Set Up for Success ​on Instagram

A brand is no longer what we tell our customers it is – it is what the customers tell each other it is

Instagram is a big piece of the market in our digital age. After all, 60% of the 600 million monthly users become familiar with products on the site, and 75% have acted after seeing a brand's post (Advertising Age Research).

If you own a small business as an artist and you aren't getting a piece of that pie, then you are missing out. However, setting up an Instagram account that brings in business isn't just about making an account and throwing up some photos. Successful Instagram accounts manage to bring in new followers while maintaining and engaging the ones they already have. They have a plan, and they work their plan.

Plan Your Feed

Instagram can initially come across as a platform where people post in the moment. When you're posting for your business, though, it is wiser to plan your feed ahead of time. This allows you to determine whether the overall look of your feed is consistent with your brand, and it gives you a chance to plan your marketing strategy ahead of time.

Both of these will not only draw potential customers to your small business but will make them more likely to follow you and interact with your feed.

There are apps available that make planning your feed easy. PREVIEW is one of the most popular, though it requires payment for advanced features. UNUM is completely free, but it does not have quite as many features as Preview. Both of these will load your existing feed, then allow you to upload photos, type your captions, and include your hashtags. You can even move your images around to see how that changes the look of your feed. It is important to note that these apps cannot post to Instagram for you, but they can remind you when it is time to post and make that process easy.

Show Your Face

One of the things that Instagram does best is show the person behind the business or the brand. To use this to its maximum potential, be sure to include pictures of yourself in your feed!

Be sure to show your face, and show yourself doing the everyday activities that make your business special. This helps your customers see you as a real person, rather than some vague entity out in the online ether which is trying to get them to spend more money.

Sharing images of yourself on your Instagram feed also gives you a unique way to showcase some aspects of your business that you may not otherwise reveal to your followers. If you sell clothing or jewelry, wear some in your pictures. If you work with your hands, take photos of yourself doing your work. Giving your followers this kind of behind the scenes view into your business will help them to feel more connected to you and therefore more likely to buy from you.

Consider Your Copy

It probably isn't much of an exaggeration to say that there are a million tutorials out there telling you how to format your photos for your Instagram feed. While photos are key, the copy that goes with them is important, too. It needs to be compelling, inviting, friendly, and authentic if you're going to attract people to your brand.

This goes beyond making sure your spelling and grammar are correct. Pay attention to your tone, your attitude, and how "really you" your words sound.

It can be helpful to think of the photo and the copy as two different ways of giving your followers a view of the same thing. Just as you craft your image, choosing the right light and the proper angle, you want to craft your copy. Your photo may grab a follower's attention, but it's your copy that will keep them there, move them to follow you, and keep them engaged in your feed and your business's offerings.

Find Your Hashtags

Hashtags are key to Instagram success. Whether you like them or not, you will need to use them well if you want to have a successful feed. Otherwise, it will make your profile much harder to find, and all of your other Instagram marketing tactics won't reach anyone.

There are several good ways to find hashtags that will fit your business. If your competitors have feeds, see which hashtags they use. You may not want to just copy and paste the same ones, but it will give you a good place to start. You can also type a hashtag into the writing area under any Instagram post, and the site will automatically load tags that start with those letters. This helps you find tags related to ones you've already found, or to terms that are keywords in your industry. Instagram will also tell you how many posts are currently using that hashtag. Finally, you can use the site's search feature to look up hashtags you think you might want to use, to make sure that the content is in line with your brand.

Track Your Data

When you're using Instagram for business, it matters how many people see your content and how they interact with it.

If you set up your Instagram profile as a business page, Instagram itself will give you some basic data. You can click on "View Insights" below any post to get information on how many people saw the post, how many people engaged with it in some measurable way, and how they interacted with it. Keep track of this data over time to see how your account is growing and changing.

This data can also help you figure out when to post. Different groups of Instagram users tend to be online at different times. If you keep track of the days and times of your posts, you can go back and see how people interacted with them. Over time, you will figure out when you get the most engagement, and you can utilize that to highlight certain posts and spread your business's reach.
Follow these steps, add some images that dazzle, and you will be well on your way to building a successful Instagram feed for your small business. Before long, you may see more activity through your account than you would have thought possible.