Promoting Your Brand With Instagram

Online marketing is all about visibility, and there’s no better way to be seen than to get your business on Instagram. According to KISSmetrics, the popular photo sharing network now boasts over 300 million users per month. With that many potential customers at your disposal, learning how to use the network to your advantage could have an enormous impact on the success of your business.

Get a Dedicated Account
Your business Instagram account should be its own unique entity. Claim your company or brand name and use a relevant profile image. Write a short, engaging bio that includes a link to your business website. Once your account is set up, promote it with an Instagram badge on your other social media profiles, your website and any content you create.

Draw Attention with Unique Photos
Images have a big impact on consumer purchasing behaviors. Take high-quality photos of your products and use Instagram’s editing tools to make them look as professional as possible before posting. Include clear, concise product descriptions, but avoid doing any “hard selling.” Let the images provide the incentive that drives customers to initiate the buying process.

Give Your Brand Some Personality
Balance out product images with photos that show your company’s offerings in action. These types of photos can be better than traditional sales messages because they demonstrate how your products can make daily tasks easier or enable customers to do something that they couldn’t do before. Make these photos as active as possible so that people will want to get in on the action themselves.

Don’t Forget the Hashtags
Content on Instagram has a very fast turnover rate, so you can’t rely on your images to stay on followers’ feeds for long. Hash-tags give your posts some permanence by associating them with trending subjects and topics that are pertinent to your brand. Research hash-tags the same way that you do keywords. See what’s currently generating the most clicks and pick terms that are focused rather than general. Use at least one but not more than five hash-tags per post to improve visibility.

Engage Your Community
KISSmetrics reports that 41 percent of people say they would follow a brand on social media to get exclusive promotions. Take advantage of this by posting discounts available only to your loyal followers. Running contests that encourage customers to post photos under a custom hash-tag is another great way to get people involved with your brand. You can use an app to re-post the best photos with a shout-out to the original poster thanking them for helping to spread the word. Responding to comments on a daily basis also keeps you connected to your customers by showing them that you appreciate their feedback.

Go Local
When your company hosts or participates in events, add geotags to your posts to target nearby customers using location-based SEO tactics. Geo-tagging shows where a photo was taken and can help customers to find your business when they want to purchase your products in person. Remember to take and post photos along with relevant hash-tags throughout each event to encourage people to come and meet the people behind the brand that they love.

Adding Instagram to your marketing toolkit helps you reach the 38 percent of buyers who say that a brand’s social media activity influences their purchasing decisions. Use this platform to expand your following, build relationships and stay engaged with your target audience. As your following grows, you’ll be able to rely more on these customers to spread the word about your brand and promote relevant hash-tags that draw attention and deliver measurable returns.

Search Optics Inc is a leader in digital marketing solutions for the automotive industry. Automotive marketing by Search Optics includes custom websites, search engine optimization, paid search and mobile solutions that generate leads which result in sales opportunities. Search Optics specializes in car dealer marketing and automotive SEO services. For more details, please visit http://www.searchoptics.com.