
Like it or not, social media is a critical part of any modern business. Whether you’re a retail space, office-based business, restaurant, hotel, or real estate company, you most likely get a sizable percentage of new customers from your online presence. It’s how potential new clients first hear about you, how you gain social trust, set yourself apart from competitors, and receive testimonials through posts from happy customers talking about their experiences with you. And these days, a lot of this action comes from Instagram.
Instagram is one of the most active social media platforms. It’s highly visual and supports interaction on many levels. It’s the perfect medium for a business to tell its story, show off its products, and foster deep community engagement. If you’re not maximizing your Instagram efforts, you may be missing out on a substantial chunk of new business and revenue.
We know that it can feel daunting to reimagine the way that your company approaches Instagram, but these 5 tips are a great way to start. Instagram is fundamentally social, so these tips focus on how to make your Insta presence a two-way street. You want your posts to draw engagement, conversation, and ultimately, conversion!
1. Engagement With Your Local Community
Your business doesn’t exist in a vacuum. You are surrounded by neighbors, schools, small businesses, local farms, nonprofit organizations, artists, musicians, and so much more. However it makes sense to reach out to your local community and get them involved in what you do, go for it! You’ll find that this process creates a natural ripple effect, drawing more local groups and neighbors into your circle and getting them interested in what you do.
Local partnerships will generate local buzz on Instagram. Your new partners almost certainly have a substantial local Instagram following of their own which will migrate to your page as well. Feature local brands, tag local artisans, and comment on the posts of local businesses. You will attract a dedicated Shop Local community that will appreciate your efforts and reward you with Instagram engagement.
2. Content, Content, Content
A good Instagram presence offers your follower information and content that they find truly useful, interesting, and valuable. Social trust in your business only comes from offering reputable and useful information to you customers, and by delighting them with social media content that they truly want to see. This can mean different things depending on what sort of business you run, but educational graphics, candid photos of what you sell or offer in use, features of other cool related business, or goals for the future of your business can all be great ways to offer value through Instagram content.
By steering clear of gimmicky, overly monetized, and robotic Instagram posts you’ll retain followers, boost engagement, and encourage conversion! Like any good content strategy, your Instagram content should be genuine and organic. It should never feel like a robot is running your Instagram. Maximize personality, individuality, and value to your followers!
3. Raffles and Give-Aways
Raffles and give-aways are another great way to foster Instagram engagement. Everyone loves getting something for free, and posts about raffles or give-aways often have way more reach than other posts you might make. For a relatively small cost and very little effort, you can boost engagement through the roof!
In addition, when you create a raffle or give-away you are free to set your own rules. To enter, someone might have to follow you, tag friends in the comments, or share your post on their story. This extends the reach of the post even further and garners tons of new followers and engagement.
Once you get these new followers, keep them engaged and interested with the other 4 tips, and maybe more exciting give-aways!
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