Back to the Basics | 6 Tips for Instagram Beginners
You could have a feel feelings when it comes to the social giant, Instagram.
You notice that Instagram is becoming increasingly popular – but you aren’t quite sure how to get it going. You create an account and begin posting, but don’t understand best practice. You aren’t seeing any page growth or ROI.
You feel frustrated that your business isn’t truly represented on your social platforms due to your lack of expertise in this area – but you know that doesn’t reflect your actual services, in which you are the expert. How can you have the best of both worlds?
Your Instagram Page is becoming just as important as the homepage of your website. Think of it this way – your highlight icons are your navigation items. Your profile image is your logo. The items you are posting are separated by content buckets (topics) that best represent your service lines.
Here’s 6 KEY tips when starting/managing your Instagram page for your Business:
1. INSTAGRAM PROFILE HANDLE // Are you SEARCHABLE. How do people find you? Your Instagram handle needs to be simple + memorable, (i.e., your company name).
PROTIP: using keywords in your name makes your profile more searchable and accessible. For example: Bright Creative, Social Media Agency. Anytime someone searches “Social Media Agency,” on Instagram’s search, Bright Creative would pop up under those keywords.
2. BUSINESS BIO // You have 150 characters – make it count. A great bio explains what your business is and what you do. Your bio should consist of key informational items to help support your business.
Line Breaks – This makes information readable and digestible for speedy glances in short periods of time.
#Hashtags and @taggingsomeone are clickable links in a bio. If you own two businesses, for example, it might be smart to tag them in your bio to streamline your accounts. Using #Hashtags that represent keywords or services in your industry are also clickable. Using these on your bio increases your searchability.
Add a CTA (call to action) at the end of your bio by including actionable words that encourage followers to click the link to your website.
Add Emojis/Special Characters – these make your bio fun + exciting.
3. BUSINESS PAGE SETUP // Setting up your page as a business profile provides access to an entirely new list of features created specifically for businesses. You have access to analytics, options for creating shoppable posts (which is great for B2C companies) and increased opportunity to create ways of connecting with potential customers/clients. It allows followers to include location, schedule appointments, make a call, send an email, and more.
4. CONSISTENCY // Your followers have the expectation that you will show up, provide information and be accessible at all times. Maintaining consistency with your posts can mean a variety of things – but the most important is consistency in your posting schedule – start small, 2-3 times per week, and try to grow to one post per day. You also should be consistent in your content – using your brand voice + tone with every post.
5. AESTHETICS // Instagram is a visual platform.
Create a consistent look/feel for your brand – color scheme, font selection, style, photo presets.
Use the same presets (edit) on every photo to create the same look throughout your profile.
When creating graphics, use the same fonts and colors that represent your brand. Be selective when choosing photos that represent your business. DO NOT Google images and download random photos/graphics from the Internet.
It’s important you choose things that fully represent you and your business and are cohesive to have professional representation of your brand.
6. ENGAGEMENT // You’ve probably heard the social saying, “Content is King.” While this is still largely true, the new social go-by is, “Content is King, but Engagement is Queen and she rules the house.” – Mari Smith. In a pay-to-play world, organic growth is harder than ever. With the new IG Algorithm in place, engagement is the #1 way to grow your brand on social organically. So, what is engagement?
Build stronger personal connections by staying active + involved with other accounts. By liking and commenting on other pages’ content, you are spurring conversation, which leads to relationship building and page growth. BUT -- your comments need to be intentional.
As followers engage with your posts – it’s important to respond back to them and like their comments.
Create posts that are actionable and engaging. How do you keep followers coming back? Why do they care? Why do you care? Posting things like tips, asking for opinions in your captions or even hosting product giveaways helps with engagement.
THE FUTURE IS SOCIAL
It takes seven seconds to make a first impression in person but on social media it only takes two to six seconds for a viewer to gather their thoughts on your profile. A good first impression is essential to building connections with page viewers, because in those few short seconds they will decide if they want to follow your profile or not.
We know social media priorities can go to the bottom of the list of things to do for your business, but the future is social, friends! Stay tuned for more social tips/industry insight by subscribing to our blog below
