Wendy Marx — August 15, 2019 — August 15, 2019
Instagram is home to 1 billion active users — 80% of whom follow at least one business. This shows the amazing potential for B2B companies, with the right Instagram PR and marketing strategy, to get amazing results.
There is no arguing that this network is different from other social media networks that have come before. It lacks the professional atmosphere of LinkedIn and feels distinctly different from both Facebook and Twitter. But despite these differences, Instagram has become a force to be reckoned with in the B2B marketing landscape.
Whatever your goals — whether it’s B2B lead generation, brand awareness, or more website visitors — Instagram can help you to reach them.
Let’s take a look at why and how you should use Instagram for B2B PR and marketing strategies.
Why Use Your Instagram for B2B PR and Marketing
Instagram was long believed to be a purely personal social network. You would use it to keep up with family and friends. Using it for B2B brands was the last thing that came to mind. However, as Instagram has evolved with new features and algorithms, it has become the perfect space for B2B companies and their PR strategies to thrive.
Why?
The essence of good PR and marketing comes down to storytelling — and the visual nature of Instagram has become the perfect storytelling platform. Used right, visual content like photos and videos engages audiences and helps them to feel more connected to brands and their stories.
Instagram provides the ideal place for your audience to learn more about your brand. Every photo is an opportunity for your audience to get to know you better. It could be a photo of your team that shows how diverse and inclusive your brand is. It could be a photo featuring a cause for which your brand is passionate. It could even be a photo that shows the wacky and fun side of your brand.
The bottom line is that every Instagram post gives your audience a small taste of who you are and why they should use and trust you. This feeds into the very goals of PR and marketing.
Let’s look at a few Instagram marketing tips that you can use to raise the quality of your Instagram for both PR and marketing.
10 Ways to Power Up Your Instagram PR & Marketing Strategy
1. Visuals, Visuals, Visuals
If you’ve dealt with Instagram on any level, you know that visuals are a major part of what makes Instagram tick.
Many B2B companies use the visual nature of Instagram to give their audience a behind-the-scenes look at their brand. It is also a great way to shape how people view your company.
For instance, General Electric Healthcare has used Instagram to bring its audience on GE’s global journey and witness how technology is advancing medical progress around the world. its feed not only features advancements in technology, but also the personal stories of people affected by the technology, and the overall issues affecting the healthcare industry.
Some B2B businesses might hesitate to use Instagram, thinking that their industry is not “visual” enough. But this shouldn’t stop you. View it as a unique opportunity to shine light on your company culture and issues at play within your industry.
For example, you could create posts about…
- Individual team members and their story
- Innovations that impact your industry
- Changes to your brand
- Issues that you’re passionate about
- Company events
- What happens behind the scenes
- Customer stories
And the list goes on and on. Our best advice is not to allow preconceptions about your industry to put you in a corner.
2. Know Your Audience
Instagram is a network that includes a wide range of people. Instagram audiences in general are a very active bunch — with 90% of them under the age of 35 and 60% who log onto the network every day.
Now it’s your job to go deeper. Discover more about your target audience. What are they interested in learning? What type of content in your industry gets the most likes and comments? Understanding this will help you attract your target audience to your brand.
As your audience grows, use Instagram Insights. With this Instagram tool, you’ll understand who is following you, including age, gender, and geographic location. Reflect on how this information can shape your content and your interactions.
As you post, note what content gets the most engagement. As you do more, you will discover what makes your audience tick.
3. Polish Your Profile
Instagram limits you to 150 characters for your profile bio. Use these characters wisely. This space should state who you are as a brand and what makes you different.
Take Intel’s Instagram bio as an example: “Bringing amazing experiences to our worldwide audience through #technology innovation.” It doesn’t bore you with a list of its products and features. It showcases how Intel delivers amazing experiences. Every photo in its feed supports that promise.
In your profile, use everything Instagram offers. Use call and email buttons to make it easy for your audience to contact you. Feature a link to your site or a landing page.
Instagram profiles are shorter compared to other social networks, but this gives you the chance to shine. Shorten your message to the essentials and make it count.
4. Pay Attention to Insights
Insights are available once your Instagram business account reaches 100 followers. These insights help you to visualize your audience and activity.
Here’s a run-down of the information in the Insights section:
Audience: This tells you the people following your account, including age range, gender, and geographic location, including country or city.
Activity: This shows you how many people have interacted with your account lately. It includes how many have discovered your brand and visited your profile, as well as how many impressions your content has generated.
Content: This shows you your latest posts and stories, as well as what promotions you are currently running.
While each piece of information might not seem like much by itself, together this offers you ammunition to improve your strategy, reach more people, and engage more with your audience.
5. Time It Right
Posting times vary from audience to audience. Take the time to experiment on days and times to post that will help your posts get the best reception.
