When utilised effectively, Instagram can be a priceless tool in helping to promote your business. However, with more than 200 million business accounts already established on the platform, how can you use Instagram creatively to stand out from the competition?
Here are three useful ways to get the most out of your account and transform your followers into customers.
Giveaways
Running giveaways on your Instagram page is one of the most effective ways to boost user engagement. Everybody loves free stuff, right?
Whilst you’re effectively giving away free products, which sounds counter-intuitive, if done correctly, what you will get in return is more user engagement and thus a stronger social media presence. Create a post or string of posts encouraging people to like, follow, comment and share in order to enter the competition. This way, more users who may otherwise never have noticed your brand will be made aware of your page, which could translate into new business further down the line.
When using Instagram in this way, it is important to cater the giveaway to your niche audience and avoid running a very generic competition which will attract the wrong type of customers. For example, if a dog walking business ran a competition to win a free television, they may attract lots of new followers and interaction, but the engagement will only last as long as the competition runs. However, if they ran a competition to win five free walks, this should encourage more relevant potential clients to follow them.
Whilst your follower count may look healthier if you run a generic competition, your engagement by percentage of followers will dramatically decrease. This will be detrimental to your business, as engagement is one of the key metrics Instagram uses to determine whether or not to promote your content on user’s feeds.
Reels
Instagram Reels is a new feature introduced in 2020, allowing users to create 15-60 second videos to accompany their main feed of posts. These short clips are designed to grab the attention of users by being either entertaining or informative. It gives your business the opportunity to not only show off more of the personalities behind the brand, but also to position yourself as an authoritative voice in a particular market.
Furthermore, with the way Instagram’s algorithm is set up, users don’t need to be following you for your Reels to come up on their feed, meaning you could reach a wider audience who may be interested in your brand.
When using this feature, it’s important to keep a consistent tone, to avoid alienating any existing clients. This is where a social media professional could prove beneficial, as they will be experts in developing a social media strategy to best exploit Instagram’s algorithm, whilst also maintaining a consistent tone of voice.
Repost user-generated content
As every content creator will know, it can be challenging to come up with consistently creative ideas for potential posts. One simple way to overcome this issue is to utilise your customer base and the content they themselves have created using your products.
An example of a company who executes this strategy well is GoPro. Their main Instagram account, which has over 18 million followers, promotes ‘Photos of the Day’, whereby they celebrate a photo taken by one of their customers.
There are many benefits to featuring user-generated content (UGC) on your page beyond the obvious plus side of having posts created for you without lifting a finger. Research has shown that customers are 2.4 times more likely to deem UGC as being more authentic than content created by the brand themselves. This can help to boost customer loyalty and engagement, thus enhancing your brand and standing on social media.
Now it’s your turn to create content and giveaways that stand out and is part of your brand.
What will you do first?
