It’s no secret that social media is not just a place where you can advertise–it’s a place where you must advertise. When trying to grow a business, the most important social media metric is engagement, which refers to how many times someone has liked a post, left a comment, or clicked a link.
As far as engagement goes, Instagram is still king. But how do you grow your business on the platform? For the absolute best results, it’s never a bad idea to look for an Instagram marketer for hire, but for now, we’ll give you a few important tips to get you started.
Branding
Branding is all about making sure that whatever you’re posting on Instagram is tied to your brand. Whether it’s professional photographs of your product or an image of a customer wearing the jewelry you designed, making sure your posts are eye-catching and relevant to your brand is critical.
Consistency
Related to branding, consistency means making sure that everything you do on Instagram is somehow tied to your business’s overall identity. It also means setting a posting schedule and sticking to it.
How often you post is up to you, but most social media experts recommend a minimum of two or three posts per week, in addition to daily stories. Any more than this may cause people to feel overloaded, and fewer posts than this may mean customers won’t engage with your account as often.
That being said, if you’re a travel agent and you have a killer new photo from some far-flung destination every day, then by all means–post it! But if you’re a new restaurant with a small menu, there’s no need to post the same six food items day after day.
Relevant Hashtags
Do you know how to find the best hashtags? Just check out what hashtags your competitors use in their posts, and take that as inspiration. Hashtags aren’t copyrighted and don’t belong to anyone, so feel free to use as many hashtags as you like, so long as they aren’t directly tied to your competitor’s brand.
Don’t be afraid to throw in a few of your own, as well–Instagram is very helpful in showing you how popular a particular hashtag is.
Encourage Engagement
Engagement is important because the Instagram algorithm looks at each like and comment as an interaction. If your post gets lots of interaction, Instagram shows it to more people and the effect snowballs very quickly.
The fastest way to grow your business is to encourage engagement. Say you are a bespoke jewelry maker. You can ask your followers, “Sapphire or emerald? Let us know in the comments!” Prompts like this are irresistible for social media users who can’t wait to comment and hope other people agree. Similarly, you can run contests for free goodies for those who share or comment on your posts to quickly boost engagement.
Pay for Marketing on the App
There is absolutely no shame in paying for marketing on Instagram, and it couldn’t be easier! Instagram is good for marketing because it allows you to take any post you’ve made and boost it to new viewers for a reasonable fee. Alternatively, you can make a unique ad with your own photo.
Instagram allows you to set an advertising budget, and once your budget is reached, the ad is stopped. You’ll be notified of the results, including how many people saw your ad or post, clicked, commented, and more. Instagram’s metrics are a fantastic way to see what’s working and what’s not.
Hire a Freelance Instagram Expert
Hiring a freelancer on Guru to boost your Instagram account into the stratosphere is as easy as visiting our Instagram Marketers page. Browse thousands of Instagram marketing professionals to see who aligns with your budget, brand, and view of how your business should be marketed. You can also post an easy, free job listing on our platform and watch qualified freelancers come to you!
