7 Top Tips for an Instagram business page

Do you have the perfect ‘Insta’? Instagram is the most visual of all the social media platforms, and one of the most opportune when it comes to social media marketing for business. It is where people come to be inspired, to inspire and to discover new things that interest them. This includes products & services that you as a company may offer.  But how can you keep a good balance between promoting your products and being social? Read on….

1. Set up your Instagram Business Account Correctly

Your Business username is what appears at the top of your profile and it is also the name people will use to find and tag you. So, make sure you use an easily recognizable name. Keep it short. The limit here is 30 characters and presents as all one word, no spaces, so make it readable. Once you have a suitable name, make sure that you also add your full business name in the name section when signing up.  This will appear just under your profile picture on your page. The only clickable link in Instagram, is in the description section (right under your business name).  Most of the time this will lead to your website homepage but update it for special occasions i.e. sale landing page, app downloads etc. Instagram’s business profile also allows you to add a phone number to your profile. If you have a business Facebook page go the settings and link your Instagram to the account this will allow ads to be shown on both platforms.

2. Get creative!

Focus on solving your customers problem and not the products you sell. On Instagram, it’s essential to add value to your customers and look pretty while you do it. Never underestimate the fact that you’re most important asset (and sometimes downfall) on this social media platform is visual content. Tell your story but put some thought and effort into it. Have you ever considered trying to gain UCC (user created content)? This can be some of the most unique content you can get and from a customer perspective rather than the business.

3. Take them behind-the-scenes

I may have mentioned this before, but customers are noisy! Does your product have a story behind it? Are there multiple steps in getting the product to the customer? If so – show it! Pictures that demonstrate how products are made – from the base material, production and distribution.

4. Tell a story

A pitfall of Instagram from a marketing point of view, is that you can’t add links to posts. Hello Instagram stories! Stories are the new way users are interacting with social media platforms and in this case, Instagram are the fore runner when it comes to stories. With live videos, boomerangs, filters, emojis, polls, music, Q&A’s, Countdown timers, Quizzes even a search bar Instagram stories are a creative dream for marketers.

5. Keep the captions brief and to the point

Keeping your customers interested is an essential part of any effective marketing campaign. A long-winded update is not what Instagram is about. Oh no!  It’s all about the image. However, if you do need to add a caption, then keep it short, sweet and to the point. When creating your post, it is also worth tagging your location as this helps reach more people in your local radius.

6. Use #hashtags

I have spoken on the benefits of hashtags previously: Using Hashtags on Social Media . A hashtag when used on a business profile is discoverable by anyone who does a search for that hashtag. If you’re using hashtags to be discovered, keep it short and don’t string too many words together under a single hashtag.

7. Get the Insight

Another benefit of having a business account is Instagram Insights, very similar to Facebook Insights it is a business analytical tool that offers businesses information on who your followers are, what your audience demographics as well as what content they interact with. With knowledge comes power, well maybe not power presa but it will help you to tailor your posts to your demographic, create and meet business goals and most importantly build a community with your customers.

Some helpful links:

Dmac Media Soical Media Marketing Department

All things for Instagram for Business can be found on their website.

For tips, best practices & FAQ’s use Instagram Business Toolkit.