Instagram Polls: The Complete Guide for Small Businesses
What is an Instagram Poll?
An Instagram poll is a poll that you can post to your Instagram Story to allow your followers to vote on various topics. For example, a poll could be created to ask followers which product they like better, A or B. The great thing about Instagram polls is that they are completely customizable – you can use them to ask your followers their opinions on just about anything!
What are the Benefits of Instagram Polls?
Instagram polls allow you to view real-time data that is highly relevant for your business. It allows you to better understand your customers and to get feedback from them extremely quickly. You can then use the data from Instagram polls to make smarter business decisions. Everything from product design to marketing can benefit from Instagram polls.
Another key benefit of Instagram polls is that many followers find them entertaining and enjoy participating in them. After all, who doesn’t like having their opinion heard? Polls are also highly shareable and if you create polls that are interesting enough to your followers, there is a good chance that they will share them!
Essentially, Instagram polls not only help you to get extremely valuable feedback from your customers, but they also help to generate attention for your brand and keep your followers and customers engaged. For all of these reasons, your business should be using Instagram polls regularly if you are not already doing so.
How to Use Instagram Polls
The first thing that you need to know about Instagram polls is that they are only available to use through Instagram Stories. So, you are going to have to create an Instagram Story if you would like to use Instagram polls. Don’t know how to create an Instagram Story? We got you covered with this Instagram Story ultimate guide. And while you’re at it, make sure to check out our complete guide for Instagram business categories.
Here is how to create an Instagram poll step-by-step:
Step 1. Create a Story Post
For your Story post, you can use a photo, text or video for your background. However, if you are going to use a photo for your Story post, then you should try to make the image as relevant as possible for the poll. You do not want to use a random photo because that will confuse your audience. You should apply any filters, text, emojis, or doodles before you post the poll. But, make sure that you leave some room in the post for the poll.
Step 2. Add a Poll to Your Story Post
To do this, you click on the sticker icon at the top of the story screen. The sticker icon is the square with the face. Once you have clicked on the sticker icon, click on the poll sticker option. After you have clicked on the poll sticker option, you will be given a choice to add your question and a “Yes/No” poll box will appear. You will then be given the chance to type in your question. You can choose any question that you want to ask. Just make sure that it is appropriate for your audience and complies with all Instagram rules. If you don’t want the responses to be “Yes/No” you can tap on the boxes and write in any responses you want. So, for example, if you want your followers to choose between a red product and a blue product, then you can write “Red/Blue” in the answer boxes.
Step 3. Position Your Poll
Once the poll sticker is created, you will have to position it on your story post. You should pick a spot where it fits and looks good. You can move the poll to any area of the screen and you can pinch it to make it smaller or larger, just like you can do with any other sticker. You want to make sure that the poll sticker is large enough to read comfortably, but not so large that it blocks out the rest of your post. This is especially true if you are using a high-quality image that is relevant for your poll – you want your audience to be able to see the image too. So, make sure to choose a position for your poll and then move on to the next step.
Step 4. Share Your Story and Poll
After you have completed the first three steps, the next step is to share your Story with the poll! You do this by adding it to your Stories. Once you have posted your Story with the poll, viewers will be able to see the post and respond to the poll question. If your followers have never seen an Instagram poll before, then they may even be given a prompt that explains to them what it is when they click on it. Hopefully, once your Story and poll are live, a lot of your followers will share the poll and give their answers. If they do this, then you can get a lot of valuable data from your poll.
Step 5. Enable Push Notifications
Make sure that your push notifications are enabled for Instagram on your phone. This way, you will be able to get a notification when someone votes on your poll. Doing this will enable you to get real-time data on the polls. This is especially helpful if you need the data quickly. For example, if you are struggling to make a business decision that needs to be made ASAP and if you want to hear from your customers before you make the decision.
Using the Poll Data
Ideally, you will get all the data that you need from the poll within the first 24-48 hours. If you have never used an Instagram poll before, you might be surprised at how clear the results are. However, even though polls oftentimes show one answer being the clear winner, sometimes the results are more even.
