Once you sign up for Instagram, login to Instagram, and set up your business account, the next question is what to post on Instagram to make your business stand out.
And if you want your business to make an e-commerce killing on social media, Instagram is the social media platform to do it. In Iconosquare’s 2015 study, 70% of respondents said they had already looked for a brand on Instagram.
In other words, Instagram users are shoppers, and that’s good news for you.
We’re here to offer all the Instagram help you need for your business to thrive.
Show What You Do Creatively
First order of business? Show your customers what you can solve, not what you sell.
Basically, you’re looking to show customers what you can do for them (and you have to look good while doing it).
For example, if you’re a cupcake shop, showcase the process of making your beautiful cupcakes from cracking the first egg to presenting it to the customer with a flourish.
Just don’t spend the whole time hard-selling. None of your customers are willing to put up with that. Make the best use of social media optimization and take your followers on an adventure.
Remember, even if you sell vaping devices like Blazed Vapes, you’re still not selling a product in your Instagram feed–you’re selling your customers what their life will be like with your product in it.
Stay Recognizable with a Consistent Style
While you want to have a diverse, well-cultivated feed, part of the art of Instagram is creating a recognizable, consistent style.
This way, your customers can scroll past a photo and immediately recognize it as one of yours. If they opened up your feed, all of the posts would create one cohesive visual narrative of what your business is.
Think of your Instagram profile like a magazine spread. Your photos should have a common thread–perhaps a particular color scheme or a combination of patterns that looks good when they’re shown together.
Create a Winner Profile
And speaking of your profile, you need yours to stand out in all the best ways.
For example, let’s talk about your bio.
Your bio is a lot more important than you think. It’s a way of hooking your potential followers in just a sentence. It’s a way of representing yourself and winning new customers.
Include your business name and a concise, fun description of what you do. When in doubt, follow the winning formula: who you are + what you do + a splash of personality = a catchy bio.
Take Your Customer Behind the Scenes
In the age of cultivated, professional social media accounts, your customers want to feel like they can emotionally connect with your brand the same way they connect with their best friend’s account.
One of the best ways to do this? Let your customers behind the curtain to get to know the human element of your brand and account.
For example, you could have a member of your staff takeover your account for the day to show the steps behind a certain process. Use stories to show off your fun side.
People are curious. Play into their curiosity.
Create Posts that Users Want to Follow
Of course, a great bio and fun stories won’t help you that much if you can’t create posts that users actually want to see in their feed.
For starters: much though you might be tempted, resist the urge to hard-sell your followers 24/7. When you keep in mind the universal mistrust of the used car salesman, you’ll understand why.
Use images to let your followers make a decision for themselves without hitting them over the head with how awesome your product is. Talk to them like real people instead of just another sales pitch.
Expand Your Reach with Hashtags
You may have avoided them like the plague, but there’s no getting around it: hashtags are effective.
It can be for a campaign or for general usage. Either way, they should be relevant. For example, you should always use #yourcompanyname and three to five relevant tags.
If you’re running a campaign, you can use campaign-specific hashtags along with a few more general hashtags to draw more users in.
Use Professional Photos
Whatever else you do, remember this: you have to use professional photos.
Not optional.
After all, Instagram is, at its heart, a visual platform. And the power of a great product photo has been a known factor in e-commerce for a long time. If your brand doesn’t use high-quality photos, your customers and would-be followers won’t give you the time of day.
The key here is to take great photos that feel natural and will make users stop scrolling to read more. If you’ve played your cards right in the caption, that moment of stopping to read will convert into sales traffic.
Social Media Beyond Instagram Help
We know that Instagram and other social media platforms are a fine art. It takes a lot of Instagram help and tips to get it just right.
That’s why we’re here to help you. Instagram is supposed to be fun, even if you use it for business. Just because you use it for work doesn’t mean you can’t have a great time doing it.
We offer everything to help your social media work for your business. If you need somewhere to get started, check out our blog on social media for business, like this post on the proper social media etiquette.
