Instagram is a powerful social media tool that can help businesses reach new customers and grow their brands. But creating a successful Instagram strategy requires careful planning and execution. In this article, we’ll outline some tips for creating a winning Instagram strategy for your business.
What’s the Difference Between Instagram’s Professional and Personal Accounts?
If you’re new to Instagram, you may be wondering what the difference is between professional and personal accounts. Business accounts have access to features that personal accounts don’t, such as analytics and promoted posts. They also have a contact button so that customers can easily get in touch with your business. Even the Instagram business strategy that you create to promote your personal or professional account would also vary. The difference exists because professionals may have to cater to wider audiences and promote multiple products and services which is not the case with personal accounts.
How to Convert Instagram to Business Account
If you want to work like an influencer or fetch more collaborations towards your account, converting it to the professional account is an effective instagram strategy for business growth. The process of conversion is pretty simple, convert your personal account to a business account:
1. Go to your profile and tap the menu icon in the top right corner.
2. Tap “Settings.”
3. Under “Account,” tap “Switch to Professional Account.”
4. Select one of the more than 1,000 business categories and tap “Done.”
5. Tap “OK” and then “Business.” You can then add contact details or skip this step.
6. Optionally, you can connect your Facebook Business Page. Once you’re finished, tap “Done.”
The Benefits of an Instagram Business Account
As social media has become a tool widely used by the mass, you can use it to promote your business. Work towards creating an instagram marketing strategy for small business and follow it to see tremendous change. There are several benefits of having an Instagram business account:
1. Access to analytics: You can see how your posts are performing and track your audience growth. Based on this information you can frame your instagram business strategy ensuring growth.
2. Promoted posts: You can reach a wider audience by promoting your posts. Paid ads on instagram are another significant part of instagram business strategy that help promote content to the selected set of audiences, increasing your chances of sale
3. Contact button: Customers can easily get in touch with you via the contact button on your profile. As an Instagram marketing strategy for small business, this contact button can actually help fetch more customers. They get the opportunity to directly reach out to you, giving you a chance to turn them into a potential customer.
4. Access to shoppable posts: If you have an eCommerce store, you can tag products in your posts and allow customers to purchase them directly from Instagram. These shops that directly let the customers make a purchase works best as instagram strategy for business as you will fetch more sales through them.
Creating a Winning Instagram Strategy
Now that you know the difference between business and personal accounts, it’s time to start creating your strategy. While every business is different, there are generally 10 basic steps to creating an amazing strategy for Instagram.
What are the 11 Steps to a Successful Instagram Strategy?
Be warned, it’s going to take some work, but if you’re willing to put in the effort, these 11 steps will help you create a winning strategy for Instagram.
1. Connect With Your Audience
The first step of instagram strategy for business growth is create a productive connection with your audience, which should be more than directly trying to sell your products to them. The first step is to connect with your audience. This means understanding who they are, what their needs and wants are, and what they’re interested in. Only then can you create content that resonates with them.
Questions to ask yourself:
- Who is my target audience?
- What are their needs and wants?
- How does my product or service fit into their lives?
- What kind of content will interest them?
2. Identify Your Business Goals
The second step is to identify your goals. What do you want to achieve for your business with Instagram? Do you want to grow your brand recognition, increase sales, or drive traffic to your website? Once you know your goals, you can create content and strategies that support them.
Questions to ask yourself:
- Is the goal to sell a certain product, or gain more general traffic?
- How will an influx of orders from Instagram affect logistics?
- How will you measure success?
3. Create an Engaging Profile Bio
Your profile is the first thing that people will see when they visit your page, so it’s important to make a good impression. Here are some tips for creating an engaging Instagram profile:
- Use a clear, high-quality profile photo. This could be your company logo or a headshot of yourself.
- Write an engaging bio that tells people what your business is all about.
- Use relevant keywords and hashtags in your bio to help people find you.
- Include a call-to-action in your bio, such as “Shop Now” or “Sign Up.”
- Make sure your website URL is included in your bio so people can learn more about your business.
- Use attractive visuals in your posts, such as photos, videos, and infographics.
- Post regularly to keep your followers engaged.
- Respond to comments and questions from your followers.
- Run contests and giveaways to promote your products or services.
- Use Instagram Stories to give people a behind-the-scenes look at your business.
4. Create a Content Template Reserve
Creating a content template reserve is a great way to save time when planning your posts. It can be in Google Drive, Dropbox, or even a folder on your computer. The important thing is to have all of your content in one place so you can easily access it when you need it.
