With over 700 million users, Instagram is the most popular social media site, surpassing both Twitter and Facebook. That makes Instagram one of the best ways for a business to reach a large audience and capture buyers. Growing awareness of your brand and making sales can be done in the palm of your hands. So put your creative hat on and get to posting!
When getting started, one of the most important step is to create a brand page that reflects your business’ personality. Put your best foot forward when choosing a profile picture and writing your bio line. This will be a user’s first impression of you, so make sure to pick a high-quality, eye-catching profile picture and write a succinct bio line that includes a link to your website.
After the initial setup, it’s time to fill your feed with engaging photos. Before diving right in, it’s important to ask yourself, what audience am I trying to appeal to? Who are the users and whose attention do you want to capture? It can seem daunting to create content that stands out from the 70 million photos posted daily, but by focusing on a specific niche, such as fitness fanatics or tea lovers, you can hone in and cater to a concentrated audience.
Here are some tips on creating a buzzworthy Instagram feed that will attract customers:
• Make your feed cohesive: Make sure your page has a common theme that’s recognizable to your customers. This could mean using the same filter or editing techniques on photos.
• Don’t give customers a hard sell: While the point of Instagram might be to make sales, users are turned off by pushy sales posts. Users tend to follow a brand they can relate to and trust. Build the foundation first, and the sales will come naturally.
• Infuse your page with your personality: Along the same lines, make sure to keep your feed fun and light. Make it a place users will enjoy visiting. You can even stray away from the business and showcase bits and pieces of your life to show customers you’re not just a business—you’re a real person.
• Utilize hashtags: This is one of the best ways to get discovered on Instagram. Research popular hashtags in your industry so your page comes up in searches.
Once you’ve generated a sizeable following, you can keep your followers engaged using various techniques methods. You can ask them to vote on which product they like better or post pictures using a custom hashtag you’ve created for your business. By inviting the audience to participate, you can also keep the loyal fans engaged.
Make sure to recognize and reward your most enthusiastic followers so they can spread the word about your brand. Sometimes a customer with a large follower base can completely change the course of your business. Build relationships by communicating with your followers, being generous with likes and follows, and offering them perks, such as discounts, for following you. When customers post pictures of your brand, you can even show your gratitude by reposting their content.
By following these guidelines, you are on your way to building a great lead generation funnel, all from your smart phone. While getting a huge Instagram presence may take time and patience, establishing a brand image is not only rewarding, but also essential for many companies today.