Instagram is far more than just a colourful digital photo album – numerous companies have long discovered the app for themselves and use the social media platform, with its over 400 million users and wide reach, to literally visualise their brand message and connect with customers and interested parties. The number of followers, likes, and comments are undoubtedly visible indicators of success at first glance, but what truly makes a good Instagram account and how can you use the app's features to your business's advantage? We'll tell you in five simple tips.
Timing
As is often the case, little works without proper planning. To stay current, an editorial calendar should be fixed, and the timings for individual posts should be well thought out, especially concerning events, competitions, or promotions. A certain regularity of postings is important to stay in users' minds. The Latergramme app can help you plan the publication of posts in advance. Make sure that engagement on your profile is not neglected so that users are happy to return.
Goal Setting
It is also helpful to set clear goals for what you want to achieve with your Instagram presence in the long term. Realistic milestones can serve as a measure of success. Also, consider what added value the account should bring to your followers. For example, a restaurant can post photos of its weekly specials or daily dishes online to keep its customers informed. A hair salon can use the platform to showcase hairstyles, which has the potential to generate new clients. What also goes down well: providing insights into workflows or presenting individual products in detail.
Quality
Which brings us to point number three: a high quality of contributions is a prerequisite for being taken seriously. A mix of image and video material is very popular with Instagram users and ensures a varied feed. Instagram offers Boomerang and Hyperlapse, two of its own video tools for download. Make sure that your captions harmonise with the image and video content and, where appropriate, encourage direct interaction. Instagram posts are excellent as teasers for new campaigns, blog articles, or YouTube videos.
Hashtags
Hashtags are used to mark keywords with a preceding hash symbol, which makes it easier to search for specific terms and similar posts on social networks. The chosen hashtags should help make the content easily accessible to the target audience and solidify your positioning. With the help of popular, frequently used hashtags, you can reach a broad audience. For so-called "hashtag campaigns," dedicated hashtags are created and then used across various social media channels. The aim is to motivate the community to use the company's hashtag under their photos too, which experience shows works best with emotional campaigns and as part of competitions.
Network
This creates interaction. By using hashtags, sensibly commenting on photos, linking and following people, and sharing posts on other social media channels, you constantly expand your reach. You can also seek interaction with specific business partners. With industry influencers, especially bloggers, you can, for example, create a more personal approach to your products through collaborations. As in all social networks, the crucial thing, in the end, is to establish a certain closeness to your users. This is achieved by making them the focus of communicative activities in a varied and creative way and by interacting with them in a human manner.
