How to Market A Small Business on Instagram?

Over 1 billion people use Instagram every month, and over 200 million users visit at least one business profile daily. These numbers are huge! Thus, if you're not promoting your small business on Instagram, now is the right time to do so.

Instagram is an effective social media platform to promote your small business and reach your potential leads more quickly and effectively. However, from planning a content strategy and producing quality content to measuring analytics, many entrepreneurs find it difficult to use Instagram for business.

If you're wondering how to promote small businesses on Instagram, this blog post is all about that.

Here, we'll walk you through eight powerful Instagram marketing tips to get more followers, high-quality leads, and insane revenue for your small business.

1. Create a Winning Instagram Strategy

First and foremost, create a killer strategy to grow your small business account.

A good Instagram strategy starts with understanding your audience. Let's face it, not everyone is your audience. Without in-depth knowledge of your target audience, you will spend more time reaching valuable leads for your small business.

Next, define what goals you want to achieve on this platform. Do you want more leads? Or become a thought leader in your industry?

Finally, create a content calendar so that you can post regular content and don't miss out on any important dates or events.

2. Share High-Quality Content

Instagram is all about visual content. Focus on posting top-quality images and videos. This doesn't mean your products have to be super attractive. But with proper lighting and angle, you can get high-quality, beautiful pictures of you or your product quickly.

To get an idea about what to post, spy on your competitors to check what's working for them and what's not. Of course, you don't have to steal any of their visuals but get inspired while creating your posts.

Some of the post ideas are - behind-the-scenes, office videos, employee selfies, inspirational quotes, product sneak peeks, and so on. User-generated content is also an excellent way to engage with your customers and gain their trust.

3. Engage With Your Audience

Another crucial step that answers how to do marketing on Instagram is to engage with your audience. Posting beautiful visuals is not enough unless you don't interact with your audience.

Suppose you're a Yoga instructor who teaches Yoga to pregnant women online. Your goal should be to follow the people who follow some famous Yoga gurus and interact with them.

However, remember that not everyone you follow will follow you back. This is where the right content comes into play. If your content is helpful enough to address your audience's pain points and resolve their queries, they'll automatically trust you and reach out to you for business.

Further, you can also interact with them, comment on their posts, and send useful direct messages to get their attention.

4. Use Instagram Reels

Nowadays, one of the best Instagram marketing tips is to use Instagram reels to take your small business to the next heights.

The Instagram reel is all the rage these days. It is a 3 to 15 seconds short video feature that allows users to create creative and interactive content for their audience. Ever since its debut on the platform in 2020, various brands have found it extremely helpful to drive insane results for their business.

If you want to know how to promote business on Instagram, including Instagram reels in your content strategy is the way to go. They are easy to share and can give a super boost to your follower count in no time.

5. Utilise Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing has taken the internet by storm. Did you know 17% of the companies spend half of their marketing budget on influencers?

Well, if that's the case, then diving into this effective marketing model is a must to promote your small business on Instagram.

Influencers have a dedicated following on social media networks and are perceived as experts in their niche. Through promoting your products or services, they can quickly motivate their followers to become your loyal customers.

To find them:

• Conduct extensive research about some of the most famous influencers on Instagram.
• Host a Q/A session where you can ask your current followers about their favourite influencers.
• Once you find them, pitch to them about your product or service, and wait for their response.

6. Try Instagram Ads

Utilising Instagram ads is one of the most effective Instagram marketing tips to take your small business to another level.

Since social media is becoming more saturated, reaching your potential leads is more competitive than ever. This is where Instagram ads come into play.

Of course, this isn't a free tool. But, if used wisely, it can generate crazy results for your small business in no time. Further, the good thing about this feature is you can start with a small amount and check whether it works for you or not.

Instagram ads also include a call-to-action button through which you can direct your customers to the next step without having them go through plenty of different steps.

7. Host Instagram Contests

Let's face it, everyone loves free stuff. If you're looking for an interesting answer regarding how to use Instagram for business, conducting contests and giveaways can be your best bet.

A contest is an exciting way to engage with your current and potential customers. To create an attention-grabbing contest, post a beautiful image, GIF, or video to create a buzz among your followers. Give the giveaway link in the bio so that you can direct them to the contest landing page.

Use custom hashtags to get more attention. Make sure your contest post includes a compelling call-to-action, information about the prices, and a fun theme.

Once everything is set, start promoting it at least a week before the launch to start building curiosity among the users. You can also collaborate with other businesses to double your reach and contest entries.

8. Use Instagram Shoppable Feature

Utilising the Instagram shoppable feature is another effective Instagram marketing strategy when using Instagram for small business.

This is yet another exciting feature of Instagram that lets users shop your products on the platform itself. Research shows that over 130 million Instagram users click on the shopping tags to get more information about the products they wish to buy.

However, to avail of this feature, you have to set up your Instagram shop and wait for it to get approved. Once approved, you can tag a maximum of five products per image that you want to upload. If it's a carousel, you can tag over twenty products.

When users click on these tags, they'll be able to buy your products from your online store or website.

The Takeaway

In a nutshell, using Instagram for business is a no-brainer in 2021. If you are not marketing your business on Instagram, you might be losing a whole chunk of potential customers for your small business.

We hope the above list of effective Instagram strategies help you in marketing your business and driving more sales and conversions. However, don't be tempted to try all features at once. Pick one or two features from this list. Try them out. And once you get the hang of them, move on to the next ones.

Also Read:

1) How to Start a DJ business for Occasions in a Small Town?
2) How to Start a Lawn Care Tools and Gardening Tools Business?
3) How to Start a Logo Design Business?
4) OkCredit: All you need to know about OkCredit & how it works.

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FAQs

Q. Why should I use the Instagram business account?

Ans. When it comes to promoting your business, converting your personal account to a business account is crucial to build an audience and attract more leads. This feature allows you with a plethora of insights about what type of content is working, how many followers you're getting per day, how many people click on your bio link, and so much more. It also allows you to add a contact button on your profile through which your potential customers can reach out to you via email or telephone.

Q. What factors should I keep in mind while writing my Instagram bio?

Ans. Your Instagram bio is the first thing a user will notice whenever they'll visit your profile. So, it's crucial to make it as relevant as you can for a perfect first impression. Here are some factors:

• Write an interesting bio and avoid using business jargon.
• Use emojis and vertical spacing to make it attractive.
• Make sure your bio states what your company does and how people can reach out to you for any questions.

Q. How many hashtags should I use per post?

Ans. There's no fixed answer to this. However, we suggest you use only three to five hashtags per photo. Including 15-20 hashtags in your posts will not only look spammy but will also hurt your brand reputation, leading to decreased engagement and customers.

Q. How can I monitor my Instagram results?

Ans. It's crucial to keep track of what Instagram posts are receiving good engagement and which hashtags are performing well. This is where analytics can help. There are plenty of Instagram reporting tools that can help you get a detailed analysis of your Instagram activities. Some of these include - Sprout Social, Iconosquare, Social Rank, Minter.io, and many more.