If you’ve used Instagram, you’ve seen its potential. Small businesses can take advantage of the platform’s many capabilities, which include anything from customer complaints to product virality. This helps level the digital playing field between big and small businesses. 

However, due to its longstanding presence, there is a wealth of information on how brands may utilize it. To help your small business succeed online, we’ve compiled this tutorial on everything you need to know about using Instagram for marketing purposes.

Small businesses can benefit greatly from a well-planned and well-managed Instagram presence. In order to effectively sell on Instagram, you must have a clearly defined Instagram marketing strategy in place. Yes, even if you’re the only one who has access to it. 

More than eight out of ten Instagram users responded that the app helps their research products and services. Do not let a great opportunity pass you by a group of potential clients because you aren’t engaged on social media.. Read on to know how to maximize the Instagram presence of your small business..

1. Basics: Setup your Profile: 

It’s understandable if you’re skeptical of this, but it serves a purpose. View your Instagram profile as a business once you’ve changed your account settings. Changes are made often, sometimes without warning. There are new features that you can play with and open the app. Additionally, you should update your business categories, hours, location(s), a contact method, and link any service or product catalogs to your business profile. Meanwhile, make sure your profile features, such as your bio and profile photo, are consistent with your overall social media branding.

2. Optimize your link in Bio: 

As 3D modeling technology improves, project leaders can see the project in its component pieces, making it easier to detect possible cost savings and safety issues and catch faults on the model before they’re replicated in real life.

They allow real-time improvements to cost, scheduling, and labor calculations to be simulated on the fly through the use of collaborative digital models. There’s no need to go back and comb through old files projects to determine how much a new project would cost because of the software’s best practices and historical price data.

It was impossible to estimate a decade ago because of the lack of data available. Weather conditions and changes in the cost of raw materials are just two examples of external variables that can be accounted for by estimation software. It is preferable to use current data rather than depending entirely on the estimator’s knowledge of price fluctuations.

3. Geotag your Posts: 

If you’re posting from the physical location of your small business, be sure to include the name of the location in your message. You could go back and modify previous posts if you didn’t do this earlier.

What is geotagging used for? There is a “top” and “recent” section in which the most recent and most popular posts are arranged according to their location. Customers will see your brand’s images alongside their own. You may find out more about the tagged business by clicking “View Information” at the very top. Brand awareness and consumer research are a result of all of this. Are you having difficulty picking what to order at a diner? Explore the most recent images and learn what others have to say about them.

4. Use the save post feature: 

This is not a strategy for the general public, but it could help you improve the Instagram content strategy for your small business. Posts on Instagram can be saved and organized into collections for later viewing. Creating collections isn’t required, but it’s a good idea. With this technology, you can use it in a wide variety of ways this feature, including for research and inspiration. Ideas for a collection include the following:

What your rivals are talking about on social media

Inspiring images to use in your photographs

You’ve come across some fantastic captions.

Suggestions for upcoming content

Insights from actual customers

Posts from satisfied and dissatisfied customers alike

Influencers who could have an impact on the outcome

As you can see, you have a plethora of choices. Make a note of it and then save it for future reference.

5. Use Highlights: 

If you’d want to communicate more about your business, Instagram’s Stories Highlights a feature is a great option. When you use Highlights, you extend the life of your Stories by making them visible on your profile after they would otherwise expire, making them an easy source of long-lasting content. As they appear above your grid, you should start with the fundamentals, like:

The following are a few posts on your values, hours, and brand:

Discuss the highlights and include images from the various areas for each destination.

Posts and reviews by customers Republish customer feed posts or develop a visual that emphasizes reviews from other sources.

Frequently Asked Questions: Provide customers with answers to frequently asked questions. You can direct them to this Highlight when responding to consumers and save time.

Features of the product/service: For each product or service, do an overview or a Highlights section. Certain topics are just too big to fit into a single blog post. There are no limits to how much information you can learn here.

Now that you’ve mastered the fundamentals, it’s time to step things up a notch. Start by looking at the stuff you’ve already posted on your feed. Does each member of your team have its series? Keep this all in one place. Alternatively, you may be an event coordinator. Show the client what you do behind the scenes by taking them through your process. Highlights are meant to be enjoyed. In this area, your brand’s personality can show through.

6. Create Guides: 

Similar to Instagram Highlights, you can assemble your best posts into a single piece of featured content with Guides on Instagram. There are, nevertheless, some important distinctions. It’s more like reading an article than a blog post. Images and posts from your own feed and those you’ve saved from others are all welcome.

You can write more about the product or area you’re showcasing in the embed’s caption. Using Guides is a wonderful way to compile a list of places to visit in addition to those previously mentioned in the Highlights section. All of your locations and/or the local businesses you promote are acceptable options. It’s possible to include information about your city’s history, a look at your current area, or recommendations from influential people. What if you’re not sure if you want to use this feature? There’s nothing to worry about. You can store them as draughts until you’re ready to publish your guides.

7. Pay Attention to Caption: 

If you want folks to expand to read the rest of your caption, your first sentence in the caption is the one that does so. In addition to focusing on the initial line of your caption, you should also review the rest. What you say in your Instagram post says a lot more about you than anything else; you might say crucial than ever because of the recent advent of keyword search on Instagram. When writing in the past, you could get away with being cutesy or stylized, and while you can still do this, it’s important to include words that you want others to connect with when writing in the present. This could include the names of your company and your products or general terms linked to your industry, like keyword research.

8. Use Instagram Live: 

As more and more marketing managers and business owners found themselves working from home but yet needing to maintain human contact with clients, the trend of going live for companies exploded in 2020.

Using Instagram Live has various advantages. One of the most important features is that followers are notified whenever an account they follow goes live. The internet is a fine place to start if you’re looking to establish a name for yourself; having access to real-time communication is critical.

9. Do Follower Only Promotion: 

A good deal is always welcome. However, an exclusive sale? FOMO and urgency are used as marketing tools in this case. You can encourage your followers to stick around for the next promotion by running a limited-time followers-only campaign. Make your promotions more surprising by using the countdown Stories sticker in conjunction with a hype-building campaign or a flash sale.

10. Host Giveaway: 

Organizing a contest or giveaway is a fantastic way to expand your Instagram account naturally. The only thing better than a discount is freebies. Depending on how you structure the giveaway, you may be able to gain more followers. For example, you may require that individuals who follow your account do things like save posts, comment, or share posts with friends.