How to use Instagram to boost your business

Lubna Hamdan: It has more than 300 million accounts and shares over 70 million photos and videos every day. Instagram has taken the world by storm since it became the trendier rival to Facebook and Twitter. Celebrities like Kim Kardashian (31+ million followers) and Cara Delavigne (11+ million followers), don’t go a day without posting on the app.
And the list doesn’t stop there. Instagram has helped countless “average” people become famous, like fitness fanatic Jen Selter, who became a model, and Lebanese socialites the Abdelaziz sisters, who became reality TV stars.
Like all social media, Instagram offers opportunities, if used correctly. So here are Arabian Business’ eight ways to use the platform for the sake of your business.
1. Hashtag that: People use hashtags on Instagram to find posts about topics they’re interested in. So if you’re an online retailer who wants people to visit your Instagram page, start putting hashtags related to your products on your pictures. If your Spring Summer collection just came out, hashtag SS15 under a photo of a dress from the line.
You can increase your Instagram followers by using hashtags efficiently. You can check which hashtags are most popular on Google trends.
Interestingly, wishpond.com, a marketing software website, found that brands on Instagram with over one thousand followers received an average 21.21 interactions per post. But accounts with less than one thousand followers who used 11 hashtags on a post, received an average of 77.66 interactions.
2. Post on Thursdays: Although Instagram has traffic 24/7, it has the most posts on Thursday at 11pm Eastern Standard Time (EST) in the US, stated Fortune 500. If people are posting, it probably means they’re checking out other posts as well. Though it’s a small tip, posting on a Thursday could get you more coverage than usual, and no business minds extra (positive) coverage. Other good times to post, according to the Huffington Post, would be 5pm on Sunday and 7pm on Monday. As for Instagram videos, 9pm to 8am EST is the best time to post them.
3. Interact with your followers: You could do that by providing your consumers with a hashtag associated with your brand and ask them to post it whenever they’re using your products, reported social media coach Debbie Hemley. As a result, you’ll be getting user generated content, which draws attention to your brand. The followers of your customers would view their posts and be exposed to your trademark.
4. Connect Instagram with Facebook and Twitter: If you haven’t already done this, you should, according to eukhost.com, a web hosting website. Connecting these three platforms together will give your business more exposure. And it’s pretty easy. Facebook is already linked to Instagram. As for Twitter, even if its users have a different username on it, Instagram will link the two as well. And while you’re doing that, it’s also a good idea to comment and like other people’s posts. If you want people to invest time in you, you must invest some time in them.
5. Instagram competition: Remember when the Crown Prince of Dubai, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, famously known as Faza3, started #MyDubai? It has got more than four million hashtags since its creation last year. Competitions attract people, especially when there’s a prize. Not long ago, General Electric (GE) created a campaign on Instagram by showing their followers the “behind the scenes” of the company. It included everything from factory grounds to research laboratories. They shared the enterprise’s four ways of working: Building, Powering, Moving, and Curing. They then challenged people to take pictures that best describe these terms. The person with the best picture was offered the position of GE Instagram photographer.
6. Add Instagram to your website: This is a given if you’re using Instagram to market your business. In order to extend the reach of your content, embed the social media app into your website. It could get you more audience, and you won’t have to pay a dime for it!
7. The trending hashtag: It’s all about the hashtag when it comes to this media platform. For example, in the recent Elton John and Dolce and Gabbana feud, the #boycottD&G went viral on Instagram. #MCM which stands for Man Crush Monday is an example of a trending hashtag that’s used globally. Look up trending hashtags and use them for your business’ Instagram page.
8. Instagram for business: Because so many businesses use Instagram for marketing and brand loyalty, the platform has created a blog called Instagram for business. Through the website, it provides advice for those who wish to use the platform for their enterprise, and success stories of those who already have.