Use your Insights to see what days and times people are most engaged with your content. Consider what time zones people live in as you schedule your posts. If you have a considerable amount of people following you in Europe, for example, it’s a good idea to schedule some posts during a time that is convenient for them.
6. Use Hashtags
Hashtags (keywords that are prefaced by a #) are a key way for people to find your brand and content. Create your post the way you normally would, and add relevant industry hashtags at the end of your post. Audiences who follow those hashtags will gain exposure to your brand.
Not sure what hashtags to use? You can use a free tool such as keywordtool.io’s Instagram search feature. Simply enter a basic keyword and then the tool will provide relevant suggestions for you to use.
You can even use hashtags as a research tool. Simply go to Instagram’s search section and enter a common industry search term (for us, it would probably be #b2bpr or something similar). Instagram will then show you a range of content (both recent and trending) that you can sift through to see what’s going on and get inspiration for future posts. Instagram even allows you to follow hashtags so this information will pop up in your feed.
7. Engage Your Audience
Don’t leave your audience in the lurch. if someone comments on your post, reply as soon as possible. If you’re not able to commit to regularly interacting with your Instagram audience, then you should find someone who can. Otherwise, you’ll most likely lose your audience over time.
What if people leave negative comments? While your first inclination might be to ignore it and hope they go away, you need to address such complaints and criticism head on. Be tactful, polite, and kind. Remember that other potential customers will read the comments as well as your responses. The way you respond can have a positive impact on your future business.
If someone raises a serious issue in your comment section, kindly ask them to send you a direct message in Instagram so that you can help resolve the issue. This creates more of a one-on-one environment and gets the negativity out of your public feed.
8. Create Instagram Stories
While your normal feed is an important place to engage your audience, the Instagram Stories feature is another powerful tool to bring to the table.
What is it? Instagram Stories allows you to post special content that appears at the top of your audience’s feed and disappears within 24 hours. This can be used to feature a special sale, promotion, or limited time offer. This is also a good place for behind-the-scenes videos, tutorials, or introductions to members of your team.
While you don’t want to flood your audience’s feed with multiple stories per day, it is a good idea to plan on regular Stories that will keep your audience engaged.
Instagram TV (IGTV) is another handy feature. It resembles stories, but allows B2B companies to upload longer video content (up to one hour long) that won’t disappear after 24 hours. This feature is great for brands who have more in-depth tutorials or explainer videos that they want to feature outside of their feed.
9. Use Social Ads
Currently, some 1 billion people use Instagram. Instagram’s ad platform and audience targeting tools provide access to that audience. It can be used to expose people to your brand, generate new leads, and motivate people to use your brand.
Formats for Instagram ads can be used in many ways and include:
- Photo ads
- Stories ads
- Video ads
- Carousel ads
- Collection ads.
Each ad format offers a number of call to action options, including Contact Us, Book Now, Download, and Learn More, depending on what you choose to promote.
You can access the ad platform within Instagram itself, or, if you’d rather, through the Facebook Ad Manager.
10. Post on a Regular Schedule
Consistency is everything in social media. While a couple of months of not posting might not seem like much, it could be enough time to lose the attention of your audience.
Keep yourself on track by creating a schedule for your social media posting. Writing out your schedule can help you to visualize it and see where potential holes exist. It can also help you to keep a good balance of content, so you don’t focus too heavily on one topic.
Remember that your audience probably comprises several time zones. Look at your Instagram Insights to see what countries and cities people are from, and be mindful of that when creating your posting schedule.
3 Amazing Instagram Marketing and PR Examples
1. Harvard Business Review
Harvard Business Review is one of the go-to publications for businesses and entrepreneurs. But its Instagram goes way beyond simply sharing their publication’s content or testimonials from readers. They delve into important issues that face all of us.
For example, take the following post, where they consider the choices of graduating college students, analyzing ones who prioritize either time or money when choosing careers — and how each decision affects their future happiness.
2. McKinsey
McKinsey is a management consulting firm that specializes in helping brands reach their goals and transform their business to be ahead of the curve. Its Instagram account is no different. McKinsey uses its platform to visualize solutions to the big issues today.
Take the following example where McKinsey addresses the issue of women’s equality in the workplace. Teh video post below emphasizes the need need to help women transition in the automation age. The post doesn’t simply state statistics or talk about the need to hire more women. It highlights real ways to address this important societal issue.
3. WeWork
WeWork is an international company that helps small businesses and entrepreneurs find shared workspaces at a reasonable price point. TIts Instagram account goes beyond simply highlighting its locations and company culture. It followers get a potent taste of how to achieve work-life balance.
Consider this example, with the hashtag #selfcaresunday, where WeWork encourages its followers to share their best ways to unwind. Its constant, underlying message? While work is important, you also need to find ways to unwind and relax.
In review…
It’s obvious — every B2B brand needs an Instagram PR and marketing strategy. We hope these Instagram marketing tips help you to make the most of this outstanding social network!
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