Instagram Story and poll data are extremely easy to use and understand. All that you have to do is look at the final results of the poll and see which answer won. Then you can take that feedback and use it to influence the business decision that you were trying to make. For example, if you set up an Instagram poll and asked customers if they preferred product A or product B, and if the results showed that they preferred product B, then you can focus a larger percentage of your marketing dollars promoting product B.
Other Helpful Tips
One great way to boost poll engagement is to create polls around topics that are trending. For example, if there is a big sports game coming up, you can create a poll around the sports game. People tend to get very excited and enthusiastic about hot trending topics, so you might be able to increase the amount of poll responses by making the polls about those topics.
Another thing that can increase poll engagement is if you use an emoji slider for your polls. In other words, if you let your poll participants respond to the poll with emojis, this can help to boost engagement. This is because many people like to use emojis on Instagram and would prefer to answer with an emoji as to a word.
Conclusion
Instagram polls are a win/win. You win by getting extremely valuable data from your followers and by creating higher levels of engagement. Your customers win by getting enjoyment from being able to give their opinions on things that interest them. Instagram polls are a great marketing tool and they can help you to get a much better understanding of the opinions of your followers and customers. If you have never tried using Instagram polls before, then you should give it a shot and see how you like the results. Many companies are very happy with the results that they get and continue using Instagram polls indefinitely.
50 Instagram Marketing Tips for Small Businesses in 2021
Instagram is a new marketing frontier for small businesses that has the potential to bring in many new customers in 2021 and beyond. As of July 2019, it was ranked #6 among the world’s most popular social networks, with over 1 billion users worldwide. Users love it for its strong visual focus and upbeat vibe.
The key to successfully utilizing Instagram marketing in 2021, as with other social networks, is building an engaged following and positioning yourself as part of the online community which could very quickly become your future customer base. If you are a small business owner finding yourself wondering how to do Instagram marketing, you’re in the right spot! We’ve rounded up 50 of our top Instagram tips for small business owners.
Here are 50 tips to successfully market your small business on Instagram in 2020:
1. Use a business account
When joining Instagram, you can select whether your account will be a personal account or a business account. The latter is ideal for business because it allows you to view analytics, connect your account with your Facebook page, run paid advertisements, and it makes it easier for followers to contact you. Starting off with a separate business account is crucial towards establishing your brand presence and will allow you to strategize and implement many of our Instagram marketing tips for all small businesses.
Check out this blog for everything you need to know about switching to an Instagram Business Account.
2. Fill in your bio
Instagram gives you 150 characters to tell potential followers everything they need to know about you. Use this space wisely. You can include hashtags in the bio, which can help more people find your profile. Make sure to include a link to your website.
3. Update your bio
As a small business on Instagram, it’s easy to fill in your bio and forget about it. If you haven’t updated your bio for awhile, it’s always good practice to review your Instagram bio and see if there’s any important updates that need to be made.
4. Establish your identity and look
Because Instagram is such a visual platform, the “look” of your profile matters. You want your followers to immediately associate your content with your brand. Using certain color palettes and fonts can help with this, as well as a certain style of image that’s consistent with your message.
5. See what your competitors are doing
Not sure where to start? See what other small and medium businesses like yours are up to on Instagram and draw on their ideas for inspiration. Take note of the kind of content they post, the hashtags they use, their visual language, and so on. You can also check to see how well they’re doing: how many followers do they have? How much engagement do they get on their posts? This will tell you how well their Instagram marketing strategy is working and give you ideas for things to do and not to do when planning out your own Instagram marketing strategy.
6. Create content pillars
Now that you’ve done your Instagram marketing research, there is one more step before you can begin planning your content. A key Instagram tip for your small business, is to create content pillars. Create a few themes for the types of content you plan to post about as part of your 2020 Instagram marketing strategy as a guide when scheduling your content.
7. Plan your content
Once you’ve created your content pillars, it’s time to decide what content you want to post and to be strategic about it: plan what you’re going to post at least on a weekly basis, if not for several weeks at a time.
8. Use hashtags strategically
Hashtags are one of Instagram’s most important features for businesses. They make it possible for people who don’t follow you to discover your content. Research has shown that using 7 or 30 hashtags per post performs best, but that it varies depending on how many followers you have. Instagram recently added a feature allowing you to see how many people found your post through the hashtags. This can help you measure how effective your hashtags are at generating engagement. Don’t underestimate #hashtag strategy as a really powerful Instagram marketing tip for small businesses! Check out this blog for 7 quick tips to building an Instagram hashtag strategy.
