One of the first social media platforms I always recommend to our clients is Instagram. Instagram is an awesome platform for building relationships and sharing great imagery. It’s simple, clean, easy to understand and a great tool to seek inspiration from.
I could go on and on forever about why you should utilize Instagram for you business. But today I wanted to keep it simple and share with you some do’s and don’ts when it comes to Instagramming for your business.
DO
+ Have a great bio. When people click to your Instagram profile you better be able to tell them who you are and what you are about in three seconds or they’re gone. Make your bio short and concise. Include the URL to your website. And make sure to have a contact email at the ready. A lot of my clients will argue that searchers can find this on their website. Well, if you are wanting them to contact you or buy, you want to make it as easy as possible for them to reach out. Take a few steps away.
+ Post consistently. I always recommend to my clients that they post daily—if not twice a day. Your audience and engagement times will determine the amount of posts to share per day.
+ Tag locations. If you’re out and about at a cool event, collaborating with a great brand or influencer, make sure to tag the resource. There’s a good chance they will re-share and you will get in front of a larger audience that might not know about you.
+ Use filters consistently. I always urge my clients to use nice, bright, vibrant imagery. However, if bright doesn’t fit the tone of your brand, don’t force it. Make sure to be consistent with your filters. I always have my go-to filter based on the brand I’m working with. You always want your profile to have a certain look, so when someone quickly scans your account, it’s nice, clean and concise.
+ Follow your tribe. I can’t stress this enough. Following, engaging, interacting and supporting your industry is key to building your tribe. The more you give, the more you’re going to get back.
+ Use hashtags. Using hashtags within your posts looks a little spammy. So here’s my trick. Wait until you have three comments, then load up those hashtags! Then, immediately comment back engaging or thanking those three accounts that left comments. Ta-da! The hashtags are buried right away for no one to see in their feed.
+ Think about your goal. With most of my clients, the goal is to drive traffic back to their site or to encourage traffic to contact them. Make sure to upload content and tell your followers what you want them to do. Do you want them to check out your website? Then tell them to check out the link in your bio. Do you want them to contact you? Make sure to include your email or phone number. Readers aren’t just going to go and check it out unless you tell them specifically what you want them to do. Encourage them.
DON’T
+ Don’t just post only professional imagery. Show who you are. Show behind the scenes or a day in the life. Make it personable. Once you show a personal business level, the more you are going to connect with your audience.
+ Don’t post more than three times a day. I recommend one to two times per day. Post more than that and you are just going to annoy and clog up your friends’ news feeds or you will quickly be unfollowed.
+ Don’t mix your personal and business profiles. I know, I know. I just got done saying add personal to your professional, but there is a fine line. Have both a business profile and a personal profile. You want to mix a little fun and personal into your business, but that should be sprinkled throughout and your account should still be professional and a reflection of your brand. Best part! Did you hear? Instagram just added a new feature so you don’t have to log in and out of each profile. You can simply “add account” within your settings and easily jump from one account to the next.
+ Don’t forget to add captions. Captions are important. Have some fun and show your voice through the text! Tell people what you’re up to or the inspiration you’re trying to convey.
+ Don’t post photos in a row. Space them out. If you’re wanting to share photos on the same subject, post one photo one day, the next a couple days later, and another one a week or two after. That way when someone lands on your account, each post next to one another will be very different. And hey, if someone missed your first post about that subject, they might see it the next day or week.
+ Don’t screenshot images. Please don’t take screenshots and re-upload images. It looks awful and pixilated. You want to look professional, and this doesn’t give you that look.
+ Don’t overanalyze. If you’re spending more than one hour per day on Instagram thinking about your captions, imagery or content—stop. You’re too close to the subject and that’s what we’re here for! But seriously, if you’re spending more than one hour per day engaging—GREAT! If it’s analyzing your content, remember to be yourself and your tribe will come.
Hope you can take a thing or two away to utilize on your Instagram account for your business! And make sure to contact us if you need some social media assistance. I would love nothing more than to collaborate with you on your social strategy!