We are addicts. Oh! Not drug addicts, but Instagram addicts. You would have tried to stop, but refreshing the Instagram feed becomes a near-hour habit which is hard to forgo. During your lunch breaks and passing time during TV commercials, Instagram serves as a perfect distraction. Of course, there is nothing wrong in checking out the cutie pics of babies, puppies, latest gadgets and fitness mantras, but why not use it for something useful.
You can channel your Instagram addiction towards your business. With a user base of over 400 million, Instagram marketing strategy is the perfect force for businesses. There are various statistics to prove it and you can check out the one below –
With Instagram, it is easy for a start-up or established business to connect directly, authentically and efficiently with many of its current and future customers. This can help the business to grow and reach the targeted audiences.
Marketing Your Business Through Instagram
As a business owner, you can establish connection with your brand as well as fans by adding Instagram as your social networking tool. There are many ways by which you can use your Instagram account to market your business, increase the brand exposure and fan loyalty and more. Let’s check out some of them –
• Contests
Many people are crazy about prizes and they love the chance of winning them. You can use your Instagram account to have a photo contest. This is an effective approach for boosting your online visibility of your business.
The main aim of holding a contest is to engage your customers and create a robust online presence. It is important that businesses have fun with customers as it helps in building relationship with them. You can have a contest asking your fans to send pictures where they are using your product or service. From the pictures that you receive, you can select the best one as the winner.
• Hashtags
If you have a Twitter account, you know what hashtags are and how much effective they are. Well! The same can be applied for your Instagram account where you can use the hashtag related to your industry or business. This makes it easy for people to find and know about your business.
Try to go for short and simple hashtags and avoid long and complex ones. Furthermore, you need to test your hashtag before using them, so that you can know what is already out there and if a brand similar to you is using the same kind or not.
• Event Marketing
Optimizing events through social media is important; especially for making sure that the event content is alive even after the actual event is over. You can use Instagram and other social media for creating social stories which can promote future events and increase the social visibility and search. This will allure a huge media attention and be good for your future. If you are having a sale, just click a photo of the sales flyer and post it in your Instagram account for your followers to see.
• Geotagging
There is an option for Instagram users to tag a particular location where the particular picture was taken. This can be saved exclusive on the photo map and later on shared with your followers. Now this is a great option, especially if you are traveling out of the state or country or attending any trade fairs or show. You can snap a photo and tag your location thereby enabling followers to know where you are.
Summarizing
As a business owner, you need to make your customers feel important. People love to share and participate with businesses they like. Be a part of this era of sharing and expand your reach as well as your branding.
Get the required number of followers and create a brand awareness of your products and services. All you have to do is snap pictures with your camera and improving your profile views with the help of idgic for increasing the number of followers and likes. With huge number of followers, you can take your business to new heights.
Amy Hart
iDigic.net