Instagram For Business

Creating a vision of how and what you will achieve using Instagram for business is the first step to introducing a successful Instagram page for your business.

With your business goals determined, you’ll have the time to focus efforts on brand building.

For effective goals Follow the SMART Framework:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Attainable
• Relevant
• Timely

When growing your Instagram page and its community, you may assign some goals based around vanity metrics. These include likes, followers and comments and whilst it’s fine to wish to increase these, ensure to also set relevant, business related goals. Monitoring success rates such as reach plays a huge part in expanding followers, likes and all round interaction.

Analysing post performance and understanding why certain content has become successful is the key to a successful Instagram campaign.

Instagram Engagement

Likes and comments are both forms of engagement on Instagram. There is however a crucial difference in terms of performance analysis and success rates.

A like on Instagram denotes those who are interested in the content you post. This quick action requires users to simply double tap before continuing through their feed. This ‘like’ is important as it tells you who’s ‘mildly’ interested in your content. If one of your goals however, is to make additional sales, a post like doesn’t necessarily achieve this. Closely engaged followers however are more likely to applaud content with a comment or a share. These visitors are more invested in your content and brand. Show closely engaged visitors what they crave and you’re more likely to increase sales

It’s important to respond to comments and the quicker the better. We live in a fast-paced society with people wanting instant information. Taking time to converse with audience comments shows willing and that you support your brand. When visitors notice high levels of interaction, they’re more likely to leave a comment as they’re almost guaranteed a response.

Instagram Consistency

A regular posting schedule is crucial, keeping your page fresh and current. As your audience builds people will come to expect regular content. Your goal here should be the continuation of brand awareness.

When’s the best time to post?

There’s no specific time that’s ‘best’ to post. Hootsuite and Unmetric analysed 200,000 Instagram posts across 11 different industries. What they determined was how the best time to post on Instagram varies greatly depending on industry. The Food and Beverage sector, for example, finds the most success posting at 12pm, whilst educational establishments receive loss of engagement posting at 4 pm.

You’ll need to carry out testing and use insights to determine the times your content receives the most engagement.

Instagram Aesthetics

To make Instagram a success for your business, superb images certainly help. You don’t need to be a professional photographer and you don’t need a lot of equipment either. Your mobile phone is your best friend when it comes to Instagram photography, made easier as you can post straight from your device.

Tips for Taking the Best Pictures

Use Natural Light: Making shadows softer, colours richer and images better all round, natural light makes for a much nicer picture in comparison to artificial light.

Avoid Harsh Lighting: Late afternoon is an unbeatable time to take photos. Cloudy days are better than sunny ones for shooting.

Use the Rule of Thirds: Most phone cameras have a grid built in to help. Place your subject where the grid lines meet to create an interesting photo that’s off center but still balanced. Don’t be afraid to experiment with different angles.

Be Consistent: Fonts, colour schemes, emojis and hashtags should be uniform throughout. Once you decide on a content theme, go for an accordant visual look. Consistency makes your content distinguishable as your audience scrolls. Chef Dennis Prescott has a visual style that’s instantly recognizable and has an incredible engagement rate. With over half a million followers, he routinely accumulates around 10,000 to 20,000 likes with hundreds of post comments.

“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use the more you have.”

Mary Angelou

Grow & Engage Your Instagram Audience

Social media platforms are all about community and at a minimum one community relevant to your business will already exist on Instagram. Once located, begin by observing hashtags similar to your business. From here, comment and like appropriate similar posts and follow those participating in discussions. This simple way of making your presence known is likely to spark interest in your content.

Becoming more involved with Instagram communities, will give you a better idea of the hashtags with most interaction. Using these will make your content easier to find. Captions on Instagram aren’t searchable, but hashtags are. When someone clicks on or searches for a hashtag, they see all associated content. It’s a useful and easy way to get your content in front of people who don’t already follow you.

You might want to consider creating your own branded hashtag, for example at Inner City Digital we use similar hashtags on every post: #webdesign #SEO #middlesbrough #UKbusiness #websitetips #ICD. A specific hashtag embodies your brand and encourages followers to share photos fitting that image.