by Hannah McKernonInstagram is a useful channel to have in your social media arsenal. Through it, you can cultivate a beautiful set of visuals to really show off your organisation at its best, as well as explore ways of showing behind the scenes and the lighter side of business.
60% of users learn about new products through Instagram. (Source : Adespresso), so it's a great platform to showcase what you offer and reach new customers. Here's 20 stats about Instagram for businesses.
You need to set up your profile. If you intend to use Instagram for business purposes, ensure you are setting up a business profile - this requires you to have a Facebook business page set up.
For more information on the differences between a personal and business profile, see here: What is the difference between a personal and a business Instagram account?
Once your account is set up, write your bio. Creating a solid business bio is an important part of the process as potential followers (and prospective customers) need to understand your organisation in a short and easily digestible description.
For a more detailed guide on the steps needed, see our beginners guide to creating an Instagram account.
After you’ve got yourself set-up, learn how to make the most of the platform; how best to get your posts seen, and why it is important to be reactive and responsive on this channel, so that you can build your following and ensure your posts are being seen by your target audience.
This example from Alphabet Bags is witty and eye-catching and will resonate with the brands audience. On Instagram, try to think of ways you can showcase your products in innovative and quirky ways to engage your audience.
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Ensure you are posting regularly, but make sure that your posts are relevant to both your organisation, and your followers and not random. Quality and consistency is far better than quantity here.
Use hashtags wisely in your carefully crafted captions, and consider curating an Instagram grid that highlights your products at their best; particularly if you have access to beautiful images from your customers.
Ideally your grid will tell the story of your organisation in a relatable, open and accessible way.
With colourful, eye-catching pictures and great captions Starbucks posts leave their followers with a feel-good factor - and a desire for coffee! They also showcase a little behind the scenes action, with features about their employees.
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Doing our best to keep cool. #InstaCoffee #CoffeeLover #CoffeeGram #Heatwave
The final piece of the Instagram puzzle is the Stories function. Instagram Stories are a means of sharing posts, highlighting interesting pieces of news, showing your followers the goings-on behind the scenes of your business.
Stories last for 24 hours, however they can also be saved permanently to your profile which creates a highlights reel. This is useful for regular pieces of content, ongoing series, etc.
H&M use stories to highlight latest trends, their magazine features, different styles, campaigns and seasonal collections. These added to their great posts make an eye-catching, colourful and inspiring feed.
