How To Use Instagram For Business: 6 Easy Tips

With more than 1 billion users scattered across the globe, it’s no wonder businesses from all walks of life are jumping at the chance to showcase their products and services on Instagram.

With a generous platter of tools available to business owners, including Instagram shopping, product tagging, and more, the platform has become a prominent marketplace. That being said, there are a few tactics that businesses can adopt to improve their instagram marketing strategy and boost sales, ranging between the use of hashtags to strengthening customer relationships.

Looking for new ways to kick your Instagram marketing strategy up a notch? Or maybe you’re looking for more information on how to promote your product on Instagram? Here are a few tips on how to use Instagram for business.

Take Advantage of Hashtags

Hashtags are a must-have of any instagram marketing strategy . Just by taking the time to add a collection of relevant tags to your photo, you can influence your post’s discoverability and engagement. With this broader reach, your chances of generating new leads significantly improves.

The hashtags you should be using largely depends on the purpose of the post, whether you’re intending to grow followers, boost community engagement, analyse content, or promote discoverability.

To enhance your brand's awareness, using general yet relevant hashtags can help people find your post when they’re searching that particular hashtag. For example, if you’ve upload a photo of your impressive meal prep and tag it with #nutrition, people searching photos with that particular hashtag will be able to find your page. Now that your page is easier to find, your chances of increasing sales on Instagram is favourable.

Host A Giveaway

Social media giveaways can be a valuable tactic to encourage sales in a cost-effective manner. Just by giving away a product or a trial of your service, you can naturally attract customers to your page and website. Let’s not forget, you’ll also be creating ideal conditions to support brand awareness and engagement on your page.

Social media giveaways can take a variety of different forms in an instagram marketing strategy, whether it’s a user-generated content contest or a simple ‘like to win’ post. Brainstorm an ideal structure that best reflects your brand and take the time to plan every step of the contest to better your chances of success. Click here for our step by step guide for planning a social media giveaway.

Complete Your Profile

This step sounds rather obvious, although it’s surprising how many small businesses aren’t completing their profile. First things first, make sure your account is set to business - you’ll not only gain vital instruments such as Instagram Ads, but you’ll also have access to analytic tools. These elements can directly show you which elements of your instagram marketing strategy are working, overall encouraging an increase in sales.

Having an account set to business also delivers many other perks, including easier contacting methods for your audience. With one click, they can email or call to get in touch. Other elements like adding a profile picture, writing a compelling bio, including a link back to your website etc. may seem insignificant, although they build the foundation towards boosting sales through instagram marketing.

Strengthen Customer Relationships

Improving relationships with your customers can help them to feel much more invested in your brand. Just by promptly responding to comments and replying to personal messages, audience members will feel much more invested in your brand, overall encouraging them to support the business.

Run Instagram Ads

Social media ads are one of the best ways of how to use instagram for business - helping to boost your brand’s awareness and drive sales. Instagram has become a prominent platform for this. The best part? it’s a relatively painless process, especially if you’re going in with a plan.

Select your desired target audience, choose a layout, fill in the content, and adjust the reach to fit your instagram marketing budget. As this is likely to be a first impression for many viewers, be sure to use high-quality images.

Connect With Influencers

Growing your sales on Instagram doesn’t necessarily mean it has to be done through your account - social media influencers have the ability to affect the buying habits of their followers through their own social media channels.

By connecting with a handful of successful influencers, you can effortlessly expand your brand’s reach, tap into completely new audiences, and generate new sales for your business.

When choosing an influencer, be sure to evaluate engagement as opposed to the number of followers they have. Instead, dedicate some time towards reading the comments. Are they genuine? Is the influencer replying to these comments? This can help to ensure you’re linking up with a reputable influencer.