9. Put hashtags in the comments section
Now that you know one of our top Instagram tips for a small business is to use hashtags strategically, there is one more tip you should test out. In order to keep your Instagram captions clean and easy to read, we recommend placing all of your hashtags as the first comment immediately after posting.
Here’s a post from @boosted_social that has the relevant hashtags placed in the first comment:
Last but not least, we can’t talk about the importance of including hashtags without sharing how important it is to test out new hashtags frequently. Create several lists of hashtags you like to use and periodically test out using different hashtags. Be sure to keep note of which posts and hashtags perform best to get the most out of this Instagram tip!
11. Use line breaks in long Instagram captions
If you have a long Instagram caption you need to use line breaks to make it easier for your customers to read the caption. If your small business has been using Instagram for a long time already, you might already know that inserting spaces in the Instagram app can actually be really difficult. The easiest way to create line breaks in your Instagram captions is by using symbols between the lines.
12. Embrace Instagram Stories
The Stories feature on Instagram has been making a huge splash and can definitely help a small business Instagram page. Stories appear at the top of followers’ feeds, which makes them stand out — and they’re a lot more dynamic than regular feed posts, with tons of cool features. You can post multiple Stories a day without cluttering up your followers’ feeds. Stories should be an integral part of your Instagram marketing strategy.
Check out this post for more insights on Instagram Stories.
13. Use video
Instagram isn’t just for stills! Videos are more engaging and fun, and you have multiple ways to post them on Instagram. Clips of up to 1 minute can be shared on the feed, 15-second clips can be strung together on Stories, and there’s even IGTV, the new feature that allows you to post videos of up to 10 minutes in length. Check out this blog for tips on how to create video content for Instagram, even if you’re just getting started.
You can also try out Boosted to create videos for Instagram – fast! Here’s a Father’s Day template from the app that you could customize for your brand:
14. Don’t be shy about direct messages
Direct messaging is more intimate than public discussion and may be considered more invasive. However, there are cases where it’s appropriate and can help your small business market on Instagram by building better relationships with your customers. For example, if someone writes a post or comment praising your business, sending a DM to thank them is a nice personal gesture. On the flip side, if someone says something negative or posts a negative review, moving the conversation to DM helps keep it out of the public eye and shows the customer that you’re taking their concerns seriously. Learn more about how to use Instagram direct messages here.
15. Actively engage with other users’ content
If you really want a strong presence on Instagram in 2021, you need to do more than simply post your own content. Interacting with other people’s posts and comments shows you are sincerely interested in your and not just trying to get their business.
16. Respond to comments
One of the most important tips for a small business learning how to do Instagram marketing is to always respond to comments. Don’t make the mistake of simply posting and forgetting about your post. Be sure to always respond to comments on your posts – your customers will appreciate the response and it shows that you care.
17. Engage actively
An Instagram business tip that is important for companies and influencers of all sizes is to actively engage with other Instagram accounts. Follow interesting accounts, like and comment on other people’s posts. The more they see you in their notifications, the more often they will think of you. And the more your customers are thinking of you, the more your small business will grow on and off of Instagram.
18. Encourage engagement with questions
The next level of engagement is posting content that encourages your followers to engage. For example, ask your followers to answer a question about themselves, or to tag another user who they think needs to see your message.
19. Use Stories to post interactive content
On Stories, you can do even more with this: use the emoji slider, quizzes, questions, and chats to get your followers actively interacting with your content. It’s always been important to create engaging content but with the rise of popularity of Stories, it is more important than ever to use stories to post interactive content as part of your 2021 Instagram marketing strategy.
Check out this blog to discover 3 things that might be negatively impacting your Story engagement – as well as how to fix each one.
20. Add calls to action wherever you can
This next tip isn’t only a great Instagram marketing tip for a small business, it’s also an important sales tip. It’s key to make it as easy as possible for your followers to move to the next stage of the sales funnel. Be straightforward and tell them what you’d like them to do next, such as clicking the link in your bio to learn more.
