With 150 million monthly active users, Instagram offers an ever-growing platform for your business to engage and interact with customers. Instagram makes it easy for businesses—big or small—to reach their audience, and companies such as Nike, GE, and Ben & Jerry’s have taken full advantage of this opportunity for visual marketing. Here are just a few ways to extend your business’s social media marketing to Instagram.
Be True to Your Brand
When signing up for an Instagram account, be consistent with your existing social media platforms. Select the same name you use as your Twitter handle, connect your Instagram account with your Facebook page, use your company logo as your profile photo, and include a link to your main business website. Social media networks allow you to further your brand’s personality, and the imagery you share on Instagram should reflect how you define your business. Even if your services aren’t easily visualized, you can use Instagram to highlight your company culture, employees, and participation in community events.
Reward and Engage Your Audience
The key to successful social media marketing is gaining an active following that enjoys and shares your content. Remember that social media networks are communities and sharing isn’t a one-way street: Follow back some followers, leave positive comments, and like other users’ photos. One great way to engage and gain followers on Instagram is to host a photo contest. You could also hold a giveaway that only followers are eligible to win.
Track Trends and Results
Each time you post a photo, use relevant, popular hashtags to join in the community-wide conversation. If you are at an industry event, add that event’s or location’s designated hashtag to your photos so that other attendees and event coordinators can find them. You can also use apps like Nitrogram to monitor metrics on hashtags, accounts, shares, potential impressions, and engagement rates.
Anchor Wave will work with your business to develop a customized, branded social media strategy across several platforms. We take you beyond simply signing up for an account by building followers and spreading your message through targeted social media engagement. Call our Tucson team at (520) 622-3731 or our Phoenix office at (480) 331-8920, or visit our website to schedule a consultation!
