I've been using Instagram for over a year now, under a personal account. It's a great app, which allows you to easily make your mobile photos *pop* and makes sharing those photos really simple. It is one of the biggest players in photo-based social media. In 2014
Instagram reported 200 million users use the app every month
If you are in marketing or have a brand you want people to take note of, then Instagram can be a great way to get your message out. An account for a business can be set up relatively easily. But then once it is set up, what do you do with it?
You need to have some kind of plan for your feed, which should be driven by a set of goals for what you hope to achieve. You will also want some way to increase your followers, so those goals can be realised as well.
1. Use hashtags
In Instagram, hashtags are pretty much meta tags for your photos. They are a great way to index your content in a meaningful way for your followers. They are also a great way to feed into a trending tag, where appropriate for your brand. Hashtags open your feed up to be viewed by people outside of your immediate following, with potential to increase your follower numbers too.
Unlike other social media outlets adding a lot of tags is fine, but it's best not to go too overboard. If you exceed 30 hashtags your photo will not post. According to a report by Track Maven outlined
here, 11+ tags on your Instagram photos should have a positive impact on your average interactions. I wouldn't stray too far towards 30 though, as you don't want your images to feel like spam.
But which ones?
There are some clear winners
#nofilter - for those natural no filter shots
#photooftheday - this one is often suggested, as many people use it and search by it
#picoftheday - similar to the one above
#selfie - for those self portraits
#instagood - this is another popular one for marketers and users alike
#instacool - what is better than good? cool, of course.
On top of these, you could use #love, #family, #style, #design, #amazing, #friends, etc.
You'll want to do a tag that is brand specific like #kmedialtdnz and then maybe a popular tag or two #picoftheday, #instacool and then add one or two general tags that describe the photo #coffee, #cake maybe even a more specific flavour #carrotcake.
2. Don't be afraid to invite them into your world
Instagram is a great way to connect to your followers and provide some more flavour for your brand. Behind the scenes photos, and teasers of products you are working on are great topics to post photos of. Take a photo of fabric swatches, or the offcuts after an afternoon of creating. Take photos of your breakroom coffee, the weather outside, something that made you smile. It's called social media for a reason, and they are following you for so much more than just the sales pitch.
3. To filter or not to filter
I am a huge fan of the filters on my personal Instagram account and will hardly ever post something without a filter. My favourite two are X-Pro II and Lo-Fi, but sometimes I will select something else. #nofilter is a very popular option for many users, but you may find that adding a filter here and there is not harmful to your following numbers. Have fun and play. You are bound to find yourself with a favourite or two. Just don't tag those photos as #nofilter if you have used a filter.
4. Run a promotion
There are instructions over at Instagram about how to go about it
here. You have a couple of decisions to make before you launch this:
- Will you have a prize? If you do a prize try to make it one of your products or store credit. These will be easiest for you and links nicely to your business.
- Pick your promotion hashtag
- Pick the length of your promotion
- Decide your rules or terms & conditions - what do they have to do to be eligible for the prize if there is one.
- Post a photo of your promotion on Instagram.
I'll be running my own photo challenges coming up and will be advertising these on my various social media channels. These will be a great opportunity for small businesses to network, and connect with each other as well as new potential customers. You are welcome to join in. Connect with me via Facebook, Twitter, Google+ or Instagram to be notified when these challenges are coming up!
If you live in New Zealand and have need of Social Media Content Management for your business, visit www.kmedia.co.nz to see our offerings or contact us directly at info@kmedia.co.nz for pricing and more information.
