Failure on Instagram is Impossible if Your Business Follows These Five Tips

Is Instagram a major part of your social media strategy?  Instagram for business – depending on your target audience of course – can provide your brand with a fantastic opportunity for connecting and engaging with prospects and customers.  Follow our five tips for using Instagram and failure to succeed on the photo-sharing social network will not be an option.

Frequent Question

To connect with the more than 150 million Instagram users, make sure you are posting regularly and at a volume that is high enough to introduce your audience to your brand.  What would be a frequency which would benefit your business?  A successful frequency to start posting to Instagram is three to five times a week.  Once you are established, test a variety of posting frequency strategies.

Proactive Approach

When you started your business, did you open the front door, put your feet up and wait for the customers to come to you?  A proactive approach – when it comes to engaging your Instagram followers – is the only way to get the ball rolling with this social network.  Instead of just sharing a photo and doing nothing, take the time to instigate action by asking questions that encourage responses.

Less is More

Hashtags on any social network can be a good or bad thing when it comes to your brand’s social marketing strategy.  Use Instagram hashtags sparingly and with a purpose.  Inserting one hashtag – when used in conjunction with a planned purpose or to piggyback on a trending topic – into your posts is going to be enough to help you gain traction with your Instagram strategy.  Overuse of hashtags will make your posts look spammy and turn off your followers.

Two-Way Conversation

Is ignoring customers’ questions part of your overall business strategy?  Many businesses fail on social media because they do not participate in the conversation – the very conversation they started.  When an Instagram follower likes or comments on a shared photo, keep the conversation going – participate.  Not only will this help with engagement numbers, but it also provides real-time market research from your target audience.

The Winner Is…

Social network users love contests and giveaways.  A solid strategy for any successful Instagram for business owner is to come up with creative contests which encourage participation from your Instagram audience.  Make your contest fun, tie it in with a product/service your business offers, source content by having followers post photos and incorporate a hashtag with your contest – those tips will make your Instagram contest and business the real winner.

Share your Instagram tips and social marketing advice in the comments below.