Why Should You Use Instagram?
I’ve always tended to refer to Social Media channels as Radio Channels, with each one providing its own style of programming but all feeding off of similar sources; Instagram is our content-heavy and media-first channel where the value is in the creative. More importantly, the reason why you should use Instagram is that an overwhelming 2⁄3 of the entire Instagram user base is under the age of 35. We already know that nearly 2.4 billion people are active on Instagram, meaning that Instagram is one of the best platforms to target the younger generation.
Not only are more young people using Instagram, but more people who put trust and faith into a business or a brand can be found here as well. Does your business truly exist if you don’t have an Instagram profile for it? Are users sharing the business or brand on their Instagram stories, or are they tagging the business in posts? This is all social proof that helps build confidence in the users' buying power as they consider their options. Users see other people like them purchasing their products and services, which shows a real tangible look at others trusting the brand.
8 Tips to Promote Your Business on Instagram in 2024
Now that you’ve gotten an idea about the significance of having an Instagram Business Profile, here are all the awesome and amazing ways to promote your business on Instagram in 2024.
We’ll be looking at ways to beef up your profile with content and utilize different Instagram products and features that also help increase your online engagement and presence.
Utilize Instagram Ads
Some of you may find it unsurprising that the first way to do marketing for Instagram is through Instagram Ads. Running Message or Traditional on-Instagram boost-style campaigns is a great way to make a splash in your local area.
But as you continue advertising through Instagram, you may realize that you would want a little more control over your ads, so I highly recommend running your ads through ads manager on your desktop computer. You can get in-depth reporting like figuring out which devices people are using to access your page as well as location and time of day; full demographic breakdowns are available as well.
Regardless of what system you end up using, I will at least want to highlight the importance of video ads when marketing for Instagram; attention spans are dropping, so video ads are great as their moving media format tends to garner significantly more attention over static imagery.
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Leverage Instagram Hashtags
Hashtags are great, but a lot of profiles tend to stuff an exorbitant amount of them on their post, usually dumping them all in the end. While that isn’t necessarily bad, if it tends to be a lot of irrelevant hashtags, then users who end up seeing an “irrelevant” post under a particular hashtag may state that they are “not interested” in your post. This can negatively impact our organic engagement abilities since users are negatively scoring our social posts.
Now, you probably are wondering what types of hashtags you should be adding to your posts and your profile. While the types of hashtags out there aren’t a universally rigid construct, there are more or less a set amount of universally recognized hashtag types that have their specific use in different scenarios and contexts.
Another thing to consider is Meta tends to frown upon posts with “too much text” and keeps more summarized descriptive posts in our feeds. You may end up adding over 15 relevant hashtags to your post, and while it may be great that they are relevant, your post will ultimately end up having too much text.
There are definitely instances where posts that have too much text have gone viral. The general best practice is to create organic descriptions that naturally reference hashtags. If I own an Ice Cream Parlor, for example, and I wanna post our newest fruit flavours for the summer, I would utilize hashtags like this:
“Craving a ice-cold refreshing #strawberry treat? Our latest #sorbet flavours have launched. Check out our store this #summer, located in #libertyvillage in Toronto.
Note: I did not hashtag Toronto as our location for the post itself would be set to the ice cream parlour’s location, which would utilize Meta’s machine learning algorithm to suggest our post to those interested in Toronto, as the store is located in the city.
Gain Wider Reach by Collaborating with Influencers
Influencers can significantly boost your brand's reach by tapping into their large, engaged audiences on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. When they talk about your brand, it feels like a recommendation from a trusted friend rather than a hard sell. This kind of content stands out because people are tired of traditional ads.
Influencers seamlessly weave your products into their posts, making them more relatable and genuine for their followers. It’s like getting a trusted voice in the industry to speak on your behalf, and if done properly, this can leverage amazing audience gains.
Using the right hashtags, influencers can further amplify your reach. Tools like Hashtagify.me help identify trending hashtags, ensuring your brand's content appears in relevant searches. Influencer posts are naturally engaging, which makes them more likely to be shared, commented on, or even go viral. A viral post can dramatically increase your visibility, bringing a wave of new visitors to your social media pages or website.
Moreover, influencers can help improve your SEO. Their content often includes links back to your website, which search engines like Google use to rank your site higher. This makes it easier for new customers to find you. When an influencer who is an expert in your industry endorses your brand, it adds credibility and attracts a more targeted audience. This expert approval can help establish your brand as a leader in your field, building trust and loyalty among new and existing customers.
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Instagram Live = Personal Touch
Instagram Live serves as a dynamic avenue for businesses to engage their audience in real-time, fostering genuine connections and strengthening brand relationships. By going live, brands can seize the opportunity to showcase their authenticity and relatability, offering followers a glimpse behind the scenes or hosting interactive Q&A sessions.
With live broadcasts prominently featured at the top of followers' feeds, businesses can ensure maximum visibility, making it an ideal platform for launching new products, announcing business promotions on Instagram, or sharing important updates.
Moreover, Instagram Live proves to be a potent tool for driving traffic and boosting sales. By incorporating clear calls to action within their live sessions, businesses can seamlessly direct viewers to their website, encouraging them to explore products or take advantage of exclusive offers.
The natural and personal qualities of live engagement facilitate spontaneous interactions, where even the most inactive social media users can be found engaging. This increases the likelihood of conversions as viewers are actively engaged with the content. Promoting live sessions in advance and maintaining longer broadcasts also allows businesses to sustain audience interest and foster greater participation.
