Instagram Stories and How They Can Help You Improve Your Business

The Instagram social network today is experiencing a real boom in popularity globally. Posts get more user attention than posts on Facebook, with a lot of likes, comments, and shares, as well as video reviews.

On the other hand, a large number of companies are constantly lagging behind when it comes to internet marketing. Of course, the consequence is the underutilization of Instagram‘s potential for promotion, leaving one huge advertising resource completely untapped.

Instagram is a platform that allows you to be creative, to innovate and represent a brand in an unconventional way. It is intended primarily for entertainment, but many often use it for business purposes. People are looking for inspiration on this social network. Consumers are looking for recommendations or reasons against buying a product. This allows consumers to manipulate the reputation of your brand and that is why you need to know how this platform works.

What does this mean for you?

So it’s a good time to use Instagram to popularize your brand, attract new customers, increase profits, and drive competition away. And in exactly that order.

First, we will explain how to do your stories best, and then the rest of the profile, because, without one, the other cannot be completed.

The first thing you need to do is…

Convert Account to “Business”

The option to convert an account to Business has been introduced. If you use your account for business, take advantage of this option and allow followers to contact you more easily. Your basic information (e-mail, phone, address, etc.) will be clicked by your target groups.

Stories

Stories allows users to post more photos without overwhelming the main feed, and therefore the followers. Stories are great for behind-the-scenes content and usually have lower quality photos and videos, which is right up to the algorithm itself. Like Snapchat Stories, your Instagram Story disappears after 24 hours.

The important thing about stories is that you remember to be authentic. While your profile feed should show edited photos, Story posts can be a little raw. Use this feature to show off behind-the-scenes happenings of your brand or showcase your company culture.

Stories are also a useful tool for displaying live events that you organize or attend. It also serves to bring you closer to your customers and showcase your authenticity and variety of content. For more detailed tips on this topic, visit Kontentino and you will find in-depth article on how to manage your stories.

Profile optimization

Notice that the only information that appears on your profile is a link to your website and a short bio. Depending on the actions, promotions, etc. you carry out at any given time, you can freely change the link because it is clickable. This will save followers time and prevent them from wandering around the site.

As for the biography section, use it to tell what you do, what values you stand for and what people can expect. Also, list the branded hashtags you will use and which fans can follow you.

For your profile picture, of course, place your logo that makes you recognizable. Make sure that the picture is cropped and make sure it is clear.

Start following others

Start following many people, but also competitors and those who are engaged in a similar activity as you, should provide you with an initial capital of a few hundred followers. Focus specifically on those who belong to your target group. You can reach them by following the hashtags related to your industry and discussing the posts. Apps like Kicksta allow you to choose your target audience and automatically does the liking for you.

Do not forget about influencers from your profession. Their likes are worth far more than anything else.

Also, contact your web administrator. Make sure to include Instagram on your site, in addition to the Facebook and Mail icon, and can post a few recent posts from this network. At the same time, invite your fans from your profiles on other networks to follow you on Instagram as well.

Set goals

All the time and resources you invest in your company’s Instagram appearance must be driven by the goal you want to achieve. Depending on what you do, it could be: Increasing sales, more visits to your website, increasing brand popularity, increasing customer satisfaction, attracting talented people, making contact with influencers.

Whatever you set as your goal, ensure that it is:

Precise – set clear definitions to avoid wandering and wasting your time on irrelevant things.

Measurable – Provide the ability to track how far you have traveled on the way to your destination.

Attainable – Aim for goals that are challenging but possible and doable. Don’t try to conquer the world overnight.

Realistic – Be honest with yourself and aware of what you and your team are prepared to do. Remember to include potential road problems in your account as well.

Time limit – always set deadlines. To say “we will accomplish something one day” usually means never, and that entails the destruction of everything you have built.

This technique of setting smart goals or S.M.A.R.T. method, is your great ally in promoting the brand

Content posting strategies

Random browsing of photos and other people’s posts, sporadic posting of motivational quotes, lunch photos or beautiful nature pictures are great things for private use of social networks.

Business is business. If you want the right results, a large, strong and loyal community, you need a marketing plan for the show. Keep in mind 4 things:

1. The time when you upload content

And how often do you do that …

If your followers have the impression that your posts are too frequent, even if they are the best in the world, they will become bored and develop blindness for them. The right measure needs to be found.

2. Content of posts

The rule is simple – mix. Especially if it’s purely sales content. Keep in mind that posting should be helpful to followers as this is the only way to keep their attention and ensure that they keep coming back. Cover a variety of topics related to your business, create a contest, offer humor and fun.

People are especially interested in what goes on behind the scenes of your brand. Not just a finished and polished product.

3. Be instantly recognizable

60% of the most famous brands, for every photo or video they post, use the same filter! By doing so, they actually define their style and become recognizable in the eyes of the companion. You need to have a visual identity.

Why is it important? Your goal is that while someone scrolls through posts, they pause to see and interact with your post. It is far easier to capture the attention of a follower if it recognizes your post right away.

4. Use hashtags wisely

Identify relevant hashtags for your business. Take a look at what competitors and influencers are using and make sense of your branded hashtags.

Don’t overdo it. Yes you can put up to 30 hashtags, but the recommendation is 3-5 and, instead of simply listing them at the end, try integrating them into the post itself.

Instagram, as a network with high growth potential and constant innovation in the business profile sector, is certainly a social network worth considering for inclusion in your marketing plan in the digital world.