Using Instagram To Market Your Business!

What is Instagram Marketing?

Using Instagram to market your business is a very excellent engagement tool to use. I consist of using video and images and it does require consistent work and new posts preferably daily if not twice a day at the very least.  Using this app will give you the market share of Millennials and Gen X that you need to tap into. Plus it give you a great mobile platform to build off on.

Why Instagram Is Important to Your Business

This past year especially during the holidays we have seen product sales soar over the roof, and one of the biggest contributors is social media marketing, more precisely Instagram marketing. It has a better reach than older social media networks and undoubtedly the best engagement among them. A recent  study Instagram has 15x more engagement than Facebook and 20x more than Twitter. To make Instagram work for you however, you need to not only be pro-active, but you need to pay attention. Here are some tips that I found that will help your business grow.  Don’t make these mistakes first and foremost when using Instagram.

1. Poor Audience Engagement

Nothing is worse than having new followers or influencers that are ignored. You have to engage them to keep them. This will make your followers happy and could, in turn, make them into loyal customers. Besides, Instagram notices your engagement levels and recommends high performing profiles at the top of Instagram Search and Explore section thereby increasing visibility and discoverability.

2. Making it too Personal

Showing a little bit of personality isn't bad but as a business, you have to keep things professional still. Do not engage in your own opinions on politics, social matters, or your personal life or problems. Nobody wants to hear about it on your business Instagram Account.

3. Hashtags Need to Be Used Properly

Instagram hashtags are of great importance in case you are not aware. It serves in place of keywords on Instagram, without it, no one can find your content. Hashtags for Instagram improve your chances of being found by many folds, if used properly that is, which is simply avoiding overused hashtags such as #love and steering clear of banned Instagram hashtags. Using those will not improve your chances of being found.

4. Making your Profile Private

Apart from Instagram hashtag mistakes, this is another big mistake most businesses make on Instagram. No one has all the time in the world to wait for your approval before viewing your posts and what you have to sell. For a personal profile, it's okay but business wise this is not a popular move. Make your profile public, in case you have it on you, can change it in the options menu in the top right-hand corner of the app. Also, make sure that you are using a business profile.

5. You need To Fill Out Those Caption Fields Otherwise You Will Get “What Is This Supposed to Be?”

When you share a photo or video on Instagram never leave empty caption fields. Captions can be used to pass additional information like addresses and contact info. Business slogans and most importantly your CALL-TO-ACTION usually goes onto the caption. Other popular unpopular Instagram marketing mistakes include posting random stuff on your business profile, like comedy skits and vines that detract from your core business identity, totally avoid that. Not filling out your bio info, not adding a link to your website, etc.

Conclusion
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Instagram is growing leaps and bounds and will continue to do so in 2019. It has already doubled its competitor, Snapchat in app usage. The other good thing is Instagram is owned by Facebook and while Instagram is doing better than Facebook, the interaction of instant sharing of the two makes this a valuable platform. Don’t makes mistakes, keep your content fresh, use the right hashtags and watch your audience grow as well as your business!
-Roy

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Hashtags:  #instagram #marketing #advertising #social media #mobility #apps