In essence, Instagram Live emerges as an indispensable component of a robust social media strategy. It empowers businesses to forge meaningful connections with their audience, amplify brand visibility, and achieve tangible business outcomes.
Instagram Reels Are a Game Changer
Let’s be honest, TikTok has been the rage ever since short video format platforms like Vine entered the stage. Reels on Instagram are Meta’s response to TikTok through utilizing short-form and long-from portrait-video content that users can post, and even have their reels be suggested to new users.
Reels can be short to display quick, bite-sized stories, messages, or promotions, or they can often be quite long, especially since we can convert live streams into reels.
Just like anything we do online for our business, it should be relevant information or stories that are impactful and value-filled to our customer base. Similar to TikTok, reels have the ability to be shown to a strong number or new organic users as they boost reach and engagement.
Boost Engagement With User Generated Content
Posting your followers' content about your products or services onto your own profile and tagging them is a great way to engage with user-generated content. This type of content is found to be organic in its nature and authentic as it is not simply a promotional post, but a post that promotes your business by your own fans, followers and customers.
I praise the amazing feature on Instagram known as “collaborator posts,” where profiles can collaborate on posts together, and the same post will appear on both profiles as well as in their respective audience’s feed. This is a great way to get qualitative user-generated content and apply it to your own profile.
The feature was extremely useful for my band’s Instagram account, Eleven Minutes Late. We had a show in Toronto at The Painted Lady, and we created a collaborator post with the bar, which had a significantly higher follower count compared to our account; it allowed our show announcement post to garner significantly more reach and engagement than we normally would!
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Create Carousel Posts
You're scrolling through Instagram, soaking in the vibrant visuals and stories that fill your feed. Suddenly, you stumble upon a carousel post from a popular travel blogger you follow. The first image, a breathtaking sunset over Santorini, Greece, catches your eye. Intrigued, you swipe left to reveal a series of stunning photos and videos showcasing the island’s iconic whitewashed buildings, crystal-clear waters, and charming local markets. This immersive experience draws you in, making you feel like you’re wandering the narrow streets and enjoying the scenic views right alongside the blogger.
Instagram carousel posts are a powerful tool for storytelling and engagement. They allow users to share up to ten images or videos in a single post, creating a narrative or a comprehensive showcase of their content. Businesses and influencers leverage this feature to provide more depth and detail, whether it’s a step-by-step tutorial, a behind-the-scenes look, or a product showcase. Carousels invite users to spend more time on a post, swiping through each slide, which boosts engagement and the likelihood of your content being seen by a larger audience.
For businesses, utilizing carousel posts can significantly enhance your Instagram marketing strategy. Imagine you’re launching a new product line. Instead of posting a single image, you can create a carousel highlighting different features, customer testimonials, and usage scenarios. This not only keeps your audience engaged, but also provides them with a richer, more comprehensive understanding of your offering.
Moreover, carousels can be used to share detailed insights, infographics, or even a series of business promotional offers on Instagram, making your profile a dynamic and informative hub for followers.
Do Not Skip Instagram Stories
Imagine you're opening Instagram to see what's new, and right at the top, you spot colourful circles indicating fresh Stories from your favourite accounts. You tap on one and are immediately drawn into a behind-the-scenes look at a bakery's morning routine, complete with mouth-watering clips of pastries being made. These ephemeral snippets, available for just 24 hours, are the essence of Instagram Stories. This dynamic feature allows users to share moments, engage with their audience, and bypass the usual algorithm constraints, keeping your content front and centre for followers to see.
Instagram Stories have become a game-changer for businesses aiming to connect with their audience in a more personal and immediate way. With the ever-changing Instagram algorithm limiting organic reach, Stories offer a brilliant workaround. Posting regularly to your Stories not only ensures that you remain visible at the top of your followers' feeds but also humanizes your brand.
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Whether it's a quick behind-the-scenes video, a casual selfie, or an engaging poll, Stories let you showcase your brand's personality and build a more authentic connection with your audience. It's a space where you can be informal and interactive, encouraging followers to engage through direct messages, polls, quizzes, and more. Also, just because an Instagram story lasts for only 24 hours, that doesn’t mean it’s gone for good, as we can add the story onto your profile as a “story highlight”.
For businesses, Instagram Stories are an invaluable tool for driving engagement and conversions. The interactive elements like polls, quizzes, and swipe-up links (for accounts with over 10,000 followers) transform passive viewing into active participation.
Imagine you’re promoting a flash sale: a countdown sticker adds excitement and urgency, while a swipe-up link directs followers straight to your store. The temporary nature of Stories also makes them perfect for time-sensitive announcements and limited-time offers, ensuring your message reaches your audience immediately. By leveraging these features, you can keep your content fresh, engaging, and effective, making Instagram Stories a cornerstone of your Instagram marketing strategy.
Let Us Help Get Your Business Instagram Ready in 2024
No matter the type of business you may have, Instagram is an essential component of our social media tool kit to present our brand publicly in ways that promote user engagement, either from new or existing customers and followers.
Instagram helps create a personable tone for our brands as well as setting up intimacy between your business and followers, as they have the option to interact with your profile; whether it be polls, games, Q/A sessions, and livestreams. It also allows you to truly put your most favourite customers and followers in the limelight through collaborator posts where your followers get to have their 15 minutes of fame while also complementing your profile’s appearance by adding user-generated content.
In the end, all these tools are great, but they are best used when you are mindful of using Instagram and are authentic when conveying your brand and business online.
To learn more about how we can use our social media marketing services to get your business Instagram-ready, reach out to our expert team today! Call 866-208-3095 or contact us here.
