7 Ways to Succeed With Instagram as a Business

Source: Neil Patel

Businesses all over the world are using Instagram to improve their bottom lines – a figure that makes sense when you consider that 80% of people follow a business on the platform.

But there are a lot of businesses that have yet to take advantage of what Instagram has to offer.

If your business belongs to this group, you’ll be happy to know that achieving great results with Instagram isn’t as complicated as you might think.

In this post, we’re going to take a look at the 7 ways to succeed with Instagram as a business.

We’ll look at some of the precise Instagram marketing strategies you can take advantage of, in addition to some of the higher-level concepts you’ll want to keep in mind, too.

By the end of this post, you’ll understand how Instagram can help your business reach more people and generate more revenue in the process.

1. Focus on creating high-quality content

You need to prioritize the creation of high-quality content above all else.

Images posted to Instagram generate 23% more engagement than Facebook – but you’ll only be able to experience this if your content is of a high standard.

If you don’t have much experience with Instagram (even as a non-business user), you may want to change that and use the platform as a normal user.

When you use Instagram as a normal user, you can better appreciate how the platform works from the perspective of potential customers.

So, if you haven’t done so already, set up an Instagram account.

Be sure to follow a bunch of companies that are active on the platform, too.

In doing so, you’ll be able to see first-hand what does and doesn’t work in relation to the business case for Instagram.

If you come across anything that catches your attention, be sure to screenshot it. You can then use these images as inspiration when creating your own content.

Let’s look at the different kinds of content you can post on the platform.

One content style that works well is ‘behind the scenes’ content.

This is content designed to show the process that goes into creating whatever it is that you’re selling.

Here’s an example from Rolls Royce.

This kind of content works well on two levels.

For one, it shows that the company cares about quality and about doing things in the best way possible.

If you can show people that your brand believes in producing the best content, there’s an increased chance that people will want to buy into your brand.

Showcasing a behind-the-scenes look also gives you the chance to make your company more ‘human.’

Potential customers will feel better about buying into your brand if you can show them that the people behind the brand care about doing high-quality work.

Another type of business content that works well on Instagram is product photos.

Product photos are just that – photos that you’ve taken of your product.

Here’s a great example from the Raymond Weil Instagram page.

If your product has any defining characteristics, you can show them off in these photos.

The caveat here is that you need to take high-quality photos.

Taking high-quality photos doesn’t need to be hard, and you can do a good job using your phone.

One of the biggest factors that can impact the quality of your photos is lighting, and you’ll want to make use of natural lighting as much as possible.

Even if you can’t take your product outside, consider shooting next to an open window.

When it comes to how you should be taking photos, keep in mind the earlier point I made about studying other Instagram business accounts.

Other accounts will teach you a lot about the kinds of styles and formats you can use for your photos, all of which you can use to inspire the creation of your own content.

Eventually, you’ll get to the point where you develop your own sense of style (something we’ll touch on later).

There’s also the option of creating Instagram Stories.

Instagram Stories is a relatively new feature within Instagram. This feature lets you share video and image content in a slideshow format.

The video content is typically less than 30 seconds, and content shared via an Instagram Story will disappear within 24 hours.

Using Instagram Stories, you can combine the different kinds of content that we’ve covered thus far.

Because it only lasts for 24 hours, the content you use for Instagram Stories doesn’t need to be as polished as what you’d normally post.

However, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Because Instagram Stories have an informal feel to them, engagement tends to be higher since people feel as though they’re experiencing something ‘real.’

If you don’t have the time to constantly create high-quality content, Instagram Stories can help you keep your followers engaged during the down times in your content output.

2. Engage your audience

When using Instagram, or any platform for that matter, it’s important to take the time to engage with your audience.

This will help your audience feel valued, which increases the odds that they’ll check in on future content and like it or leave a comment.

The easiest way to engage your audience is by responding to the comments that people have left on your feed.

A simple ‘thanks’ can go a long way toward showing commenters that you appreciate their input.

Answering questions that have been left by your audience is also a great way to engage.

Another way to engage your audience is by asking them to do something.

Here’s an example from the Foundr Instagram profile.

All this profile is asking people to do is tag someone who might benefit from seeing the image.

Though it’s a simple request, it does a good job of getting people to comment and engage with the content being posted.

You may find that some people are going to leave complaints within the comments.

When people leave complaints, it’s important that you are quick to respond.

A fast response can help someone feel as though you take their concerns seriously and that you value customer service.

When responding to such comments, avoid having a discussion within the comments section.

Direct people to reach out (or vice versa) via ‘Direct Message’ so that you can solve the issue in private.

3. Appreciate the importance of maintaining a consistent brand

You might think that I’ve covered the importance of branding when I discussed high-quality content earlier.

However, the issue of branding relates to more than just the quality of your content.

Branding relates to every aspect of your Instagram account.

The style of your images, the captions you use, and the frequency with which you post content all contribute to your brand.

If you can develop a unique style for your profile, and if you’re consistent with that style, it becomes easier to generate brand awareness – especially if and when your content is shared.

The Oreo Instagram account is a great example of how you can showcase a consistent branding style.

A unique brand, portrayed consistently, also helps you develop an Instagram profile that will naturally appeal to your target audience.

This makes it easier to attract the right kinds of followers, and you can more easily generate a return from your Instagram marketing.

4. Influencer marketing

Influencer marketing is a big trend at the moment, and Instagram makes it easy for businesses to take advantage.

An influencer marketing campaign requires you to find other Instagram accounts that are willing to accept payment in exchange for promoting your brand.

This is typically done in the form of a sponsored post.

Influencer marketing can drive high ROI, and the graphic shown below does a great job at illustrating this fact.

I’ve used Instagram influencer marketing to generate traffic to my webinars.

The resulting traffic meant I was able to generate $332,640 from $75,000 in ad spend.

It can take some experimentation, however, to get influencer marketing right.

You should accept that you might lose some money on your initial influencer marketing campaigns.

Treat those losses as the cost of your education, and use what you learn from your initial campaigns to develop future campaigns that will have an increased chance of success.

In any case, there are some things that you can do to improve the odds of your influencer campaigns succeeding, even if you’re new to all this.

The first is learning how to find accounts that would be a good match for what you’re trying to promote.

You can use a ‘middleman’ to help find influencers with a relevant audience, and there are many websites that offer this service.

However, a lot of influencers prefer brands reaching out to them directly, as shown below.

This is actually a good thing for you.

By approaching influencers…

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