Are you using Instagram in your #Social Media marketing? If not you should be, here are some tips on how you can easily implement an effective campaign.
Depending on the industry your business operates in there are some key strategies that work well for Instagram.
Photo Contests
Photo contests are becoming one of the most popular strategies to use. This simply involves engaging your followers to submit photo’s through Instagram that are relevant to your business. It may involve them holding a sign with your business name on it, to taking “selfies” at one of your locations or wearing a clothing item you sell or produce. Again there are endless options available, you should plan well ahead & research well the “how to’s” for running photo contests. Google or even the Instagram business blog are you best options to research many companies that are using Photo contests to great effect.
Behind the scenes look at your business
This is one of my favourites as it is potentially one of the easiset to do. It is a great way to put a human face to your business, with hundreds of options to post every week. You can post images of your team members doing what they do, or your production processes in action.
A restaurant might preview images of weekly special dishes, or patrons enjoying a meal (with their permission of course).
If your business is location based, meaning it is a destination people need to visit to purchase your products or services. Another great option is to register your business location on Foursquare. You can then Tag your photos with your location when posting to Instagram. The app will use foursquare’s venue search & feature your business with your photo.
If you have linked your Instagram account to Foursquare you can also check in when adding photos, by clicking on Foursquare in the ‘Share’ options on your smart phone. The photo will then be added to the public photos displayed at your businesses page on foursquare.
The How to Strategy
If you can create a 10 to 15 second quick “how to” video once a week you have a great strategy option. Each video may be 1 step in a process such as “How to develop a marketing plan in 7 easy steps (Step 1). This gives your followers a reason to want to come back to your Instagram profile every week to get the next step. It also allows you to be a little more specific in each video.
They can be any simple quick tip on any subject aligned with your business, if it is valued information your followers will engage with you regularly & even share your content every week.
The options are endless, & these videos do not need to be exceptionally high quality productions. If you do not have video production equipment you can shoot them on your smart phone, as long as the lighting is adequate & you speak to a script you have practiced well beforehand. There is plenty of free video editing software available to add your logo,s website etc. Just do a search on the term “free video editing software” & take your pick.
These are just a handful of strategies you can use, there are many more. The more you research your strategy options before you launch one the better your results will be.