Instagram, a photo and video sharing social media platform, turned 12 years old in 2022 and, despite being much younger than the 18- to 24-year-olds who make up the bulk (62%) of its demographic, has become the seventh most visited website in the world.
If you’re a fashion designer, jewelry maker, tattoo artist, restaurateur or Taylor Swift, Instagram is your marketing mecca. But can a “regular” business market successfully on a platform known for pretty pictures and vibrant videos?
Sure — as long as you follow some basic best practices.
3 Best Practices for Marketing on Instagram
Know the Difference Between Feed and Stories
Your Instagram Feed is your main profile page. Photos or videos that you post to your feed will be visible in the feeds of your followers, and they’ll stay on your profile forever unless you choose to delete them.
Instagram Stories, however, are a collection of photos and videos you add throughout the day that show up in a brief slideshow and disappear after 24 hours, unless you add them to your Story Highlights.
Your Instagram Feed is where your curated content should live. It’s a place to showcase the best of the best and serves as the official face of your brand.
Instagram Stories can be a bit more laissez-faire. Since they only exist for 24 hours, they’re great for experimentation. If something flops in your Stories, no harm, no foul. If something resonates, you know to keep running with it.
Use Hashtags Appropriately
Twitter might have popularized hashtags, but Instagram perfected them. And if you’re not using them correctly (or at all), you’re going to have a hard time of things.
Hashtags allow you to get your brand in front of an entirely new audience. And that new audience doesn’t even have to follow you, just so long as they follow (or search for) the hashtag you use in your post.
For instance, the most popular hashtag on Instagram is #love, which is followed by a staggering 1.835 billion users. Each time you use that hashtag in one of your posts, everyone who follows it or searches for it has a chance to seeing your post.
Are all of them going to see it? Not by a long shot. But will some of them? Absolutely. And if you’re lucky, your content will resonate enough with them that they’ll choose to give your business a follow.
We don’t suggest always shooting for the moon, however. Combining popular, niche, and branded hashtags gives you a better shot at being seen.
Pro tip: Using hashtags for reach only works if those hashtags are somehow relevant to your post. Piggybacking off the most popular tags can get you penalized if you’re just doing it for the sake of visibility.
Leverage User-Generated Content
User-generated content (UGC) lends credit to your business by allowing your current customers to become ambassadors for your brand. And there’s no better platform for UGC than Instagram.
By encouraging your fans to post using your branded hashtag, you’re basically getting free press — not to mention unique content, increased trust, and potentially, a wider reach.
For businesses that don’t quite fit in with the typical Instagram aesthetic, UGC can be a great way to get the word out and show your audience how real people are using (and loving) your products and services — no matter how mundane they might seem next to sunset pictures and white-sand beaches!
Is Your Business Insta-Worthy?
Any business, flashy or not, can gain traction on Instagram by following some basic best practices. It’s time to try it out for yourself!
Do you need some social media shrewdness in your marketing strategy? Mischa Communications is here to help. Visit us to make 2023 your best year yet!