Tips For Using Instagram As A Marketing Strategy For Your Business

15th October 2013

Instagram is a fantastic marketing tool that can increase brand awareness and help build strong relationships between your company and its customers. Competition is tough so you need any advantage you can get to help promote your business and at the rate Instagram is growing, now’s the time to beginning taking advantage of this fantastic social media platform if you haven’t already.

We live in a world of technology and if you want to survive as a small business, you have to be willing to change with the times. Most all consumers under the age of 35 is tech savvy and use some type of Smartphone or some other mobile device and many older adults have taken an interest in learning as much about this technology as they can.

With so many people using social networking sites, it’s an excellent opportunity for small businesses to build brand awareness and build strong relationships between your company and existing and potential customers. Instagram gives you a way to use visual content and creativity to connect with your targeted audience in a modern and fresh new way.

Here are some of the main points you’ll need to consider when getting started.

Get Creative with Your Photos

You can start using Instagram by sharing photos of your products to let viewers know what your company has to offer but don’t limit yourself to just this. In addition to sharing photos of your products, you can also post pictures of satisfied customers, community events your company takes part in, how your products are made and share photos of your employees.

Your goal here is to humanize your business, which helps to build trust and peak the interest of consumers so they want to learn more about you. You can also learn how to put photos side by side and to create other interesting designs that will capture the attention of your viewers.

Be Sociable

While you’re using Instagram to promote your small business, it’s important for you to be sociable and not push your products. This is not the place to try and sell, instead its where you have the chance to show consumers the personal side of your company and that is a golden opportunity that you don’t want to let slip away. Leave comments and create friendships that will help create a positive image for your company.

Engage the Audience

Instagram is a great place to offer promotions and to conduct contests that will generate interest in your products and increase traffic to your website. Require followers to submit a specific type of photo using a certain hashtag in order to be eligible to enter the contest and this will increase participation. Choose a winner based on the rules of the contest and reward them with a special offer.

You can also offer consumers special discounts or promo codes to those who follow you that will allow them to save on their purchase with your company. Be creative and look for new, interesting ways to engage the audience and enjoy the benefits. It’s also a good idea to acquire (via buy, for instance) followers to get things starting because users tend to be more interested in content that other people have viewed.

Use Instagram to complement your other social media platforms. It will support the visual aspect of your business and help encourage consumers to follow you on other social networking sites like Twitter or Facebook. You can also use these networking sites to direct users to Instagram by making them aware of any special offers they could take advantage of when visiting. Include Instagram in your small business marketing strategy and watch your loyal fan base grow.

photo source: Nicolas Jurado / Flickr