How to grow your business with Instagram

Instagram… a must if you want to successfully promote your business. 

Speaking in numbers, 1.2 billion Instagrammers (that’s what Instagram users are called) on average, share content daily.

• 95 million photographs and videos
• Approximately 4.2 billion posts

Additionally, over 70% of Instagrammers are between the ages of 25-35. 

Are you looking for a young audience? You’ll find it on Instagram. 

Lastly, Instagram users are truly active, having 58 times more chances of sharing a post on Instagram than on Facebook. 

Impressed yet? And the amazing part is that these numbers are only getting higher!

It’s a fact: Business accounts on Instagram offer brands excellent reach, engagement and exposure. 

You must  be wondering:

“How do I truly utilize Instagram to promote my business?” 

If you’re seeking information, advice and tips about how to shape your account on Instagram, how you’ll create content which will attract followers and how to promote your business effectively through Instagram, then this article will be super useful for you.

Make some coffee and get reading!

First off, you should know that Instagram is a one of a kind social media channel. 

Posting content can happen from your phone or tablet and lately has expanded to your computer as well. 

Instagram initially started as a social networking application aiming at sharing photos and videos via smartphones. 

Today it still partially sustains its initial photographic character and style but has developed into a dominant Social Media channel. 

Its main principles include followers (how many users follow your account, following (how many users you are following), hashtags and Instagram Stories. 

Creating an Instagram Business account is easy, simple and fast. 

Download the Instagram app (from the App store for iOS, Google Play Store for Android, or Windows Phone Store if you own a Windows device). 

Once you have downloaded the application to your phone, open it and sign up. 

In the settings you will find the option Switch to Business Account. 

After choosing it, enter your business’ information such as working hours, address and phone number. 

Follow certain tips that will help you improve your business profile on Instagram.

Username: in order to be located easily, your username must be explicitly connected with your business’ field while also being the same among all social networks such as Facebook. 

Bio: Use this wisely to describe the subject of your business and win over impressions. 

You can use 😇emojis😈, #hashtags or stylize it in parts. Remember, your bio is the only place you can refer to your website and have an active link available. And that’s why we created Lord of the Links. A link for your bio where you can add many links!

Profile Photo: Don’t spend too much time on this… your business logo is the best choice.

Don’t know what dimensions are needed for your images when starting your account?

Here are the answers:

• Profile picture: 320 x 320
• Photo & Shared video : 1080 x 1080
• Stories: 1080 x 1920
• Reels: 1080 x 566

Once you’ve completed the creation of your Instagram account, add the link to your site and connect it to all your Social Media Accounts. 

You now have your very own Instagram page and it’s time to start creating (ideally daily) content. 

Before starting, organize your thoughts, goals and content. Below I’ll show you the way. 

Define your goals. 

Every one of your actions should be based on one main goal. 

Decide what you want to accomplish on Instagram and how these goals are connected to the general goals of your business. 

Examples: 

• Creating or enhancing Brand awareness – visibility of your brand. 
• Engaging with your customers and building a relationship. 
• Increasing sales. 
• Increasing website visits. 
• Creating a relationship with influencers.

Remember that your goal/goals should be specific, measurable, feasible and relevant to your business. 

Only after you know what you want to accomplish, with the right strategy, design and plan will you succeed. 

And don’t forget your initial goal: 

Creating user engagement through your Instagram page. 

One users see your Instagram posts, you want them to stop scrolling, engage with your content, make a comment, leave a like or even share. 

Only then will you have reached your goal: attract attention and create engagement. 

Upload content with a plan and strategy

Uploading photographs here and there is an easy way to create Instagram content but not necessarily the best way. 

In order to create a powerful Instagram Community from your faithful followers who will share your news and love your brand, you need a plan. Decide:

How often should you be posting?

Don’t bombard users with new posts but don’t disappear either. 

Create a posting plan and follow it as much as possible. 

Play around with different times of day and with frequency.

Apply the combination that seems to work best. 

Find the appropriate theme for your posts.

In order to attract your audience’s attention you have to share content that interests them and to which they can respond to. 

Your posts should not be only about your product. 

Instagram is the ideal Social Media channel to share moments, trends, suggestions, ideas and one of a kind photographs. 

You don’t necessarily have to have a fashion product to upload lifestyle posts. 

Even a company with nutritional products or an accounting office can create posts with a lifestyle character. 

A good example is Paypal’s post, just a little while before Christmas: 

Shape your style 

Uploading content with identity and personal style is the absolute best thing you can do to stand out. 