A content template reserve should include:
- A list of the different types of content you’ll be posting (photos, videos, infographics, etc.)
- Templates for each type of content
- A repository of the right types of visuals
- A list of compelling caption CTAs
- A list of the different topics you’ll be covering
- A calendar or schedule for when you’ll be posting each piece of content
5. Identify Your Keywords and Hashtags
Identifying the right keywords and hashtags is an important part of any social media strategy, but it’s especially important on Instagram. That’s because people use hashtags to discover new content, and if you’re not using them, you’re missing out on a lot of potential engagement.
When choosing keywords and hashtags, consider the following:
- Your audience: What keywords and hashtags will they be searching for?
- Your business: What keywords and hashtags are associated with your products or services?
- Your location: If you’re a local business, be sure to include relevant city and neighborhood names in your keywords and hashtags.
6. Create a Content Calendar
Creating a content calendar is a great way to keep track of your posts and make sure you’re posting regularly. Even if your business is not much elaborate, maintaining a calendar will prove to be the best instagram marketing strategy for small business. A content calendar can be as simple as a Google Calendar or Excel spreadsheet, or you can use a more sophisticated tool like Hootsuite Insights.
No matter what type of calendar you use, be sure to include the following information for each post:
- The date and time you’ll be posting
- The photo or video you’ll be using
- The caption you’ll be using
- The hashtags you’ll be using
7. Take Advantage of Automation Tools
There are a lot of tools out there that can help you with your Instagram marketing. Here are just a few:
- Hootsuite: One of the most popular social media management tools, Hootsuite offers a suite of features to help you with your Instagram marketing, including scheduling posts, analyzing your activity, and more.
- Sprout Social: This tool has similar features to Hootsuite, but also includes tools for managing comments and messages.
- Buffer: Buffer is another popular social media management tool that offers features like scheduling posts and analyzing your activity.
- Iconosquare: This tool is specifically for Instagram and lets you track your analytics, as well as find new followers.
- Skweezer: Skweezer is a tool to boost Instagram engagement by helping you get more likes, comments, and views on your posts.
8. Monitor Your Analytics
No matter which tools you use, it’s important to regularly check your Instagram analytics. This will help you understand what’s working and what’s not, and make changes to your strategy accordingly.
To access your Instagram analytics, go to your profile and tap the three dots in the top-right corner. Then, select “Insights.”
Here, you’ll see a variety of metrics, including:
- Reach: The number of people who have seen your posts
- Impressions: The number of times your posts have been seen
- Website clicks: The number of clicks on the link in your bio
- Profile visits: The number of times people have visited your profile
- Mentions: The number of times you’ve been mentioned in other people’s posts
- Followers: The number of people who follow you
9. Audit Your Account Regularly
As your account grows, it’s important to regularly audit your content to make sure it’s still in line with your brand. This means deleting any old or irrelevant posts, updating your bio and profile photo, and changing your username if necessary.
It’s also a good idea to review your posts and see which ones are getting the most engagement. Try to replicate the style and content of your most popular posts in future posts.
10. Keep Your Account Active
The more active you are on Instagram, the more likely you are to get new followers and keep the ones you have. That’s why it’s important to post regularly and interact with other users on the platform.
Here are a few ways you can keep your account active:
- Post regularly: As we mentioned before, posting regularly is key to maintaining a strong presence on Instagram. Try to post at least once a day, and more if you can.
- Interact with other users: When you’re not posting, take some time to like and comment on other people’s posts. This will help you get on their radar and maybe even get a follow back.
- Join conversations: In addition to liking and commenting, you can also join conversations by tagging other users in your posts or using relevant hashtags.
11. Keep Watch on the Competition
Knowing what is working well for your competition will give you a good starting point for your own Instagram marketing efforts. Of course, you don’t want to copy your competition exactly, but it’s helpful to see what they’re doing right and how you can apply those lessons to your own account.
To do a competitive analysis, start by following a few of your competitors on Instagram. Then, take a look at their posts and see what’s getting the most engagement.
Finally, try to identify any patterns you see in their content or their posting schedule. This will give you some ideas of what you can do differently on your own account.
How Long Does it Take to Get the First 1,000 Followers on Instagram?
There is no definitive answer to this question. It depends on a number of factors, including your niche, content, and engagement strategy.
That being said, it generally takes most people several months to reach 1,000 followers. And even then, only a small percentage of accounts ever make it to that milestone.
