For which Instagram businesses are best suited
Instagram is one of the most popular and dynamically developing social networks in Ukraine, second only to Facebook. Probably, there are no celebrities or famous blogger who does not have an Instagram profile.
This is a wide field for doing business online – there are a lot of people here at the same time , and these are different target audiences. But for such an account to be profitable, it must be properly managed.
In this article, we will analyze what you must do to achieve success building your own business on Instagram.
The success of a business on this social network depends on several factors. First of all, here it is worth trying to sell goods and services from the B2C category, especially those that are well visualized. These are, for example, clothing, accessories, beauty treatments, various weight loss programs, tourism and much more. Do not forget that Instagram is dominated by a female audience, which also affects the success of a particular type of business.
Instagram is a social network of a visual and entertainment nature, so it is enough to promote serious topics, goods or services from the B2B category here hard. The investment of time and money on promotion is unlikely to justify itself.
6 proven tips to help you create a successful account
A significant number of personal and business accounts are created every day, so the competition is quite high , however, as well as a chance to get lost even with a unique offer. Before starting work here you need to understand that this is really work: daily, serious, planned. Do not wait for a miracle and think that as soon as you start your profile, orders will tumble, as if from a cornucopia. To create a successful account, you should pay attention to the following points:
1. Getting it right is part of winning
The first thing that a visitor to your page sees is a profile photo (avatar), title, basic information and description. All this should immediately answer the questions: what are you doing, where, how to contact you?
Putting a photo on your avatar in person is only worthwhile if you are promoting a personal brand – yourself, your beloved (for example, as a culinary or beauty guru). In all other cases, it will be appropriate for a business profile to place a logo, possibly against the background of some kind of photo, which will explain the direction of the activity. You need to keep in mind the size of the avatar and its shape, so you really need to work on the logo.
The name should also immediately make it clear what you are doing. For example, if this is a sale of underwear, then “Bustier”, if something from public catering, then write “Pizzeria Cipollinno”. Photographers, makeup and manicure masters, also sign the line of business. The main rule here is simplicity. The name should be easy to remember.
Description is a block of up to 150 characters in which you should briefly describe what you are doing. For example, a balloon company can list the types of its services: helium balloons with delivery, decoration of holidays, decoration of photo zones. Only you need to do this in the form of a list using emoji.
Contacts must be specified so that a potential client has a choice of how to contact you, and the trust in such accounts is higher … This can be a phone number, a link to the main site, or the ability to write a message in any of the instant messengers.
These 4 main parameters are the clothes by which your account is met and judged whether it is worth looking further or simply not waste time and leave.
2. Planning content
Posts, their subject matter, appearance and text need to be planned. Moreover, at least 3-4 weeks in advance. They should not be spontaneous, otherwise it will be porridge. The division into topics depends on the type of product / service, the chosen niche. If conditionally, then the division can be as follows:
- Product / service “face”. This is especially true for online stores. It is imperative to post what you are selling, make a description of it.
- Training. Yes, you can also learn here: talk about how to choose the right product, what is the difference between materials, what there are trends. A photographer, for example, can explain how to prepare for a photo shoot – there are many options.
- Fun. Always being serious is boring. Arrange promotions, giveaways, post just humorous posts.
Each of the paragraphs can be expanded by making subparagraphs – it all depends on the business.
When the topics are formed in a strict order of placement , you need to write a text to them. The description of the product should be specific, answering all the questions: material, size, price, etc. You need to write in an interesting, simple, accessible way. Nobody will read boring longreads. Here are some more tips:
- ask questions to build engagement with your audience;
- use comments to post part of information;
- post with testimonials from customers (real).
3. Posting Rules
It’s a bad idea to post whenever you want. There are statistics for business accounts on Instagram. There you can see in detail on which days of the week and at what time the most of your subscribers are online. There are also the following rules:
- the online store is recommended to post several posts a day, but you should not be spamming;
- for the service sector, you can limit yourself to 3-4 posts per week ;
- on weekends, there are fewer posts from other users, so the chances of seeing yours are higher;
- on Friday, most target audiences are preparing for the weekend, so commercial posts have low rates, but this is the time for announcements of cafes, bars, restaurants.
Do not look somewhere for universal answers that it is best to fast on Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 7 to 11 am or from 3 to 5 pm. This is all individual, depending on the field of business, niche, characteristics of the target audience. Better to experiment with your posts for a couple of weeks, study your statistics, adjust.
4. Preparing a photo
Do not forget that Instagram is a visual network, here they first evaluate the picture, and then read the text. Therefore, photographs should be given special attention. To do this, do not forget:
- photos must be of high quality , it is unacceptable to use unattractive images in a business account;
- is enough modern smartphone for high-quality pictures;
- use only 1-2 filters when processing , but these should be the same filters;
- keep in mind that Instagram photos are square , not rectangular.
5. We use hashtags
Many users do not even realize that hashtags are not just a collection of words written together. It is for them that a search occurs on the social network when visitors are looking for someone or something. Therefore, it is worth getting at least 1 branded hashtag, the rest can be used at will (you can insert up to 30 at a time).
To prevent the social network from blocking a post or profile, you should not use a permanent set words in the same order. But the more search queries are used, the higher your chances are that when searching, for example, the manicurist in Zaporozhye will find you.
6. More activity
Everyone loves gifts, your subscribers are no exception. Conduct various contests, promotions, give away prizes. You can hold joint events with other accounts – Instagram offers many options for activities, including posting information in stories, maintaining live broadcasts.
And do not forget that you cannot go far without advertising, even here you cannot do without it. Submit sponsored posts, track statistics, adjust inputs and budgets. And don’t believe those who say that you can promote your business online quickly and without investing in a paid advertising campaign.
The main mistakes to avoid when working with Instagram
Aspiring entrepreneurs are often simple do not understand what and how it works here, why do something all the time, earn likes, comments and reposts, therefore they do not take account management seriously, neglecting the rules described above. And this is one of the main mistakes.
A business profile should be regarded as a site that requires promotion. And the social network is based on these criteria and selects what users are more interested in. And if you do not constantly remind yourself, others will quickly take your place, and customers will leave for them.
Also, the most common mistakes include:
- Bots in subscribers. On the one hand, there is more trust in the pages with more subscribers. But on the other hand, you need real people to shop. The use of bots has long been exhausted as a filling tool. You can also get blocked for this.
- Mass following. This is when you start subscribing to everyone in a row, expecting a mutual subscription. But here the situation is approximately the same as with bots. Now less than 3% of users subscribe mutually. And sending more than 60 invitations per hour will not be given by the rules of the social network (by the way, there are restrictions on unsubscribing too).
- There is no understanding who your target audience is. And if so, then you yourself do not do not position. This means that you have a lot of “outsiders” in your subscribers, and your ad budgets are spent incorrectly.
And in conclusion
At its core, in terms of content requirements, an Instagram business account is no different from a regular website. Therefore, he needs to pay constant attention – this is the daily work on planning, preparing content, answering questions, maintaining stories and live broadcasts. At the same time, do not forget that the form of submission is not less important than the content.
Instagram is constantly improving, offering new tools, removing or blocking old and ineffective ones, so do not be afraid to try – there are no universal recipes, but only general recommendations.