Want to get your products seen by more people and grow a strong following of customers who relate to your brand?
Well, Instagram is fast becoming one of the best ways to do it!
If you needed any evidence – Instagram now has over 400 million monthly users, which is sufficiently more than Twitter!
Many brands are finding ways to interact with the Instagram community and earn personally invested customers who keep coming back for more.
But it’s not just the numbers you should care about. It’s the people using Instagram.
A study by Iconosquare in 2015 shows that 70% of Instagram users look for brands on the platform and 62% of users follow a brand just because they like it. Amazing statistics right!?
Also, Instagram allows you to get creative with images without having to give the ‘hard sell’, which many people don’t like.
If you’ve not got an Instagram account for your brand yet, don’t worry…we’ve got all the information you need when it comes to marketing your brand right here.
- Let’s get started with setting up your account.
Begin by downloading the Instagram app for iOS from the App Store, Android from Google Play Store or Windows Phone from the Windows Phone Store. Once the app is installed, tap to open it.
Tap Sign Up, then enter your email address and tap Next or tap Log in with Facebook to sign up with your professional Facebook account.
Remember, your account is for your business, not you. Your customers don’t want to see you lapping it up with the Family in Benidorm, they want to see pictures of the product/service you offer, so make sure you are careful about what you upload (and upload via a business account, not a personal account).
- Linking to your site
You only have one opportunity to link your website to your instagram and that’s via the bio. (this is right under your name and company description at the top of the page).
Always include the link to your online shop or particular targeted landing page – you want to entice the customer to buy your product, not just browse your site.
- Be consistent!
You’ve got to make sure your brand message is consistent.
Choose an Instagram name that is the same as your business name and make sure your profile pictures stay consistent too. When customers are interacting and engaging via your app, they will see a small thumbnail picture of your profile picture, so make sure it’s easily recognisable.
Its also important to have a good bio.
Journalists and marketers are usually good at coming up with creative text for particular brands. They can ensure you have the right message within your text and add that little something extra to entice the customer in.
If you don’t have access to a journalist within your company, then just follow these important guidelines and you’ll have a great bio done in no time.
- Create popular posts
Use Hashtags to make your posts more popular!
Instagram has hashtag pages which users can lick into – to see all the corresponding photos under that hashtag. (i.e. #MensClothing)
This means your posts are more likely to be seen by the general public. The more popular the hashtag – the more chance your photo will be seen (Instagram displays the popularity of the hashtag as you type it in – i.e. #MensClothing – 25,000).
Click here for more information.
- Use the filters
The more creative your photos, the better.
Use life-inspired backgrounds, scenes, and models to add a scenario to your product. (i.e. so users can imagine how they will look in that stunning dress at a party)
For example, many top clothing stores like Topshop have an amazing array of photos on their Instagram profile. They are creative, diverse and current when it comes to seasonal fashion.
The reason their pictures look so striking is via use of Instagram’s filters.
Once you’ve taken a photo, click on the variations of your photo in the lower panel. This will give you various styles and colours to play around with including Gingham, Lark, Juno and Slumber – all of which have a different effect.
You can also play with the brightness, contrast, structure, saturation and more.
Once you’re done, click on the blue arrow to the top right of the screen and that’s your photo complete!
At this point you can add your hashtags and upload the photo to other social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter.
Remember, The power of product photos has always been essential to online shopping, and Instagram’s visual platform takes that power to the next level!
Instagram is a social marketplace that directs traffic that turns into sales.
Share photos that are attention-grabbing, unique, and full of personality and you’re on a winner!