Focus on creating quality content and engaging with your audience. The followers will come eventually. To help speed up the process, you can use tools like Skweezer to get more real likes, comments, and views.
Skweezer offers free and paid plans, so you can choose the option that’s right for you. So, if you want to reach 1,000 followers fast, Skweezer can help.
How Do You Captivate & Engage an Audience on Instagram?
Now that you know how to set up your Instagram account and start posting, it’s time to focus on creating content that will engage your audience.
Here are a few tips to get you started:
1. Use High-Quality Images
The first step in creating engaging content is to make sure your images are high quality. This means using bright, clear, and visually appealing photos.
Instagram is all about visuals, so your photos need to be eye-catching and aesthetically pleasing. If they’re not, people are likely to scroll right past them.
2. Use Calls to Action
Calls to action are a great way to engage your audience and get them to take action. For example, you could ask your followers to tag a friend in the comments or share your post with their followers.
3. Run Contests and Giveaways
Contests and giveaways are always popular on Instagram. They’re a great way to engage your audience and get people talking about your brand.
To run a contest or giveaway, simply ask your followers to do something like tag a friend in the comments, share your post or follow you. Then, choose a winner at random and announce the results in a future post.
4. Tell Stories
People love stories, and Instagram is the perfect platform for telling them. You can use Instagram Stories to give your followers a behind-the-scenes look at your business or to share customer stories.
Stories are a great way to engage your audience and build relationships with your followers.
5. Use Video
Video is one of the most engaging types of content on Instagram. In fact, posts with video get 3X more comments than posts with photos.
If you’re not sure how to get started with video, try using Instagram Stories. Stories are a great way to share quick, behind-the-scenes videos with your followers.
6. Go Live
Going live on Instagram is a great way to engage your audience in real-time. When you go live, your followers will get a notification and can tune in to watch your broadcast.
Live video is a great way to connect with your audience and build relationships with your followers.
7. Use Tools to Boost Engagement
There is something that happens when someone sees a post that has a lot of engagement. The post looks more attractive, and the person is more likely to engage with it. This is called the “bandwagon effect” and it’s a powerful way to get your posts seen by more people.
To take advantage of this, you can use tools like Skweezer to boost engagement on your posts. Skweezer is an Instagram tool that allows you to get more real likes, comments, and views.
When you use Skweezer, your posts will look more popular and attractive to potential followers. This will help you get more real engagement and grow your account organically.
Strategies for Using Instagram Stories
Creating a brand identity means crafting a story that is authentic, memorable, and engaging. And one of the best ways to do that is through Instagram Stories.
Instagram Stories are a great way to connect with your audience and share behind-the-scenes content. But how do you create stories that people will actually want to watch?
Here are a few tips:
- Keep It Short: Instagram Stories are meant to be quick and easy to consume. This means you should keep your videos under 15 seconds.
- Use Rousing Visuals: Remember, Instagram is all about visuals. So make sure your stories are visually appealing and eye-catching.
- Be Creative: Be creative with your stories and try to think outside the box. Don’t be afraid to experiment with different types of content.
Improving Your Instagram Strategy
You’ve built your profile and created tons of beautiful content, but you’re still not achieving the results you want. If this sounds familiar, it’s time to take a step back and reassess your strategy.
Here are a few things you can do to improve your Instagram strategy:
1. Make Sure Your Profile Is Optimized
Instagram is a search engine & algorithm-based platform. As such, it’s important to optimize your profile so that it appears in search results.
To do this, make sure you include relevant keywords in your bio and use them throughout your posts. You should also include a link to your website in your bio.
2. Run an Audit
As mentioned above, it’s important to periodically audit your content to ensure that it aligns with your goals.
To do this, take a look at your past posts and ask yourself:
- Does this content align with my brand identity? Or, is your message ambiguous?
- Does this content add value to my audience? Or, am I just posting for the sake of it?
- Am I using the right hashtags? Can I develop new hashtags to reach a wider audience?
- Is this the best time to post? Can I experiment with posting at different times of the day?
- What are my competitors doing? Are they doing anything that I can learn from?
Final Thoughts
So there you have it! These are just a few tips to help you build your business’s Instagram presence. It can be a daunting task. But by following the tips and strategies outlined in this article, you can develop an effective strategy that will help you grow your business.
If you’re still not sure where to start, try using Skweezer to get more real likes, comments, and views. Skweezer is an Instagram tool that will help you organically grow your account.
It’s simple, safe, and easy to use. Just enter your username and select the number of likes, comments, or views you want. Then sit back and watch your account grow!