By now, you’ve probably heard about Instagram. Such a small, yet a mighty app that skyrocketed in 2010 and has been shaking our grounds ever since. For a while it served as an online album, to say the least, where you would share your pictures and get alike now and then. True expansion happened around 2015. Easy access to things you like, having your friends in one place, you know.. Like Facebook, but fancier. It became the first thing you would check while sipping on that good-morning coffee. We don’t even bother to buy newspapers anymore.
Yet, not only personal relationships and interests developed there, but business started to grow. Someone was clever enough to start using this popular application as a form of marketing and advertising. Small business owners were strongly relying on it, whether it comes to catering, makeup, traveling, or any other industry – you name it. This is why we’re going to show you how to upgrade your business game and make it rain with the help of amazing Insta-features.
1. Aesthetic
Let’s start with the basics, shall we? Firstly, you’ll have to think about what kind of appearance you’d like your page to have. Is it going to be girly, soft, monochromatic, lively, colorful? Think it through and try to coordinate your profile according to your vision. Your photography game has to be on point, but it’s okay to start plain and easy and to upgrade over time. Your effort will always be seen and appreciated.
2. Highlights
Once you’ve decided what your niche is going to be, think about highlights. Save things you’ve posted on your stories so that people can always come back to it when they need more info on your products or services. Whether it’s a good recipe, a cleaning tip, or instructions on how to paint walls, people would always like to have it available. Finally, find some cool wallpapers that could be the cover for highlights themselves.
3. Engage, engage, engage
You can’t just post and leave, right? Try to engage actively with your followers, by responding to comments, following similar profiles, and getting close to them. And don’t shy away from direct messages. People will feel closer to you and will want to share that with their friends. Let’s not forget likes! Remember how happy you would get if you’d collect those 11 likes back in 2011-2012? You can get so much more now as likes and comments are all this whole platform is about. Anyone can try and boost them with the help of apps such as instant-famous.com that allow you to buy some extra likes for your page – and it’s so affordable!
4. Stories
We’ve come to another significant Instagram subcategory. Stories are a huge part of the Instagram community. You can ask or receive questions, which are a major thing, and your responses will leave a personal touch on a conversation. Usually, asking your followers something about them will create a warmer environment and atmosphere. Create polls – they are always fun, they can be handy-dandy when it comes to what your audience would like to see more or finding out if they like what you do or not. That gives you space for improvement and exploration.
5. Hashtags
They are so noteworthy, and you won’t believe how helpful it can be when you use them strategically. Try to include a variety, and keep an eye out on the trendy ones. That way you can be easily discovered by other businesses and brands and appear on explore pages. Furthermore, you can see how many people follow each hashtag, and you can even create your own! How fun is that?
6. Giveaway
Who doesn’t like a good giveaway! Start small and simple. Over the course of time, as your followers and audience grow, you should be making your gifts bigger, better, and more exclusive, as they’ll act as a token of your appreciation. And, well, be sure that everyone will love such activities. Set some rules, such as follow, like this particular post and share on your story. Then take a random selector app that will choose the winner instead of you. That way you’ll ensure this move to act as a free ad, as it will reach more people.
7. Peak posting
You’ve heard about this one for sure. Explore and investigate when your public seems to be active the most. Check your location and, depending on your time zone, find the best hour to surprise everyone with new content. Switching to a business account and checking analytics out could help a lot. Plan your posts in advance as much as possible, drop a teaser on your story, set a timer, so people can expect something exciting to drop. You’ll be having followers clicking on your posts at the same time, and staying on your page for a longer period of time – and that’s what you want to achieve, right?
8. Collabs
We love seeing others thriving. As we’ve mentioned at the beginning of our little journey to success – if you engage, you’ll get noticed, and when you’re noticed, you get a chance for collaboration. Give some shout-outs to some less known profiles and you’ll be respected and loved. Befriending influencers, as a small enterprise, means a lot. You can make something with colleagues from your niche, have them review your products, mix these two, or just do life for fun – possibilities are truly endless!
9. Consistency is the key
Yes, we know, you’ve heard this a thousand times. It might be tough, but it’s the truth. Staying relevant and on the feed will be a constant reminder of your effort and engagement. Remember – you’re trying to reach your tribe. Laziness and insufficient will for doing something about it won’t bring you to the desired success, so make sure you do your best to keep going strong no matter what.
Conclusion
Now that we’ve tried our best to offer you an ultimate guide to stars and success, we’d like to put a highlight on the most important rule there – you should always be and remain yourself, have fun and enjoy, no matter how complicated all of these rules might seem. If you’re not enjoying managing your business this way, take a break, and return to it with even greater motivation and passion. We hope you’ll manage to implement some of the pieces of advice we’ve shared with you today, as honestly, we’d love to see you shine. Good luck!