How to Improve your Instagram Traffic and Increase Business
Instagram is one of the most popular apps right now for social media and business! As this app’s popularity is continuously on the rise it can be frustrating trying to keep up with all of the new trends. But, what is making Instagram so appealing to so many people? Here a few Instagram strategies that will reel in the business and help you improve your Instagram presence.
1. Be creative and unique
Build your brand to reflect your personality. People want get to know the person behind the screen. Your Instagram page should show off your spunky personality. However, with that being said, we want the followers to be your friend, but we also want them to be our customers. Try making a marketing strategy, and ask yourself
What is the main goal of my Instagram? Who is my audience? What do I want my brand to represent? If you take your time to answer these questions and tailor your feed to reflect this, then more people will engage with your account.
What is the main goal of your account? If your goal is to show off a new product that you made then show off your product in an interesting way. Make it seem like they NEED whatever you are selling.
Who is my audience? How old are they? What is their job? How can you help them? Make sure that your account takes into account all of these factors. You are going to have different marketing strategies if your customer is a 13-year-old girl than if it is a mom of two. Find your target audience and post accordingly.
What do I want my brand to represent? If your company is a colorful, quirky brand, your Instagram can show that. You can have fun with the pictures you post. Make your posts recognizable so that when people are scrolling through their feed they will know that it is your post. Stay true to your brand.
2. #Hashtags
Hashtags can be used for more than just a #selfie they can be used for business if done right. Hashtags can also be used as a search tool. Make your hashtags relevant to your post; by doing this it will make your post discoverable to people other than your followers. Find what is popular for your industry or see what others have used on their pictures and go from there. Check to see what hashtags your competitors are using and give those a try too! Another idea is to create your own hashtag! You can hashtag your business, you can hashtag your product, your slogan, anything really! However, there are some limitations to hashtags. You are allowed 30 hashtags per post, but you should not use all 30 on every post. 5-6 hashtags per post seems to be the golden number for many who don’t want to appear like they’re stuffing a post with keywords.
3. Engage and be Consistent
Social media is all about community, find your community and run with it. Build up your people like, comment, share other user’s posts. Most companies will appreciate this and do the same for you. This is a great way to build your following and build your reputation. In addition to that, if someone takes the time to comment on your picture, be sure to reply to them. By replying to a majority of your comments, it makes you seem more personable and again people love to get to know the person behind the screen. Make sure you post consistently. Most major brands post about 1.5 times per day. You can definitely do more than that if you want, just make sure it’s consistent! Instagram is more than just photos, you can also post stories, videos, and more. Take advantage of that. Make your content interesting and engaging. Perhaps post an Instagram story with a poll on it for your followers to vote on. Try posting a video on your story or doing a live stream. Switch up your posts to keep your followers interested and to keep your feed intriguing. Since the bulk of Instagram is just pictures make your photos interesting. You can use apps (Canva, wordswag, etc.) to edit them, add text, and make them more fun. Pictures are worth a thousand words, so make them good!
4. Incentive
Make sure that your content is providing something to your followers. Make your content useful. That can be showing your followers how your product is made, where it comes from, introduce them to your staff, and more. Give your followers a reason to stay following you. Another way to do this is to occasionally run a contest. Say you are going to give away one of your company t-shirts, run the contest and have them sign up for the contest on your website.
Instagram can be a great platform to grow your business and interact with the community, if you know how to use it. With these basic tips you will be sure to gain some quality traction!