Hello my friends,
I know many of you are small business owners or entrepreneurs so I wanted to give you some of my favorite, most relevant Instagram tips so you can help your businesses thrive! Here’s a little checklist I wish I had back when I was starting my business!
1. Social media is a great free tool for you to use when it comes to marketing your small business. That being said, it’s starting to feel very overwhelming with all the platforms! Not everyone has enough time to run more than one platform, so picking one to start and stay consistent with is a great first step. Instagram is a great option because you have photo, video and Instagram stories options. This will really allow you to experiment and figure out what type of content you like and what you are talented at. Is it IGTV long form content? Photography? I suggest playing around with it!
2. One thing to note is people love watching videos. Studies have proven that the retention of information is much higher when someone views it in video form. So, if you are trying to get someone to remember something important and CUT THROUGH THE CLUTTER then I would try video.
3. Instagram is so much more than posting content however. It’s important to engage with your community to build relationships. People want authenticity, even if it’s from a brand. When someone comments on your post you should make an effort to respond. Think of it this way, if someone came into your store and asked you a question or complimented you, you wouldn’t ignore them, would you?
4. Make sure you’re following people on your brand account and you’re engaging with their posts that you see on their timeline as well. This tells the Instagram algorithm what category your page is in and will start recommending you to similar accounts.
5. One thing I have to say is PLEASE DON’T SPAM! You want to make sure you’re making appropriate comments. Don’t spam people and don’t ask them to visit your page, follow you or buy your products. If someone posts a photo of their cat and you think it’s cute, just comment that!
6. Everyone always asks me about what TIME to post… and well guys, there really isn’t one collective best time to post on Instagram. You can read all sorts of different times online and everyone has a different point of view. What it comes down to is your target audience. When would your target audience be online? On their lunch breaks? After school? That’s when you’re going to want to post. If you go into your Instagram insights it should show you your audience’s peak times online.
7. Posting consistently is super important for Instagram because of their algorithm. The more you post, the more your posts are seen. Instagram tends to reward its most active users.
8. Use hashtags and geotags in your Instagram stories! This REALLY works guys! I used #starwars the other day and I got 356 new eyeballs on that story from that hashtag alone.
9. Post photos that are 4:5 (1080 x 1350 PX). This photo takes up the most amount of space on a viewers screen therefore is more eye-catching which could increase your chances of a viewer seeing your business’s message…which ideally would translate into a sale!
10. The last tip is called the $1.80 marketing method and it’s a concept from Gary Vee. Use a relevant hashtag and comment on the top 9 posts under it. Then move on to the next hashtag. Doing this with 10 hashtags a day can really help your following increase. Make sure you’re commenting meaningful things though, not just “fluff”.
