How to Get Your Business Noticed on Instagram

Are you using Instagram as a marketing tool for your business?

Do you want to improve on your Instagram marketing techniques?

Instagram is a great way for businesses to tell a visual story about their brand. As it’s quickly becoming a social media power tool, more and more businesses are using Instagram to grow their business in an online setting.

There are over 130 million active users on Instagram each month and there are approximately 1 billion photos being liked every day (wishpond). The potential to reach millions should not be ignored.

Follow these 5 Instagram marketing tips below and your business could be on its way to viral marketing success.

1. Build Your Community with Hashtags
Hashtags are a major component of Instagram. It’s a key strategy to increase your brand visibility on Instagram. Be sure to include brand specific hashtags (with your business name), general hashtags related to your business, and trending hashtags (by using Instagram’s Explore feature to find posts related to trending hashtags). Remember that trending hashtags are time-sensitive, so be sure to include trending tags that are relevant to your business to aid discovery.

2. Relate to Your Followers Interests
You’ll want to always consider your target audience’s mindset. Think about why your target audience is on Instagram. Spend some time reviewing your Activity “Following” tab to see what your followers are “liking.” For example, let’s say you sell financial consulting services and you’ve established that your customers are a fan of travel. So why not post some vacation photos in the Caribbean with a catchy description reading “Wouldn’t you love to take a family vacation down South? You can if you start making better financial decisions! Call us today for a free consultation.” Keep in mind you always want stay relevant to what you’re selling.

3. Post Frequently, But Don’t Overdo It
Over posting on Instagram is frowned upon and may result in lost followers. Nobody wants their newsfeeds overpowered by one Instagram user. You don’t need to post multiple times a day on Instagram. We suggest posting at most once per day. Test out different posting times to discover the most effective time of day to post.

4. Share High Quality Photos
If you’re a professional business then any image you share on Instagram should be of the highest quality. As all photos shared on Instagram must be square in dimension, a big time saver it to shoot square photos. Look at your settings on your digital camera and/or smartphone and size to square. This will save time on cropping the image and will ensure that essential elements will not be cropped out of the image when it’s time to post.

5. Engage With Users
The more active you are on Instagram, the more exposure your business will receive. Start by searching for relevant hashtags, liking posts, and leaving comments. You can also #regram images and give post credit to the original user. Always remember that engagement is a two-way street: if you expect people to engage with your business, then people will expect you to engage with them as well.

Tell us your best Instagram marketing tips in the comments below.