An appropriate example can be seen below. An Instagram page with photographs primarily in white and black shades, and cool strokes of subtle colors. 

Practical advice for a professional result on Instagram

Don’t neglect captions

Instagram may have become popular due to its rich photographic content but if you want to utilize it to its maximum, then every photograph and video should be accompanied by a complete, creative and concise caption. 

Your caption functions as an extension, an explanation to your photograph. 

According to the topic of your photograph, it could be a comment, an explanation, be humorous, maybe a quote or simply a message in relation to your business. 

Tips & tricks to write great captions

• Your main message is at the start of the sentence. 
• Use hashtags.
• Make your captions vivid with Emojis. 
• Divide your hashtags from your main text with a line. 
• Ask a question – it will ensure many comments. 
• Mention other users (@mention). This is a very good idea if your goal is to engage influencers from the same category. 
• Ask users to leave a comment.
• Don’t overdo it… it’s not necessary to always have a large caption. Sometimes, depending on the image, a short phrase is enough. 

Create Albums with photographs & videos 

On every Instagram post you upload you can add up to 10 photographs or videos (carousels). 

This appears to be liked by users and skyrockets engagement. 

This way you share rich content for your business, transfer the right messages to your followers and have them enjoy your content. 

It’s a win-win situation for all. Don’t you agree?

Create Instagram Stories 

Instagram Stories are used daily by more than 250,000,000 Instagrammers and is one of the most “in” ways of approaching your audience, with amazing results in user engagement, 

What are Instagram Stories?

By following the logic behind Snapchat, Instagram launched Instagram Stories which include videos or photographs which create a collection or storyline within a 24 hour time frame. 

For real, they disappear automatically 24 hours after posting. 

How to post to your Instagram Story

• Click NEW on the left side of your homepage
• Take a photo or video. If you want, you can use content that you already have on your photo.
• You can edit your photograph or video by adding text, emojis, stickers etc. 
• Save and share to your story

It’s as simple as that. 

If you’d like you can add more than one photo or video in order to make a slideshow. 

1 in 5 Instagram Stories gets some kind of comment or reaction whereas 1 in 3 Instagram Stories come from a Business Account.

Use filters on your images

According to a recent Webdam announcement, 60% of the top brands in Instagram use the same filter for each location.

Using the same filters over and over again, you create a style that will eventually be recognizable to your fans and make it easier for them to find you and stop at your image to see or comment on.

Use Hashtags wisely

Yes, on Instagram it’s good to use many and different hashtags.

You know why?

They’re not for style, they truly matter.

The proper use of Hashtags enhances the organic reach of your post, that is, more users see it without paying money for advertising..

Know, though, that you need to make proper & accurate use of hashtag to make sense and bring you the right world. you need to be about the object of your business and the subject of post.

Create your own Branded Hashtag. 

Your company #hashtag doesn’t have to be the name of your company or products.

It might be that you think, which you will consistently use in almost all your Instagram posts.

If you actually get it used by your fans at the post that they upload, then we call that a success.

What to avoid: 

• Re-publishing content from your Facebook page.
• You have to post rectangular pictures.
• Forgetting to add hashtags.
• Adding Links to captions — you don’t get anything by mentioning it.

Remember: Instagram is very strict and if it detects that you don’t upload the content the right way it can even download the page.

Indeed, until recently it did not even allow the schedule capability of Post.

10 Small secrets to get followers 

That the post of your Instagram page you can promote with advertising (just like you do on Facebook) you probably know it.

What you probably don’t know is that there are various techniques that you can follow in order for your page to acquire followers and become a powerful community.

1. Use popular hashtags, about your category, so your images can be found in the search of users interested in services related to yours.
2. Publish new content daily depending on the hours your audience is active.
3. If you don’t publish daily choose Sundays & Wednesdays, they perform better.
4. Popular figures with many fans followed.
5. Play a question and answer game every time you upload a new post.This way, you will trigger their comment and engagement.
6. Start working with a company specialized in managing Social Media and Instagram. This way you’ll be sure you’re starting correctly and that Instagram experts will create attention-grabbing content for you and your business and win over users.
7. Your photos are in the shades of blue. For some reason these pictures actually work a lot better.
8. Prefer to post pictures or videos with faces.
9. Invite popular Instagrammers (i.e. Influencers) to upload post to your page.
10. Invite your friends from the other social networks and the recipients of your e-mail to follow your Instagram page.

Note: If after reading anything you want to see what Social Active publishes on her Instagram page, follow us here…

Common Questions about Instagram

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