Business owners always wonder how to create a better brand. Unlike huge corporations, small businesses have the disadvantage of fewer customers and less exposure. However, thanks to social networks like Instagram, it is now possible not just to create a brand but to give it personality and grow it within social circles made up of current and potential customers.
Using Instagram socially is very simple: See something you like, take a picture, apply a filter, and share. It is primarily a mobile network, meaning users are on frequently throughout the day for short periods of time.
Using Instagram as a business is also simple, but it requires a bit more thought. In order to effectively contribute to your business’s marketing efforts on Instagram, you need to define your brand, find creative images that add to that definition, optimize the caption for searches, share, and then interact with the community.
Here are some tips on each of those techniques:
-
Define your brand: This is something you should do before trying to market your brand in any capacity. Come up with certain keywords that you want your brand to be synonymous with, and pursue associating with them. (For more on this, read 20 Questions to Help You Differentiate Your Brand on the 60 Second Marketer blog.)
-
Find creative images that add to that definition: Post photos of events, employees, your office, your products and services (both staged and in everyday situations), celebrity or executive involvement, charity, production process, and other things that provide an exclusive glimpse into your brand. You can create images to announce upcoming releases, events, or contests. Be creative and consistent in your branding.
-
Optimize the caption for searches: Like other networks, Instagram uses hashtags to identify topical association and help users search for photos of interest to them. Avoid overloading the caption with hashtags, but be thorough to ensure that potential customers can find you in search results. Consider adding shortened links to your captions to point followers back to your website or to a specific page or post related to the photo.
-
Share: You can post photos from Instagram to Facebook, Twitter, and other networks (though keep in mind that not all mobile devices can view Instagram photos from within the Twitter app) by simply selecting them just before you publish your picture.
-
Interact with the community: Make sure you are following current and potential customers. Like and comment on their photos as you see fit. Consider creating a hashtag for your company or blog (e.g. #60SecondMarketer) to help monitor mentions and encourage participation. Share photos of customers at events. Like other social networks, social interaction should be the primary goal, which helps personify your brand.
At the end of the day, Instagram’s primary benefit is going to be adding personality to your brand. Use it with the apparent social manner of an everyday user but the expertise of a marketing strategist, and you will find that your presence on Instagram will result in the fostering of a community centered on what you want your brand to be.
About the Author: Samantha Gale is a social media and content marketing specialist working for 60 Second Communications, a full-service marketing agency working with brands around the globe.
<!AWeber newsletter code>
View Comments (24)
Great tips! Thank you!
Glad you found the tips helpful!
Good information. Thanks!
Thanks, Virginia. Appreciate you stopping by.
Adding personality to your brand is a great way to frame the value of Instagram!! Thanks :)
Awesome! Glad you agree.
@elizabethredd Lots of great information thanks for sharing.
Glad to see it was helpful to you, Elizabeth!
Good information.
Please note that links do not currently work in Instagram hashtags.
Gotcha. Thanks for the update, Dana!
Cheers,
Jamie
I have it easy, because fortunately, I work for an all-feline pet hospital... so our instagram feed is full of cats. With a combo of posting hashtagged cat photos + liking/following cat people in New York, it's worked wonders on the internet playing field. We haven't had someone that's said "hey, I saw your cat photo on instagram, and now I want to be a client" but indirectly instagram is helping to grow our online presence.
LOL. You DO have it easy, my friend! You've got "instant viral" baked right into your Instagram feed.
That's funny.
Thanks for sharing. I'm off to track down some cat photos to weave into our next post.
:-)
Cheers,
Jamie
Question. Slightly off tangent but definitely related - how do you control both your personal Instagram account and the brand's account from one phone?
Hi, Sheryl --
I'm not entirely sure since I just have one account, but I'm 99% sure that you'll just need to log out of Instagram and, when prompted to log back in, use the alternative user name and password.
I hope that helps! Thanks for stopping by.
Cheers,
Jamie
I really want to start using instagram for our business, but we don't have cats :) ! My real question is: How do you start getting people to follow?
Hi, The Other Printer --
The only way to get Instagram followers is to buy some cats. It's been proven that it's impossible to get followers without cats.
Kidding.
All joking aside, getting followers on Instagram is the same as getting followers on Twitter -- you have to broadcast your Instagram handle and suggest that people follow you. In addition, you can follow other people on Instagram and hope they follow you back.
So, in a nutshell, it's just like Twitter.
Good luck! I hope that helps. And let me know what you name your new cat.
;-)
-- Jamie
I use the same set of hashtags with each post in order to help build recognition. Do you have any tips on adding these in an efficient manner? Kind of a hassle on the iphone. (First world problem!!) Thanks.
Hi Catherine --
LOL. I agree with you -- it's a first world problem. My wife and I often remind ourselves that pretty much any challenge we face is a first world problem, so we have nothing to complain about. Funny.
I wish I had a solution for you, but I'm afraid I do it manually, too. Perhaps one of our other readers has a solution, but I'm out of solutions on that.
Thanks for stopping by.
Cheers,
Jamie
Thanks for the reply. Actually, the more I consider it, the more I believe that fewer hashtags are best which lessens the inconvenience. I'm noticing that the more hashtags I see on a post the more "spammy" it looks. I'll stick to my three regulars :)
Great point, Catherine. Thanks!
I save my hashtags that I use in every post in a note so I can just copy and pste them
Good idea, Shelby!
Thank you for this article. Good job! Instagram simply can't be so effective and helpful without promotion apps, e.g. analatycal apps, boosting apps, etc. You would be able to earn money with them standing on your head. In my turn, i'm using hootsuite and zengram.net to enhance my social media management and boost real followers.
Got it. Thanks or your feedback and input, Simon.