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Social Spotlight: Instagram

Continuing with our #SocialSpotlight series, let’s talk about Instagram. Within the past two years, Instagram has completely changed the marketplace for many products and services, most notably fashion. It has also revolutionised the sphere of public relations. With the user’s ability to quickly view and upload images, marketers scramble to create square images that will engage the public for at least eight seconds. If Instagram seems to be about broadcasting your personal life, how can businesses use it to reach their demographics?

Start strong. Create a profile under your business’ name with your logo as the profile picture. You can link the account to other social media for less of an outreach workload. Promote your new account through other strong outreach outlets. Ideally, have a good-quality camera to take your pictures.
Balance content. Post images and videos that consistently reflect your mission, but creatively vary this content. For instance, if your business is a bakery, one image may be a close-up of a cupcake, whilst the next is of a wedding you catered. Images like these allow viewers to imagine ideas including your business.
Timing is everything. You generally don’t want to post more than twice a day or less than once a week. We here at InMotion create a schedule for posting optimised to best days and times for your demographic.
Consider a theme. If you spend some time looking at successful Instagram accounts, you’ll find that quite a few have similar-looking photos. A theme, such as all black-and-white images, can be beneficial depending on your specific demographic.
Engage. Hashtags allow you to market to a greater sphere of themes surrounding your business, so be sure to use relevant ones (but never more than three on one image). A hashtag campaign in the perfect way to engage an audience, in which they post photos featuring a specific hashtag relevant to your business. Repost your favourite fan photos from the campaign. Respond to comments in order to maximise engagement.
Consider using Instagram for Business, which provides a host of paid and free resources for businesses serious about using Instagram marketing.