commerce world during these past few years. Online stores are continuously growing in numbers and their methods are evolving. With the way potential buyers are now able to get their hands on products and services online, it only makes sense for businesses to ride on the waves of social media.

There is a variety of social media platforms that business owners can make use of. These include Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Twitter, and more. Some companies decide to make accounts across all platforms, while some decide to stick to only those who have the biggest reach worldwide. And their options usually include Facebook and Instagram.

In fact, when it comes to online marketing for businesses, Instagram is definitely a must-have. Many small businesses make use of this social media platform due to its massive reach, ease of use and affordability. And if you are among the very few businesses that haven’t gone through the process of marketing via Instagram, then here are some tips on how you can effectively promote your business by using this very efficient social media platform.

Optimize Your Profile

Since you are only allowed a limited number of characters on your Instagram profile, it’s a good idea to make every character count. You might want to steer away from maintaining a static bio content. Instead, use your bio section to share updates about your company. It can be a new product or service, an upcoming event, collaboration with another company, or any other relevant information that can be of great value to your audience.

Show What You Do in a Creative Way

Instagram has a trove of beautiful photos. And if you understand the concept of capturing Instagram-worthy photos, you can make use of this skill to showcase what you can do. If you are promoting a fashion business, share images of you wearing your fashion products. You can also share images of how you go about creating, designing or choosing the items you are selling through beautiful photos.

Finding Your Target Audience on Instagram with Hashtags

Hashtags are some of the very important elements when it comes to online marketing. Using hashtags is the perfect way for you to reach out to your target audience as it is how Instagram users filter out topics that are relevant to their business. To maximize your reach, you might want to look into using some of the most popular hashtags you should be using today.

Balance Fun Images with Pictures from Your Business

Nothing is wrong about posting business-as-usual updates on your Instagram. But if you want to have better engagements with your target audience, you might want to think about creating photos that are fun and relatable. Some businesses tend to share funny, behind-the-scenes photos are videos that help improve interactions with their audience. You can also share quotes, funny anecdotes and other pictures that can make your brand more relatable.

Try Instagram Stories

If you want to provide your followers with frequent and more timely updates about your business, you might want to try using the feature, Instagram Stories. This allows users to share content that vanishes after 24 hours. After 24 hours, these videos and photos will disappear forever, but they get the marketing job done right because they always are in a bar on top of any Instagram user’s feed. When there’s something new to see, it will show up on the Stories bar.

Use Industry-related Hashtags

There are millions of hashtags out there on Instagram, each of which is pertinent to different topics, brands and audiences. This is why it’s important for businesses to make use of the right hashtags that are related to their business. It’s essential for you to identify hashtags that are relevant for your business as it will make it easier for you to market your brand more effectively and let potential consumers easily find your business.

Market Your Brand Using Trends

There is a wide variety of trends that you can make use of to market your business. Some of those that are worth using or your business is the digital trends that are now widely used by various businesses on their social media marketing. These trends include voice search, virtual and augmented reality, live videos, AI and machine learning and browser push notification. Apart from these, there are also content personalization and Instagram bots.

Collaborate and @mention others

A great way to market to more potential customers is by partnering with similar businesses or personalities who are looking into collaborating with other brands. For example, if your brand sells sports apparel for women, you might want to look into working with one of the biggest female sports personalities and promote your collaboration online, along with your products. If you decide to partner with a certain brand or personality, you should make sure to give due credit to the people who are involved. This is a great way to grow your audience and connect with more potential customers.

Go Behind the Curtain

Many brands and online personalities understand the power of sharing behind-the-scenes stories. Whether it’s through photos, pre-recorded videos or live videos, contents like these can help your brand gain more interactions and followers. Providing your audience with more information about what’s going on in your business promotes inclusiveness, making your audience feel like they are a part of everything that is happening in your company.

Debut Videos

Launching a new line of products or services? Collaborating with a popular brand or a trending online personality? These are great updates that your audience would love to learn about. So if there is a development in your business that you would like your followers to get excited about, a debut video is the perfect way to do so.

Creating a positive online reputation matters for every business. If you have an Instagram account and understand how to use it, then you have a great marketing tool in your hands. Whether you have your own social media manager or you handle your own online promotions, you can never go wrong with spreading the word about your business via Instagram.

Author Bio:

Marquis is a writer, social media manager and SEO content marketer. She currently lives on the coast of Ecuador, working remotely as a freelancer. Her primary focus is on building online visibility of new, up and coming brand, particularly brands that promote health and wellness. She lives a nomadic lifestyle, though is originally from California.