Oct 9, 2019
Instagram is an effective platform for promotion and sales. Use all its possibilities, experiment, use these ideas for inspiration, and the results will not take long! How to use Instagram for business? Read the article, the answer inside!
Are you going to sell goods online but don't know how to start? Or do you already have a store and you need to increase sales urgently? For this, use Instagram and build your Internet empire!
After 3-4 years, standard online stores will bring much less income. Even now desktop versions of websites are visited much less often than mobile ones. The reason is the popularity of smartphones and tablets, which are much more convenient for surfing the Internet.
But you do not need to immediately create a full-fledged online store with an adaptive version or application for Android and iOS if you have your business. You can start with a regular Instagram account. Especially considering that there is already your audience, and the service provides everything you need for effective sales.
I've already told you about a relatively new feature as a business account that appeared on Instagram in 2022.
Besides, I’ve prepared for you a guide on how to switch your Instagram profile to a business account.
So, today we will talk about how to use Instagram for business and how to get the most out of this innovation! Ready, steady, go!
What is the difference between IG business and other social networks?
The Instagram profile is a photo album. If in other networks the user flips through both images and articles, here all attention is paid to visual information. Instagrammers share exciting shots, gaining a regular audience and giving feedback to other people. Textual information is also common, but without visual it will be of little demand. Therefore, business in this social network is not suitable for everyone, but only those that can create photos and videos describing the activities of the company.
The audience of Instagram is more responsive than in other social networks, and the level of banner blindness is lower. This is partly due to the harmony of ads in the human tape, and it does not cause rejection.
How does Instagram work for business? Likewise. Some brands create an online showcase where followers actively choose a product, others – share the daily life of the company: conferences, meetings, results. This allows the user to see that the company is not standing still.
How to use Instagram for business? Top 10 Reasons!
What makes Instagram so popular among entrepreneurs? This is not only the availability of the social network as an advertising platform but also a lot of opportunities for business development.
Factor#1 Show brand face
Instagram allows you to demonstrate the product face, to motivate the purchase of beautiful photos.
Factor #2 Being an expert
Develop your expertise – bring useful information about a product or service to your audience. Let them see you as an expert-it increases confidence in the brand. Publish useful tips in pictures, show reviews, test drives, the production process in videos.
Factor #3 Simplicity of presentation
Profile in the social network is a ready-made online showcase that can accommodate any number of products.
Factor #4 Absence of investments
Above all, launching the project does not require large investments, you can do without the investments no need to pay for hosting, domain, website development!
Factor #5 Increase sales
With Instagram, you can communicate with the TA, report sales and promotions, notify about the expansion of the range and the emergence of new services. A beautiful presentation will expand the coverage, and an attractive offer will increase the number of purchases.
Factor #6 Engage your audience
It allows you to constantly interact with potential customers, stimulating repeat orders.
Factor #7 Show in real time
Instagram can conduct live broadcasts. This can be useful for educational projects, bloggers, travel agents and many other companies that are ready to show exciting moments and interesting events taking place here and now.
Factor #8 Establish relationships with partners
The point of social media is to make connections. And Instagram is a great place to find like-minded people with similar interests. You can expand your network of contacts and collaborate with a brand.
Factor #9 Attract new users
Make it easy for users to find your Instagram account by using hashtags and geolocation tags.
Factor #10 Stay in trend
Share your interest in the current situation in the industry and society. Publish materials for a specific holiday, a high-profile event that affects your audience. Use trends for promotions, giveaways, and bonuses.
Make a business Instagram: What business to choose?
It depends on the type and how to promote business on Instagram on their own, and what ideas to translate into reality.
For example, business is progressing badly, where you need to "prewarm up" the person to buy.
The confectionery business is going well. Food is an Instagram trend. Popular hashtags and even photography courses are dedicated to it. All that is done by hand and beautifully designed always looks aesthetically pleasing and appetizing.
From inedible types of business, clothing is popular. 41% of Instagram users admit that they follow popular brands to have discounts and bonuses when shopping.
Products for women and children are always bright and neat look in the photos. Therefore, women's clothing, cosmetics, beauty and health services are very popular.
In general, if you are connected with what makes people associate with a beautiful life, Instagram will suit you. Travel, jewelry, decor, clothing and accessories, handmade, beauty salons, restaurants, and similar destinations should not ignore Instagram. Your audience is there.
