Using Instagram to Source New Customers
The Modern Business Social Media Tool
Instagram for business? Seriously? That’s the first thought of many when the popular photo-based social media platform is suggested as a way of attracting new customers. It really does work if done correctly so how exactly can you begin using the photo sharing app to attract new leads and build new customer relationships? Using Instagram for business and to measurable a portion of return on investment is possible with a few careful considerations.
Most business users seem to focus on the messaging and the content of posts but we also found that a huge number of organisations get it wrong and fall under two main categories. The first is the spammer. This essentially involves posting so much that your audience begins to see your posts as spam and this can have a detrimental effect on your marketing efforts. Making all of your posts about your product or service will have a negative impact in the long term so try to mix it up and not post too frequently.
The key is to find a balance between posts. You have to be able to provide value to your audience so that they continue to follow your page. In contrast, posting too little can also have a negative impact. While you may have a connection with your audience, you have to initiate a call to action and you cannot turn a follower into a customer without occasionally linking them to your product or service. From time to time you have to create a clear path to transact business or at least an explanation as to why your followers should do business with you.
Promoting Effectively
Of course, every product and service is different so to use Instagram for business correctly you have to be able to offer value to your customer. It’s communicating this value successfully through Instagram that will determine whether you are successful or not. There are certain ways to speed up this process and using the technical aspects of the Instagram platform can really help you along the way. Audience-specific hashtags are a great way to begin this process and then you can begin to look at what your competitors are doing.
Engaging with your competitor’s followers is another useful tactic and a pretty common way for Instagram users to promote their page to a new audience. You want to show that your products and services are superior to your competitors so finding and interacting with these individuals really could boost your sales if you can show them that your product is better. Finally, we have some of the more trivial things such as the filter that you use. It may seem silly but the filter you use does affect engagement.
Posting at peak times is also important so consider when your target market are likely to be online and this can help you choose the most effective time to post. These are just some of the things to consider when selecting Instagram as a tool for promoting your business. Of course, we haven’t mentioned every tactic so feel free to leave your own ideas on how you would use Instagram for business below.
