8 Instagram tips for your small business Instagram account
If you are a new (or seasoned) business owner that wants to start an Instagram account for their product or service-based business then you know it can be equally intimidating and confusing but you also might have your first “am I getting old because I’m not that good with technology” moment. Perhaps you have been on Instagram for a while and trying your best but nothing seems like it works and your best efforts just aren’t paying off. You post the pics of what you have to offer and sales are supposed to flock in right? Nope, unfortunately, that is 100% incorrect.
Instagram has become a very powerful place for business owners. You can reach hundreds, thousands, and even millions of people. You can get your product seen, sold, and build your dream brand. Without having to spend a cent on marketing. Speaking from a place of you know what you’re doing while using the app.
That brings us to TIME. Instagram can take up a lot of time and end up taking all if not most of the free time you have to market your business. Instagram is the one place you don’t want to be wasting your time.
I wrote this blog for the new business owners that want to land on the app with confidence, that wants to feel like if they aren’t sure what they’re doing then at least they can be 100% sure about 10 things. 10 things that will help set you up for success when it comes to the long game on Instagram. Not just the trends! This blog is perfect for you even if you’re that business owner that has been on IG for a while but the needle hasn’t moved when it comes to the return on your investment, your investment being time. We all know we don’t have time to waste as a business owner so without further ado, let's take a look at the 10 best Instagram tips IMO (In my opinion) that will truly help set you up for success.
1. Your profile picture
This might seem like the most basic tip but hear me out.
Your profile picture is not only something that will tie into your brand but will also help your audience recognize you.
You are going to have to decide between using:
1- A logo
2 - An Image of you
How do you decide? If you are a product-based/retail business or you have employees then a logo might make more sense. If you offer professional services and do something like accounting or you’re a lawyer then a logo also might come across as more professional.
If your business is more of a personal brand and doesn’t just niche down into one thing then a headshot of you might be more appropriate. For example, if you’re an influencer that wants to chat about all things from health to beauty, and wellness then using a headshot of yourself could work better and create more of that personal connection.
There is no hard and fast rule here though and you can decide as long as you follow a few of the pointers below.
Keep it simple - don’t have an image of you standing around tons of things or a headshot with some crazy background. HEADSHOT + SIMPLE BACKGROUND = winning formula.
Brand colors - you want your profile picture to help your audience recognize you and your brand so if it's an image of you then make sure your brand colors and aesthetics are brought into that image. Same if you’re using a logo make sure the branding and aesthetic on your feed are the same as your logo.
Up close & personal - taking a portrait-style image instead of a full-body image is the way to go. If you have a text-heavy logo try and use your logo mark as the profile picture.
Use an evergreen image - if you’re taking a headshot then shy away from trends and stick to an image that you can be consistent without.
Don’t change your image too often - In a year or two’s time you might rebrand and want to change your image and that is okay but changing your profile picture on Instagram every week or even a month is a bit excessive and will not only confuse your audience but you lose the ability to use your profile picture as a tool to enhance your account.
2. Your bio
In your Instagram bio, you give your audience a reason to follow you by positioning yourself or your business as the solution to their problems & stressors in life
Your bio does this for your business:
1 - Tells your audience why they should follow you, making sure you get the RIGHT audience following your account
2 - Helps drive traffic to your online store or website
3 - Helps you connect by including your real name
4 - Allows you to be found via searchable keywords on Instagram
Let’s look at the simple format that will help you create a bio that converts
Bold name section - This section needs to include the keywords that you want to be found on Instagram. It is “searchable” and works as Instagram SEO
I help statement - The next part of your bio is your “I help” statement or niche statement. It is a short sentence that tells your audience what you do/sell, how you do it, and who you do it for. There are so many different ways to do this and I give you very clear examples and templates in my bio guide which is exclusive inside The Content Club.
CTA - The last part of your bio can be a call-to-action or if you sell a service then social proof is sometimes good. Social proof can look like, “As seen on Forbes” (We aiming big here guys) or a call-to-action can be something like “Click here to get an exclusive discount”
3. Link in bio
Your Link in bio is where you can place a clickable link that will take your audience to where they can be converted to future customers, new paying customers, new clients, or any other place you want them to go.
As I mentioned in the previous tip, using a call-to-action at the end of your bio can help you get more click-throughs on that link. So choosing your words wisely in your bio is important. If you have multiple links you can use something like linktree. When your audience lands on your feed they will be taken to a page where multiple links can be listed that look like this:
You want to put the most important link at the top so if you are promoting a new product launch or course you can directly link to that and move it to the top of all the links. You can put other popular links into linktree that you can reference back to.
You can always go back, change, and adjust as needed.
4. Feed
Your feed can be laid out in so many ways, depending on the main goals of your Instagram account will be.
Keeping on brand and aesthetically pleasing feed is important but can be hard to maintain. If you’re a busy business owner you will know that curating aesthetically pleasing content can take up a lot of your time.