Instagram tools for business
Doing business on Instagram implies having tools that facilitate processes and improve the quality of content. I’ve selected the main tools and services that help to attract customers and earn their trust.
Why is it important? This is analogous to private messages in any other social network. People communicate with companies in one touch. In addition to working with comments, it is important to respond to messages in Direct: you may be on the verge of getting a new regular customer:
- Sharing information increases conversions and trust.
- Encourage your audience to communicate.
- Interest offers.
- Save time, money and attract customers.
Using Direct, you can create automatic mailouts to your customers. This, first of all, saves you time, because you do not need to send messages manually. Secondly, it is convenient, because the service has a nice and intuitive interface. Third, you can add photo and video files, funny stickers and emojis to your messages.
For example, these mailouts might be to new followers of the account. In this case, you can send them welcome messages to establish contact with them.
“Hi! We are glad to welcome you in our online store of Korean cosmetics! Only here you can find the best Korean cosmetics at the most attractive prices. For all new followers we give a 10% discount on the first order!”
Or all followers of your profile. You can send them messages containing information about promotions, news, special offers of your business.
“Good day! How are you? Did you know that in our store of healthy products replenishment line of products! Now you can find even more cool and delicious products! Special offers: when ordering 2 of any products from new products, the third you get for free! Hurry up!”
Besides, you can send messages to a limited number of people, which you can choose from the list. It can be your regular customers whom you want to thank for activity and to present them gifts or discounts on goods.
“Good day, Ann! You are one of our regular customers and we really appreciate and love you! Therefore, we have a gift for you: ordering any product you get a second for free! We are glad that you are with us, thank you!”
If you want to use this tool in full power, then read the article about all the nuances and ways to use right now.
#2 Use free statistics for business profiles
In order to understand whether you are moving in the right direction, you need to view statistics of your actions on Instagram. This feature is only available for business accounts.
There, you can see the percentage of audience involvement, the average percentage of posts viewed, the number of visitors, the total number of likes and comments under the posts.
This data will help you in the formation of the promotion strategy and content plan.
#3 Scheduled posting
For creating good posts use the convenient post planner with the function of the scheduled posting. Using the service, you can greatly simplify the task of creating, planning and publishing posts. A convenient tool for planning posts will help you create attractive posts, in addition, add hashtags, locations and much more.
Now, you can create posts in advance, and not look at the time constantly! After all, all you need is to create a post and choose the time of its publication.
The real benefits of using this tool to promote your business are:
- Time saving. You can create and edit a post in one place without switching to third-party services.
- User-friendly interface. The service has a nice and intuitive interface, which is easy to work with even for a beginner.
- Action planning. Using the service you can create posts in advance and publish them at a specified time.
- Saving money. You do not need to spend money on a third-party person who would create and publish posts on time. Now you can automate this process.
To automate the work, create content for the month ahead and use the program for scheduled posting.
#4 Instagram Stories
This is a very popular feature among users of IG: more than 300 million use them daily. They will be useful for informing about discounts, promotions, contests, and just company news. Stories are stored for only 24 hours and then deleted. A good way to talk about limited offers.
Management tips for business accounts
After the creation and launch of the store, you will have the most difficult task – to grow, to interest the viewer, to expand.
The following tips will be a great help to develop a business on Instagram:
- Share exclusive. Don’t forget, there are a lot of Internet shops. So, offer favorable terms of support: write about promotions, discounts, and contests that are held only on Instagram.
- Interact with followers. There's nothing worse than not getting answers. Communicate in the comments, read messages in Direct, put likes to people you like, so you attract attention to your Instagram for business.
- Intrigue. Nothing attracts people like waiting. Create an atmosphere of mystery around your new product, give out information in parts.
- Give gifts to the most active. Every like and comment brings you more followers. Thank your customers for their support. Start a raffle or promotion.
- Use common and unique hashtags. This way, you can divide the headings in your plan – so people will find it easier to find anything on your page or make "branded" your business profile Instagram.
Read cool examples of real business promotion and be inspired by them to make a decision that can change your life once and for all!
We covered several points on how to use Instagram for business. The social network has helped many companies to tell about themselves, and so have you. Determine what business you want and can promote. Think through the presentation of content to the audience and set up targeted advertising.
The first time will be difficult and almost no one will know about you, and only a few months will go first customers. The main thing is to keep going forward!
Make a business Instagram right now! Use the convenient tools of promotion and increase your sales to the heavens!
