Do you have a small business that relies on social media? If so, you may want to try Instagram. With just over 1 billion active monthly users and around 60% of them outside of the US, it is not hard to see why this platform is quickly becoming one of the most popular ways for small businesses to market themselves.

The best part about using Instagram as a small business is that there are no ads or costs associated with running your account. You won’t need much more than a smart phone to get you started either. Simply download the app from your phone’s app store and create an account.

Instagram has become such a powerful tool for brands because they can post photos or videos in real time and get feedback from their audience immediately. It is a great way for small businesses to get going, and even massive businesses and brands are taking advantage of it. Here is how you can too.

Use hashtags

Hashtags are one of these tools that Instagram has to offer which is so fantastic but people just don’t really know how to effectively use them. By making use of hashtags you can maximise the reach of your content while also specifically target you specific audience through the use of keywords that might be associated to a specific niche.

Hashtags are brilliant if you are struggling to grow your audience or if you are a new business because they will give you a lot more exposure to a specific audience. What’s even better is that there are services, like TaskAnt, which is a hashtag search tool, that will allow you to find the best hashtags to use really quickly. They are also fantastic when it comes to businesses in general because you can create your own hashtags which you can use to keep track of analytics.

Make sure your profile is correct

Instagram is a great place for businesses to get their start or to market themselves and the platform has quickly recognised this. They have developed a feature which allows for businesses and brands to create specific business profiles which have a whole bunch of added features and access to the shopping tab and advertisements. These features also include the ability to add in call buttons and email buttons in your bio.

When creating the perfect profile you should always start off with a catchy username. This should either be the name of your business or something that is similar that customers will recognise. Next up is a profile photo. This should be something related to your business or brand and something that also follow the theme and tone of your account as it will be what people will recognise you by. Last up is you bio. It is so important to include contact information in you bio as a business but you should also be including your location and a direct link to your website.

Use stories and reels

Stories and reels are the newest features that have been added to Instagram and are similar to that of other social media platforms. This was Instagram’s way of making it a platform for everyone and not just for people of a specific demographic. They have quickly become the most popular features on the app because of just how easy it is to make use of them and how much more fun they are to go through because you can post multiple times a day without getting any weird looks.

Stories are located right at the top of your page and the first thing people will see when they open the app, here you can post both phots and videos with a multitude of filters and sound clips as well as stickers, and you can even share posts from your feed here. Reels are very similar to that of TikTok with the feature allowing you to post funny in the moment, short form videos. These two features are a great way to reach the younger audience of Instagram.

Target your customers

When it comes to any kind of social media marketing, you need to be targeting your customers or ideal audience through content that you know they will enjoy. Not only this but you should also be targeting them though engagement and engaging with these potential customers in order to get your name out there, as this is the easiest way to get more followers.

Author

Northern girl Laura is the epitome of a true entrepreneur. Laura’s spirit for adventure and passion for people blaze through House of Coco. She founded House of Coco in 2014 and has grown it in to an internationally recognised brand whilst having a lot of fun along the way. Travel is in her DNA and she is a true visionary and a global citizen.

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