Deborah Sweeney — August 23, 2018 You’ve signed up for an Instagram account for your small business but haven’t done much with it yet. Much like being on any social media account, you know you’re supposed to be actively posting and engaging with fans but haven’t quite figured out your strategy for what to share and how you’ll be able to reach your audience. Rather than conduct all of your postings by trial and error (and later going back and deleting everything to hit refresh), plan ahead by focusing on these five aspects to ensure long-term success.
1. Determine how your shared content will reflect your brand’s message.
It wouldn’t make much sense for a brand that specializes in exercise and outdoor equipment to post sponsored content about snacking on junk food. When determining what kind of content to share, figure out how it ties back in with your brand and its mission and values. Maybe you’ll focus on behind the scenes looks at how your business is run, regram the stories of customers that have had a positive experience with your brand, or share blog posts that offer advice and answer frequently asked questions that position your company as an expert.
2. Figure out your IG aesthetic.
The most engaging Instagram accounts tend to be cohesive in postings. They’re also visually appealing to the point where you don’t have to think before you double tap to like them. You don’t want to randomly post any image and hope people like it. When determining your aesthetic, consider how the types of photos you share (and edit) will be able to reach and resonate with your audience. Maybe you’ll shoot your products on a minimalistic white backdrop through flat lay, post images of your employees or customers, use bright colors, or create grid images.
3. Know your hashtags.
There are common, base hashtags you can use like #food or #snacks, if your brand happens to be in the food industry, to boost your content and get it into more feeds. And then there are more specialized hashtags like #eeeeeats and #feedfeed which still boost the content, but get it more into your specific industry’s feed. Make sure you know what your basic hashtags are as well as the ones generating discussion in your community. If you’re not sure which ones these are, visit some of your favorite influencer accounts to see which hashtags they pair with their content. Don’t forget to hashtag your brand name too — and follow it to see what others are saying about your business.
4. Follow other like-minded users and engage with them.
This sounds like common sense — isn’t the point of social media to be, well, social? — but many brands on IG only follow a select group of influential users and accounts. As you follow your hashtag and can like and comment on the content customers post about your business, follow these customers back! After all, they’re the biggest cheerleaders your brand has — and they’ll be thrilled that you made an effort to connect with them.
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