3 Ways To Use Instagram For Your Business
Okay so we already know that insta is the best way to do your free marketing.
It's a way for us to authentically connect with our audience/dream client, and gives us the ability to properly vet who we work with/for.
Today, we want to get into three ways that you can utilize the app for your business, and we are going to get a little technical. Keep your hat on and maybe grab a coffee or tea.
Let's get into it!
Tip #1: Switching between "most popular" and "following"
This one is a bit tricky, so we'll share some screenshots to guide you along.
One of the new features of Instagram has actually been a positive one. Over the years, it seems that these apps like to mess with us, and switch things up just when we're getting comfortable.
For the longest time, you only saw who you followed on your feed and you saw it in the order it was posted. Meaning, there was even more need to post at the right time so your followers could engage.
But then, things took a turn, and Instagram started to show us what we engaged with most, and even started showing us ads and sponsored posts. While this is also helpful for business (which we'll get into later), it did cause some ruffled feathers, because it completely took away the ability to target your audience at specific times, and started pushing people's accounts to the bottom of the page, where most people don't even get to.
And unfortunately, the less people engage with your posts, or vice versa, the less those posts will pop up on the main feed, and the account will take a decline.
So now what? Thankfully, Insta has done yet another update, which allows us to switch between these two types of scrolling. You can now choose if you want to stay on the main feed, which shares the most popular accounts you follow and the ones you engage with most, or switch to see your followers posts in chronological order.
And why is this helpful for your business? Because now you can start to engage with ALL the accounts you follow on a more frequent basis. You will be able to target different audiences based on different times of day, and you will avoid missing something important that someone may have posted.
On the flip side, now that YOU know about this hack, you can share this with your followers so they can start to see YOUR posts on a more frequent basis, too!
Tip # 2: Boosted and sponsored posts
While this isn't a free hack, it CAN be an affordable one that really get's you results.
Boosting your posts on Instagram can start at just $2/day for whatever duration the ad is running.
The nice thing about this, just like Facebook, is that you can choose how many people you want to target and find your budget based on that number. The more people you want to reach, the more it will cost of course, but this can get you in front of thousands of people if you use it right.
Tip #3: Liking/reacting to stories
This is a pretty new but fun way to engage with who you're following.
If you use Instagram to get clients, which pretty much all of us in the online space do, then this can be an awesome way to engage with someone who's attention you want to grab, without starting a conversation that comes off as random.
Random equals cold sales, and people hate that.
So if you see a story from someone who you want to engage with more, send them a little like or reaction if it doesn't seem worth it to reply directly.
It's important to know when and how to use all of Instagrams tools, and going in for the kill right away can sometimes turn people off.
Nurture that relationship and let them know that you're always watching, not just when it's convenient for you!
