This post is a guest submission from social media marketer and blogger Rebecca Coleman. If you're interested in writing a guest submission, send your pitch to guestpost@localtrifecta.com .
At almost 4 years old, Instagram is rapidly becoming one of the most popular social media platforms in the world.
You know that old expression, a picture is worth a thousand words? Well, Instagram is simply that. And in today’s world, we don’t have time to sit and digest 1,000 words. We want information that is snack-sized, quick, so we can move on to the next thing.
Instagram is almost entirely app-based. You find people to follow via the app, and you view your stream and interact with it through the app. Instagram introduced a web presence a couple years back, but you can only like and comment on posts through the web. For that reason, Instagram is highly mobile.
Purchased by Facebook for $1 Billion a couple years back, Instagram currently boasts 200 Million active users per month. The demographic is young: 25% of teens consider Instagram to be their favorite social network. If your business’ target demographic is teens or twenties, Instagram is where you should be.
How to Use Instagram:
1. Download the app for your phone.
2. Create an account. If you already have a personal account, create a second account for your business. On an iPhone, Instagram will allow you operate multiple accounts through the app, similar to how Twitter does.
3. Fill out your biographical information, include a link to your website, and upload a profile pic (likely your business logo).
4. Next, you’ll need to find people to follow. Do this by tapping on the “profile” icon, which is the one on the right-hand margin. Then tap on the “gear” symbol at the top of the page. The very first option on this page is “find and invite friends.” You can then connect to your FB or Twitter to see who you already know is using Instagram, and follow them. Once you’ve started your network, you can start taking photos and posting them.
5. You take a photo by tapping the very center icon, the one that looks like a camera. Take your photo, then add your filters, frames, and tilt-shift (which blurs the edges), a description, and a location, if appropriate. You can also import photos from your camera roll into Instagram, but be aware that Instagram uses a square format, whereas your phone camera does not.
6. Finally, publish your photo. You can also hook your Instagram feed up to your Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and Flickr feeds so that every time you post a photo, it pushes automatically to those networks. Be sparing with this— ideally, you want to tailor your posts to each network.
Remember: Instagram is a social network, so you need to engage with it. You can’t just post photos and not interact with anyone else. Check in on Instagram once a day and have a look at the photos your network is posting. “Like” photos and comment on them. This will increase the level of engagement.
Tips For Using Instagram For Business
1. #Hashtag
Like Twitter, but unlike Facebook, Hashtags are your friends on Instagram. Using a hashtag makes you instantly more searchable. For example, a search for #cats leads to nearly 2 million photos, #kitteh to over 31,000, and #catsofinstagram to 1.5 million photos.
2. Subject Matter
Take photos of your products and services in action, take photos of your employees in action, take photos of your clients and customers. Instagram, however, is an incredibly intimate medium. Don’t limit your photos just to your business. Allow people to see “the real” you, as well. Give them a taste of what your everyday life is like. Invite them in.
3. Take Really Pretty Pictures
Instagram is an photographer’s medium, so the photos that get the most play are ones that are artistic and beautiful in nature. Pay attention to things like lighting and composition.
4. Encourage Fans to Tag You
Have a sign somewhere at your business, letting clients or customers know that you are on Instagram, and what your username is. That way, whenever someone takes a photo, they can @mention you in the comment section, and you will automatically see it and can repost it (called Regram) to your stream. This also encourages them to follow you.
5. Run a Contest
Ask people to take photos on a theme that is related to your business, and then come up with a corresponding hashtag. When someone takes a photo and posts it with the hashtag, you can see all the photos by searching for that hashtag. You can then choose a winner on your own, or create a voting process to make the most popular photo be the winner.
6. Be Useful
Can you create images that give tips? For example, post a photo of a finished dish, and put the recipe in the comments. Or post a yoga routine with an image of someone doing yoga. People will follow you if they feel they are getting value from your feed.
Instagram is a great tool if your business is visually-based. For example, restaurants, chefs, retail clothing stores, designers, personal trainers, models and artists can all really benefit from using it.
If your business is not highly visual, it can still be a great tool to use. You can post infographics, tips or inspirational quotes (these are really popular).
With Instagram’s popularity on the rise, why not take the leap and get your business involved?
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