The 5 Biggest Mistakes Businesses Make on Instagram

The 5 Biggest Mistakes Businesses Make on Instagram

Instagram is a valuable channel for most businesses, unless you're making these common mistakes. With all the various social media and marketing channels out there today, we know it can feel overwhelming for business owners today to know which channel they should focus their efforts on that will actually drive sales and show a meaningful ROI. Is your business a fit for Instagram? However, if your business is definitely a fit for Instagram and you're not seeing results, then you may be making one of the very common mistakes businesses make on Instagram. One of the biggest frustrations for businesses trying to sell on Instagram early on was the fact that Instagram doesn't allow you to post clickable links to products alongside the photos you post. However, recently some new tools, like product tagging, have come about that are making it easier for retailers to sell and consumers to buy. It can be disheartening when a business starts out with 50 followers to try and figure out how it is going to get to 1,000 or the pivotal 10,000 followers. This is why so many businesses fall into the trap of buying followers, but it's possibly one of the biggest mistakes a business can make. Don't make your page all about selling your product. Building on Stories, many businesses seem to skip over using Instagram stories, despite it being a great channel to really engage your customers and get new followers.

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Instagram is a valuable channel for most businesses, unless you’re making these common mistakes.

The 5 Biggest Mistakes Businesses Make on Instagram

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Instagram has now surpassed the 1 billion user mark so it has undoubtedly become a crucial marketing channel for businesses to consider. But, while some businesses are nailing it and driving significant sales through Instagram, others are floundering and scratching their heads wondering why it’s not working.

With all the various social media and marketing channels out there today, we know it can feel overwhelming for business owners today to know which channel they should focus their efforts on that will actually drive sales and show a meaningful ROI. So, here are some common mistakes we see businesses make on Instagram today.

Is your business a fit for Instagram?

Firstly, not every business is actually a fit for Instagram. Given that Instagram is all about lifestyle and things you can show in pretty pictures, it works great for consumer verticals like fashion, beauty, products and travel. But, if you’re more of a B2B company or enterprise SaaS business, Instagram may not be the place for you to drive any sales. Despite this, many B2B companies feel they “should be doing something on Instagram.” Don’t be afraid to realize Instagram just isn’t a fit for your business if it’s not the right audience channel for you. While there’s no harm in exploring it as a branding or customer engagement exercise, don’t be disheartened if you don’t see results.

However, if your business is definitely a fit for Instagram and you’re not seeing results, then you may be making one of the very common mistakes businesses make on Instagram.

1. Your feed isn’t shoppable.

One of the biggest frustrations for businesses trying to sell on Instagram early on was the fact that Instagram doesn’t allow you to post clickable links to products alongside the photos you post. However, recently some new tools, like product tagging, have come about that are making it easier for retailers to sell and consumers to buy. For example, Shopify.com became the first ecommerce platform that enabled retailers to be able to send their customers directly from an Instagram photo to a product page on their website.

2. You’ve got too many steps to conversion.

Your posts might be impeccably product tagged and hashtagged, but how easy is it for your customers to check out? One of the main rules of selling online is that every step, click or form your customer has to fill out sees potential customers begin to drop off. The fact that Amazon has one-click checkout has played a big part in its success.

Don’t forget that Instagram is predominantly experienced on mobile where your customers have less patience and smaller screens. It means you really have to consider from a consumer perspective, how easy is it for them to browse…

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