With over 400 million people worldwide using Instagram every day, this social media channel is one to consider for many businesses.

The figures show 80% of Instagrammers follow at least one business brand so the opportunities are big. It’s a very visual social media channel and that can either be a blessing or challenge for a company depending on their product.  If you can be a little creative, then there could be great opportunities for you with Instagram.

Business Account

Ensure you set up as a business account or if you are using a personal account you should switch over to get access to the many benefits available.   Like Facebook, an Instagram business account will give you access to insights about how your posts are performing.  You can also find out about your followers and how they are interacting with your posts and stories.    You can add information about your company, your business hours, where you are located and your contact details.  Remember to optimise your profile with your logo and branding.

Spread Awareness

This is a great channel to drive awareness of your business product or service and create some interest around the brand.  By showcasing what you have you will let potential customers learn about your product which can lead to getting a few new customers for your product.

Instagrammers love to share so it’s an ideal place to harvest user generated content.  Asking your customers to show themselves wearing or using your product can get a great reaction and can lead to shares and trust building for the brand.

Content

By using a mix of content your feed will be interesting and worth viewing.  As a business you may tend to want to share business images at all times, however, mixing in some personal or non-work images is the way to go.  Images that are relevant to your brand or of things that are interesting to your audience will get better engagement.  The good thing about pictures on Instagram is that they reach 100% of your audience, unlike Facebook where the algorithms take over.   Using tools such as video and Instagram stories are fantastic for engagement.

Getting a following

When starting out you should connect your Facebook account so those followers can find you on Instagram.  Then start engaging with others by following them and liking their photos with the hope they might just find you interesting to follow back.  Use relevant and popular hashtags to be found easily.

Currently there are fewer businesses using the platform compared to Facebook which leaves massive opportunities for clever business brands that are savvy enough to use Instagram.  With Instagrammers known for their higher levels of engagement it could be the perfect place for creating brand awareness for your business.