The Fool-Proof Guide to Running a Business Instagram Account

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The Fool-Proof Guid to Running a Business Instagram Account

Instagram is a key tool in today’s marketing arsenal for businesses. Using Instagram for your business, whether big or small, helps potential customers find easy information about you–this means you need to be strategic about what you post, when you post, and how you post!

Marketing on Instagram shouldn’t feel stressful, instead it should be an exciting creative opportunity! Below we’ve outlined a simple strategy to get Instagram to work for you. If you have any questions, we are more than willing to help you build your Instagram strategy and help you see online success!

Create a Strategy

Many companies make the mistake of using Instagram without a strategy. Your Instagram profile is a reflection of your business and you will want this to be as professional and strategic as possible. Your Instagram Strategy will include information about your audience. Having a better understanding of your audience allows you to post better content that they are more likely to be interested in.

Define your strategy by answering these questions:

  • Who is my Target Audience?
  • What are their pain points?
  • What do they respond best to?
  • Why would they be searching for your product or service and what questions do they have once they find you?

Engage your Audience

People work with brands they know and trust–which means you need to be authentic! Your social media should feel like a real person is on the other side, not a business. Use these tips to engage genuinely with your audience:

  • Like & comment on your follower’s post
  • Like & comment on potential follower’s posts
  • Respond quickly to comments and mentions
  • Ask open ended questions so your followers have something to respond to
  • Showcase loyal followers on your story

Use the Instagram Algorithm to your Advantage

Does the phrase ‘Instagram Algorithm’ leave you scared and stressed? No worries! It is easy to use the Instagram Algorithm once you know what important factors it is looking at to put your posts at the top of your followers’ feed.

The top factors in the Instagram Algorithm are Relationship, Interest, and Timeliness. Use these tips to make the algorithm work for you:

  • Relationship – Instagram prioritizes content based on relationships. If you interact with someone frequently, you’re more likely to show up on their timeline. In your captions, ask your followers questions that will lead to comments.
  • Interest – Instagram prioritizes content based on how much a viewer would potentially like a post. Be sure that you’re posting content relatable to your audience.
  • Timeliness – Instagram shows users the most recent content first, so posting when your audience is online is important.

Use Instagram insights

Instagram Insights is data that helps you understand what is working and what is not working about your social media strategy. Keep in mind that Instagram Insights are only available for the previous week, so we highly suggest that you track this information on the same day each week and save it in a spreadsheet.

The insights will help you learn about:

  • Activity – to see how many people see your content, where they see it, and how many interactions your profile had in views and clicks.
  • Content – to view data on your posts, stories, and ads.
  • Audience – to know who your audience is, where they live, when they’re online, and more demographics.

Social Media Managers

If all of this information sounds a bit stressful–do not fear! You can hire a remote social media manager that can help create your strategy, design and write content, and schedule your social media posts. Reach out to CAST Design Team today and let’s talk about your social media needs!

Let us show you how we can help, ask questions, and make sure the synergy is there.