A 2022 Guide For Best Instagram Practices For Small Businesses
We’ve already wrapped up the first month of 2022. What best Instagram practices have you implemented to help attract new followers and increase sales? If 2022 is the year you’re determined to finally grow on Instagram, follow our simple guide to help your small business expand its digital brand presence.
Tip #1 for Best Instagram Practices: Create Your Account
This tip is a no-brainer! Whether your business is brand new or has established roots in your community, don’t wait to create an Instagram account. If you have a brand new storefront with signage, potential customers who’ve spotted your location might have already tried to search for your Instagram profile.
For example, if they couldn’t find more information about your business, that could be a missed opportunity. In addition, having an Instagram with some content and biography that states: “Stay tuned for more updates!” will compel customers to follow you to stay up-to-date with any news and future posts!
So, you’ve created an Instagram page and chosen an appropriate handle that reflects your brand, and now you’re wondering what information you should fill out. Start by following these steps:
- Fill out your biography
- Choose a relevant profile photo
- Optimize the call to action buttons
For a complete guide for those just starting, head to our blog post “How to Optimize Instagram For Your Business.”
Tip #2 for Best Instagram Practices: Create Quality Content
It’s no secret that Instagram is a popular platform. But, how do you engage followers, grow your audience and compete with other businesses in the same space? The answer: create quality content!
Instagram is an outlet for creativity that differs from the more formal tone of a website! Depending on your brand’s personality, you can create engaging content that separates your brand from competitors.
For example, a cheeky retail brand could organically grow its following and attract more like-minded customers by posting user-generated content! In addition, sharing relatable content featuring real people can go a long way; and often separates a brand from competitors who aren’t optimizing this authentic content.
If you’re navigating content creation for Instagram, CM2 Media can work with you to create engaging content based on an in-depth analysis of a social media audit. For example, our social media audit includes researching key competitors and analyzing industry trends to develop a customized social media strategy for your company!
This strategy reiterates your brand guidelines and provides sample campaign posts based on several creative themes. To learn more about our social media services, contact our team today.
Tip #3 for Best Instagram Practices: Hashtags are Your Friend
Hashtags are a free tool that you can use to organically expand your growth by making your brand more discoverable, allowing you to compete for brand awareness among similar companies.
For example, a new juice store in Burlington, Ontario, might use hashtags like #freshjuiceburlington #greenjuice #freshfruitjuice #localburlingtonjuicery #burlingtonontariojuicery or #greenjuiceinburlington to categorize their content and appear on the explore page when customers search for those specific hashtags.
Instagram allows you to include thirty hashtags in a post and ten hashtags in a story. You’ll also be able to track your post insights to see how many impressions came from your hashtags!
In addition, spend some time strategizing the appropriate hashtags to use for your business to optimize this free tool. If you’re beginning to research hashtags, a great place to start is by checking out the hashtags that your competitors are using! This trick will help you identify what’s relevant in your industry.
Furthermore, you can establish a hashtag that’s unique to your business and encourage customers to use your hashtag whenever they tag you in posts or stories. Creating your hashtag can be as simple as just using your business name!
However, Instagram is the space to use humour if that’s on-brand for your company; coming up with a cheeky, relatable hashtag is a great way to set your company apart!
Tip #4 for Best Instagram Practices: Incorporate Reels Into Your Content Calendar
Reels are videos that can be up to 60-seconds long that help increase your engagement and visibility! If your Instagram profile is public, your reel could be viewed on the explore page of Instagram, allowing you to reach more people and organically grow your digital presence. Your reel can feature music, hashtags and effects. In addition, these elements help increase your chances of being discovered when a user is going through reels that are using that specific song, hashtag or effect.
To understand the different types of video marketing that you can incorporate in your social media plan, read our latest blog post on “Different Types of Video Marketing – Instagram Edition.”
Tip #5 for Best Instagram Practices: Be Authentic
Merriam-Webster defines authentic as “real or genuine: not copied or false.” Above all, let authenticity drive your brand’s content! Instagram users are real people who desire to consume relatable content.
You have to remember that your followers make a conscious decision to do the following:
- Follow your company
- Purchase your products or services
- Refer their favourite product to family and friends
- Become an advocate for your brand
Being authentic is the key to building trust in the Instagram space and a huge part of your best Instagram practices!
Let Us Help Your Business With The Best Instagram Practices of 2022
If you’re ready to optimize Instagram for your small business please contact us using the form below, using the chat function on our website, or by calling 1-855-656-5262..
Follow us on Instagram or LinkedIn to find out how we can help improve your for Best Instagram Practices and digital marketing profile. It is our goal to get your business noticed online.
We are located in Burlington, Ontario, serving businesses big and small to help with your social media game. Contact us today!
Sources:
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/authentic