If you want to save time creating content but keep a cohesive and on-brand feed you can try and do these things:
Take all images on the same day. You can change outfits, use different products, and create different flat lay images. If you can set a couple of hours a week or choose one day a month to do all imagery or graphics for your feed then this can help you save time on content creation during the month
Use caption resources or pick one day of the month to be the "content creation" day. Something I love to do is take captions from THE CONTENT CLUB and then curate my content around that. The captions are done and the content ideas are there now all I need to do is find images to match.
Let’s take a look at how your feed can be curated depending on what you do: Product seller - post images of your products mainly, images of products, images of yourself now and then. Influencer - Images of yourself, products you promote, quotes. Educator - Cohesive images and carousels to educate your audience. I used my IG account below as an example:
5. Captions
Video content is becoming increasingly popular, but even video content needs captions and creating copy that sells, connects with your audience, and builds your brand will never go out of style.
So let’s look at 3 ways we can create high-converting captions that turn bored viewers into ranging fans.
Tell a story. Have an intro, a conflict/problem, and then a solution. Craft out a caption in a way that tells a story, and set up a scenario that your audience can relate to. Instead of just selling your coffee tumbler, tell your audience about your mornings where coffee ☕️ would spill everywhere on the school run and how those days are long gone with your special tumbler.
Be real to yourself and your brand. Make sure you understand the tone of voice your ideal clients can relate best to as well as the brand voice you WANT to have. Does this represent your values and mission in your business? Would you speak like this in real life? Read your captions out afterward and if you sound ridiculous then well... your audience is going to think so too.
Start with the dealbreaker💡. That first line of your caption is the hook, line, and sinker all in one. Make sure it ties into what you want to say but make sure it is intriguing, leaves a little mystery, and makes your audience want to read more.
6. Hashtags
When posting your content online, you have the potential to reach thousands if not millions of people. If you are using the right hashtags, the chances of you reaching your ideal client increase 10 fold.
By implementing a proper hashtag strategy you will be able to:
Increase engagement on your posts (comments, likes, shares, saves)
Eliminate the noise on the internet and get your content in front of the right people and not just anybody.
Grow your following. Once again, by implementing the correct hashtag strategy you will gain the right followers. These are your future customers, clients, and friends too!
You will be able to join in on posts that will be valuable to your business and be able to engage with your target market.
Hashtags create quality engagement. That is why I cannot express enough how important it is to use them correctly.
Apart from using them and knowing which ones YOU want to use. You also need to know the hashtags your ideal clients are using. This will help you find them, give you hashtag inspiration and eliminate wasting your time on clients that are not your fit. We are not on the bachelor over here, we want our perfect match straight away, not after 20 episodes 🤦🏼♀️
Take note:
You can use up to 30 hashtags on your IG posts. Just using one has shown increased engagement.
You can use 10 hashtags in stories
If your Instagram is private your posts will not publicly show up for those hashtags
If you comment on hashtags in someone else’s post, it won’t work.
You can use numbers but no special characters like $, %, *
7. Consistency
Consistency is key but when it comes to your mental health then that is always the one that you put first. I am currently on an IG break and enjoying cutting back on the digital noise way too much. Before I get into why consistency is so important I do want to point out that looking after your mental health is MORE IMPORTANT.
Why consistency on Instagram matters:
Builds trust between you and your audience
Your audience knows when to expect your post and this can build excitement
Helps with growth
Helps boost your engages
Helps sales - obviously
There is SO MUCH advice out there on when to post, how many times to post, and what you should be posting when. For example, 2 reels then 1 post, and 5 stories. Social media marketers are always going back and forth with this advice and I see so many people giving different advice when it comes to what the right or the PERFECT amount of posting is.
To be honest the perfect amount is whatever feels right for you. Whatever you can fit into your capacity as a business owner is going to be what you can do best. The right amount of content to post is the amount you can do and keep up with consistently. If that’s one or two posts a week then that’s also ok (not ideal, but better than once a month).
It would be pretty pointless to post 5 posts a week then take 3 months off and come back again in full force with 10 posts a day and then burn yourself out and take a year off (over dramatized, or is it?). You don’t want to be wasting your time and if you scatter posts out over months and weeks you are not utilizing your time and effort in the best way possible.
1 post a day is realistic for me. It is something I feel that I can not only be consistent with but also provide value with. The key here is to plan your content and set realistic goals for your online business and yourself.
8. Stories
I remember how cringe 😬 I felt when I first started showing up on stories. Horrifying. Thinking back now, I cannot believe it because practice truly makes it semi-perfect, and now showing up on stories is like riding a bike. The more you do it the easier it becomes!
.One of the biggest struggles I faced was WHAT to post. So here are 4 surefire post ideas that just work every time:
1) Behind-the-scenes - simple workspace pic, packaging a product, orders ready to ship. All super simple ideas yet fan favorites!
2) Something new you learned - Whenever you learned something new like a hack, tip, or trick then share it with your audience. They will love the value you provide!
3) Poll your Audience - An easy way to do some market research.
4) Product Q&A - A way to build some trust. Hop on and place a question sticker asking your audience if they have any questions about your products.
And Remember...show your face & keep it simple!
So there you have my top 8 tips for your new or struggling IG account. If you need more help with content, captions, stories, and so much more make sure you check out THE CONTENT CLUB HERE.
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