Social media is an important and powerful tool in developing a business, it’s fast, current, capable of reaching a large audience, and with the right advice, it’s relatively easy to get yourself stuck into! In particular, let’s focus on Instagram (a personal favourite).

Instagram is a creative social networking app made for sharing pictures and videos and has created a huge marketing power for businesses. This platform is a great way of reaching and growing your audience and keeping your business up to date. Bonus – it’s super easy to use.

There are various tools you can use to take advantage of Instagram, here are a few of the best:

Hashtags

Hashtags are vital and should accompany every image you post in order to reach a wider audience. Start by doing some research, have a look at popular hashtags that relate to your business, what you want to achieve, and who you are aiming your business at.

Tip: Don’t spam your posts with hundreds of hashtags, instead pick a handful of the most relevant ones!

Slideshows

Slideshows allow for a couple of photos to be posted together as one single post. They can have a similar theme but the images should be different. For example, a fashion brand may post two photos of the same item of clothing, however, they could be showing how it could be worn in multiple ways.

Tip: Keep it simple. The simpler the image the clearer the message is going to be to the viewer.

Stories

Over half of all businesses on the platform use Instagram stories! Let’s look at a couple of sub-sections on how you can boost this tool:

  • Tapping text

Take a photo for your story and type text over the top to add to your message/image. This can then be ‘built up’ using the same photo in succession but with additional text to encourage the viewer to keep tapping through your story.

  • Polls

A great way to encourage interactions with your audience, and an even better way for them to give you quick and easy feedback! Simply post a photo to your story and swipe up to create a poll on your given image. Then sit back and wait for the results.

  • Go live

Exactly what it says, you can stream live videos on your story and interact with viewers as you go. Again, this is a great way to open up interaction and encourage feedback. It also shows a ‘human’ and fun side to the company.

Tip: Stories are one of the best tools you can use, you can see exactly who has been watching yours! Helpful when you need to know how far your posts are reaching.

Boomerangs

Boomerangs are a one-second mute video on loop. These are a creative and unique way to get a message about your brand out there, simple to create and even easier for your audience to digest. They can be a fun way to add to your brand’s image and highlight what you are about as a business.

Feed layout

Sticking to a theme throughout your feed can also help you stand out. Think about how you can use colours, patterns, products, and text to keep your page interesting but also consistent. For example, some businesses and bloggers use each column within the feed as a set ‘mini-theme’ which really stands out when audiences look at the profile and feed.

These are just a few ways you can use Instagram as a powerful marketing and promotional tool. It’s constantly updating with new features, it’s quick and easy to use and it has the ability to reach a wide audience making it one of the most creative and fun apps for social networking.

Want to see what we get up to at Approach Towers? Check out our Instagram page.

(Image sourced on Pixabay)