When Instagram (IG) was introduced in 2010, it was a fun social media platform full of selfies, pictures of food, pets, and travel locations. Fast forward to 2024, Insta is now considered a full-on marketing channel that both small business owners manufacturing accessories and huge corporations offering slots casino entertainment can use to increase reach and sales. The platform avails numerous beneficial business tools, including shoppable IG posts, advanced analytics, IGTV, a standalone video platform, and creative ways of driving traffic from Instagram stories.
Why Instagram Is Valuable to Marketers
IG continues to grow and evolve into a treasured network for companies, be it A&W food services, the Vulkan Vegas Canada gambling platform, or the Roots online store. Check out some statistics that make Insta a great place to market your establishment, whether it is a start-up or has been in operation for a couple of years.
- Semrush reveals that Instagram is one of the top-ten most visited sites, with a huge audience of 2.9 billion visits monthly.
- Insta is the fourth most-used social avenue clocking an impressive 1.5 billion active users worldwide. Only Facebook, YouTube, and WhatsApp beat the platform.
- IG is the second-most downloaded App in the universe. After TikTok, Insta records the most downloads making it a very popular application great for acquiring customers.
- A survey commissioned by Facebook revealed that 81% of respondents said that IG helps their research services and products.
The stats above are confirmation that merchants should not ignore Instagram as a marketing avenue. Let’s now dive into how to start your small business on Insta to capitalize on returns.
Set Up Your Account for Maximum Impact
Make sure you set up a business Instagram account that will bring success from the get-go. Start by ensuring prospective clients can find you online easily. Connecting your IG account to other social media accounts like Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, and Flicker is always a great idea. Privacy settings should also allow the public to see your posts and comment.
Remember that your Instagram strategy needs to be consistent with all your business’s marketing efforts. It means using the same style, tone, and logo everywhere. Do not forget to share what makes your brand unique. Perhaps your business only uses local or recycled materials. Weave this creatively into your Instagram presence. Always look for new features and setting changes, so you are not left out.
Do Not Get Tired of Posting About Your Products
Instagram recommends building a habit of posting about your products regularly to improve visibility. Be sure only to upload high-quality eye-catching content. Information you share can be centered around the following:
- Showing variations of products by displaying a selection of different sizes, colors, and materials to choose from.
- The creation process allows clients to get exclusive content on the hard work that goes into the production of products.
- Using good-quality backdrops that will help products stand out.
- Creating tutorials on how customers can use your products.
The goal is to make sure as many people as possible view the posts and stories and that most of them are motivated to spend their coins on what your business offers.
Use Highlights to Let People Know What the Business Is All About
Highlights are one of the best IG features to share comprehensive information about your entity. They prolong the life of stories by featuring them on your profile without disappearing details. Basics to include in the highlights include:
1.About. A few posts on brand, values, and hours
2. Product Features. Sometimes, everything you want to say about your services cannot fit in a single post. Highlights come to the rescue because they open up a chance for sellers to go into deeper details. There is an option to create an overall one or have one highlight per service or product.
3. Location. Talk about the locations of your business and share photos
4. FAQs. Share answers to the questions that clients often ask
5. Customer Reviews. Repost from client feed posts or create a graphic that will highlight the reviews from other platforms.
The best part about highlights is you can edit the information anytime to present ever-green content that will help your business scale to greater heights.
Target The Best Business Audience
One of the grave mistakes small business owners make is trying to please everyone on Instagram, which is a recipe for disaster. A wise move is to align the IG marketing strategy and business goals. Compare your past marketing personas to the ones found on Instagram. It will give you a clear picture of the buyers you can expect to reach through the social channel.
For instance, your target audience can be male millennials who earn between $40,000 to $60,000 and reside in urban areas. Therefore, if you have a company with two HR personas, Hannah, the 65-year-old HR director, and Harry, the 30-year-old HR assistant, you are better off creating a profile and content that will appeal to Harry. This tailored approach aligns with the principles of digital marketing msps, ensuring your marketing efforts resonate effectively with the intended audience.
Closing Remarks
Instagram offers small business owners an ideal platform to boost marketing efforts. If your company is not taking advantage of IG customers, you may lose out big time. Follow the above tips on how to start advertising your entity on insta and watch your fortunes start to grow.
