How to Grow Your Business on Instagram

how to grow your business on instagram

Building an Instagram presence can be hard—especially if you’re new to the social media app. But with the right best practices, you can attract followers and form close connections with your leads and customers. Explore the following 10 tips to help you learn how to grow your business on Instagram. 

Focus on Aesthetics

Instagram is all about photographs and illustrations. The images you post should look like they came from the pages of a glossy magazine. They need a similar aesthetic as a whole, too. For example, you don’t want to post a funky, colorful illustration one day and a neutral product picture the next. Achieving aesthetic continuity is the first step for brands building Instagram presences, and a best practice for creating a uniform omnichannel experience.

Add Instagram Photos to Your Website

It’d be a shame to feature your beautiful Instagram photos in only one place. An Instagram plugin can pull your most recent Instagram posts and place them on your website. You can use a third-party plugin tool for your WordPress site or have a front-end developer create a unique solution for you. Website visitors will click on your Instagram pictures, be redirected to your Instagram page, and potentially follow your brand. 

Consider Your Hashtags Carefully

Learning how to grow your business on Instagram is mostly about learning how to get your posts in front of users. Hashtags are a series of letters, numbers, and sometimes emojis that don’t have spaces between them and are preceded by a pound symbol (e.g., #SundayScaries). Instagram users can search a hashtag to find posts they like. You can use nine types of hashtags that are relevant to your posts, like those that mention your industry or product (e.g., #travel or #outfitoftheday). You can even create your own branded hashtag. Use multiple hashtags, but don’t go overboard. Your limit is 30, but we suggest using around half or less.  

Clean Up Your Bio 

Users will probably read your bio after they click on one of your posts. This is your chance to reel them in and get them to follow you. You have only 150 characters to describe your brand, so get to the point quickly. Use line breaks to make your bio easy to read. Additionally, you can add a single link to your bio. Don’t forget a call to action (CTA) so users will click on this featured link.

Post at Least Once a Day

Instagram users follow accounts so they can scroll through a steady stream of fresh, interesting, and beautiful photos every day. If you post regularly—ideally once every day—your followers will see your posts frequently and feel satisfied with their choice to follow your brand. Schedule your posts in advance so you don’t miss a day. (It’s easy to schedule posts through Instagram or tools like Hootsuite. You can even use your CRM, like HubSpot.

Try New Formats

Posts are the bread and butter of Instagram. They’re the first thing you should focus on when learning how to grow your business on Instagram. But there are plenty of other formats to try. You can create image posts, video posts, carousels (a series of images), Stories (images or short videos that disappear), and even an IGTV channel (longer videos). Once you feel comfortable with image and video posts, try Stories. This casual format is great at boosting user engagement. (In fact, 58% of users have become more interested in a brand or product after seeing it in Stories.)

Pivot Off Timely Events

Reference current events to stay relevant and show users that you’re paying attention to the world around you. For example, you can create seasonal greetings posts, like spring solstice or holiday wishes posts. Send words of encouragement and support on international holidays, like International Women’s Day. You can even have your brand’s leaders react to events like trade shows or conferences. 

Collaborate with Influencers or Other Brands

As you’ve probably noticed already, variety is an important aspect to consider when you’re learning how to grow your brand on Instagram. Collaborations are a great way to attract more followers—and help another brand attract followers, too. Ask an influencer or brand to work with you on a series of posts. You can even do “Instagram Takeovers,” where you allow guests to post and create Stories for your brand for a day. You’ll gain followers (and customers!) from the other brand or influencer. You’ll also enhance and freshen up your content. 

Engage with Comments

Your followers are likely to comment on your posts. Don’t let the moment pass—use the opportunity to connect with them! Thank followers for compliments or general support, and quickly answer any questions they may have. Engaging with your followers publicly will encourage others to reach out and connect with you, building strong customer relationships. And close customer relationships are key to building Instagram presences. 

Make it Easy for Your Team to Respond to Customers

Prioritize your Instagram business messaging feature. With this tool, customers can message you through your main Instagram page or through Stories. Leads may ask general product or service questions, and customers may even have customer service queries. On the back end, your team can collaborate on customer conversations, reference customer history from the same screen, and respond to customers quickly. Allowing customers to connect through Instagram messages can increase your reach and show customers that convenience is one of your priorities. Ultimately, enabling as much customer communication as possible is a key lesson in learning how to grow your business on Instagram. 

A/B Test Everything

Once you try one of these new strategies, measure its effectiveness. For example, after you post your first Story, review the engagement levels. For your next post, make adjustments, like changing the subject or video length. Then measure the results. If more customers respond to your Story, keep that change. A/B test all of your strategies in this manner so you can continually improve your tactics and keep gaining followers.

 

Want to learn more about Instagram Business Messaging? Check out our blog.

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