Instagram and its penchant for letting clients see your news in real time

In the second in our series of informative newsletters on social media, we take a look at Instagram and what it could do for you.

Recognised as the place to share photos and videos for social networking purposes, Instagram can be a fantastic resource for a business. Of course, this would only work if Instagram was the right platform for the brand and if products and services were marketed in the right way.

Incidentally, Instagram is now owned by Facebook Inc. -  the platform covered in our first edition of the series. If you missed it and feel it could be beneficial to you, give us a shout!

Why does Instagram capture the attention of business owners?

Instagram is all about visual identity. It provides the platform for your business to be seen. More than that. It gives you the opportunity to tell your business story, updating clients and potential clients on current and relevant news that may well be of interest to them.

Instagram boasts a 2.2% interaction rate, making it a winner when it comes to engagement. (This is evident when compared to social media giant, Facebook’s, 0.22% rate).

And with 25 million business profiles, there must be something in it. 53% of users follow brands and, well, you could be missing out.

Which target groups do you need to focus on connecting with?

A mind-blowing 1 billion people use Instagram each month and 500 million of these use the platform daily.

Tellingly, 34% of Instagram users are millennials. And loosely speaking, you will be able to reach as many male users as female users as the split is pretty similar.

To make Instagram work for you, identify your target market: who already buys from you? And research your competitors -  who they are targeting and how.

With this information, you can start to think about how you can attract more clients with similar interests and profiles.

Ready for action?

So, you have a good feeling about this? Wondering why you’ve never used Instagram before in a business capacity?

First things first. You will need to set up an Instagram business account. Once this is done, your brand will officially have a presence on the platform.

When it comes to optimizing your profile, squeezing all that’s important into just 150 characters may fill you with dread. Don’t panic. Pick out what’s most important as a starting point. Focus on conveying the right message; the right image. Who are you? What is your brand about? Why should they want to know more?

Use carefully thought-through hashtags, consider an emoji (they can say a lot by using just one character, though they won’t work for all businesses), use spacing and line breaks and get your profile pic spot on. Ideally, a version of your logo for instant brand recognition.

Check out all your business account features to make sure you’ve covered all bases.

Give careful consideration to your name and username and make sure you include a link to your website.

Moving forward

There are a few things you will need to note when it comes to posting.

It’s good to know that 38% of users check Instagram numerous times each day. With this in mind - and the avoidance of ‘over-posting’ - we suggest posting four times per week, to start. You will learn which times work best for you by trialling different times and days. Instagram insights is a great tool to help give guidance, too. Once you’ve ascertained the optimum timings, stick to a posting schedule.

Being instantly recognisable is key so consistency is vital. Think colours, filters, angles, editing and so on. A viewer should know it’s your business post at a glance. Photos taken using natural light always give a better result.

Consider what you will focus on in your posts. Will it be a particular product or service type? Will it be new additions to the range of services you already offer?

An impressive 60% of users (600+ million people) search for and discover new products on Instagram. We know!

Instagram is a visual platform which affords you the opportunity to promote your brand in a variety of visual ways. Remember that the method and style you choose will always need to be in keeping with your brand. If it doesn’t feel right to you, don’t post it.

If your business is all about people and service, there are ways you can make Instagram work for you. Get in touch if you need any help, here.

Importantly, videos are becoming increasingly popular - an 80% increase, year-by-year, to be exact.

How to get an accurate picture of whether your efforts are paying off

As with all things social media related, you will need to evaluate the success of your campaigns and refine accordingly.

You can track performance of your entire account or individual posts. And you can look at ads and stories, too.

Utilise A/B testing to find out what works and look at your engagement rates, which refer to ‘likes’ and amplification rates, which refer to shares.

There is so much more you can analyse, though the above are good starting points.

If you would like to connect with a younger audience, with a view to promoting your brand, then Instagram could really work for you. If you need any help or advice, give us a call.

With 80% of users following at least one business profile and the high interaction rate, it might be a good platform for you to try.

Keep an eye out for our supplementary guide on hashtags and what they can do for you.