17 Jun Practical tips for building your Instagram channel
Social media is the rage. Everyone is on it, and it’s where companies need to be. But if you ask many business owners how they’re doing, they’ll probably tell you not too well. They know it’s where their customers are but that’s about it.
Today I am going to talk about Instagram, which happens to be one of the top social channels for driving sales. However, before it can ever be looked upon as an asset for the company, it needs a foundation. Putting up compelling content is crucial to that end, but not just any content; it needs to tell a story. If you plan to just put up product images with sales copy it’s not going to work. You have to sell a lifestyle, an idea that your fans (ie potential customers) can get behind. Once you do this, then you have built a solid foundation and are ready to grow organically.
So how do you do that? You have to follow relevant Instagrammers. Just like life, you must build those key relationships which will do wonders for your brand. Getting your company in front of their fan base acts as an endorsement to your brand. Businesses and people are very protective of their Instagram handle. If they don’t trust you, they won’t post you. It’s as simple as that.
In terms of gaining followers, here are three tips to follow:
1. Identify and follow the Instagram account, and then regularly comment or like their photos. It can be a time consuming method considering how many people this method must be used on to make a considerable impression. Only a small percentage of those Instagrammers will actually notice and take action, and they are usually smaller Instagrammers with less influence.
2. Comment on and like the photos of an Instagrammer all at once. This method is more noticeable for Instagrammers with larger accounts as they receive many notifications. Your Instagram account will stand out from the other notifications.
3. The paid ‘shout-out’ is great when starting up and wanting to get the ball rolling. This method involves sponsoring influential Instagrammer accounts to post one of your images onto their account, accompanied with captions and tags urging the audience to follow your account. This method builds up your initial following at a relatively low cost yield short-term results. It is a guaranteed method to obtain targeted followers. Your number of followers will grow incrementally once you build up a solid fanbase.
In terms of other Instagrammers resharing & promoting your photo:
1. This depends if the Instagrammer usually posts other people’s photos or not. Some instagrammers strictly post their own work or images. If they are open to re-posting other people’s photos, you can use the tactics mentioned above to obtain a follow from them. Eventually they will see an image of yours that they like enough to repost
2. Post the desired Instagrammer’s photo on your own account and tag them. Essentially you are promoting their image in hopes that they will return this gesture.
3. Sponsor influential Instagram accounts to promote your photo. You will be able to reach many potential customers by sponsoring Instagram accounts with a targeted audience.
4. The organic resharing of your images will really start snowballing once you build up a solid fanbase.
These are just a few potential tactics of many for getting in the game on Instagram if you’re currently not. If you’re not, it’s time to start. Social media is not going away and the barriers to entry will only become greater as we get further along.
We will be covering content strategy tips in another post. Furthermore, here is a look at how the the most successful brands are using Instagram which can offer insights and tips for you.
Have you tried any of these methods? Which methods have or haven’t worked for you? What other methods not listed here have been successful? Let us know in the comments section.
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