21. Post at peak times
Posting your content at times of highest traffic means you’re likely to get more engagement and interest. How do you know when is the best time to post? It varies, according to the nuances of your specific audience, and the best way to know the ideal time to post is to experiment and see what works best. Sprout Social conducted an experiment like this and found that the best times to post on Instagram were on Wednesdays at 11 a.m. and Friday between 10–11 a.m.
22. Collaborate with influencers and small businesses
When you collaborate with other businesses and influencers on social media, everybody wins. Having another Instagrammer review your product, run a competition with you, take over your account, or work with you to create joint content exposes you to a wider audience and can be lots of fun to launch!
23. Use paid ads
Even with all the above efforts, it can be a challenge for small businesses to reach new audiences organically on Instagram. A little paid advertising can go a long way. Instagram ads allow you to target very specific audiences, increasing your exposure to the people most likely to be interested in what you have to offer. This generates excellent conversion rates and often proves a good investment.
24. Craft unique content for Instagram
It makes life a lot easier to reuse the same content across all social networks, but this will get boring for people who follow you on multiple platforms. Furthermore, if they engage with that content on Twitter or Facebook, they probably won’t engage with the same thing on Instagram. You can still reuse content, but change it up a little: add a unique caption or alter the image a bit. And every so often, try to post something that’s exclusive to Instagram.
Instagram Story templates are a great way to create content that’s unique for IG – here’s everything you need to know about them.
25. Repost content with proper credit
While it’s great to create unique, high-quality content yourself for Instagram, as a small business you might not always have time to create content just for Instagram. A great Instagram marketing tip for small businesses especially is to repost content you like from other accounts, with proper credit of course. This not only helps solve the dilemma of what to post but this always helps you get on the original creator’s radar and they will appreciate the shout-out. Who knows, they might even repost your Instagram post and give your small business a shout-out too!
26. Offer exclusive discounts to Instagram followers
Nothing will make potential clients want to follow your Instagram account more than exclusive offers and discounts. Not only are unique offers likely to bring in new followers, they will also entice loyal followers from other platforms to follow you on Instagram, too — and that’s good news for your profile, because loyal followers who are already familiar with your brand are more likely to engage with your content.
27. Focus some of your content on your location
Especially if your business depends on a local market, put yourself on the map! Post photos of your daily life, your engagement with the local community, and recognizable local landmarks — and be sure to include some local hashtags. This will strengthen your brand image as a contributor to your immediate area. Check out this blog for Instagram marketing tips on how to reach local customers on Instagram as a small business.
28. Geotag your posts
Another powerful way to increase your Instagram small business’s connection with the local area is to tag your location in your feed posts and Stories. Geotagging will ensure that your content shows up in the results when people are searching for content from your area. To geotag a feed post, add your location on the caption editor page; to geotag a Story, use the location sticker.
29. Find potential customers by their location
Not only should you be geo-tagging your own content, but you should be finding potential customers through geo-tagged locations. Look up posts tagged in your city, tags for local businesses nearby or similar to yours and engage with those posts. Interact with content by location to strategically build Instagram follow base and find people who are most likely to become a future customer.
30. Up your photography game
The higher-quality your images are, the more professional your Instagram profile will look… and you don’t need to be a professional photographer to produce captivating images. Most smartphones have excellent cameras — and with just a little basic photography know-how, you can make your photos look amazing. Do a little research or consider taking a class to learn about the basics: lighting, composition, and so on. It’ll make a big difference. Another thing that will take your images up a level is learning to use a photo editor. You can use the native filters and editing capabilities on Instagram, or you can try your hand with something a little more sophisticated, like Photofox. Check out this Instagram Story Dimensions & Resolution Guide to ensure that all of the photos you add to your Stories are a perfect fit for your Instagram business page.
31. Craft compelling copy
Engaging copy in your photo captions and bio is no less important than high-quality images. If nothing else, double (and triple!) check your text before posting to ensure that you don’t have any embarrassing typos or grammar mistakes.
32. Use Highlights
The Highlights feature allows you to select collections of Stories to display right on your profile page. They’re a great way to showcase what your business is all about, and to get more mileage on the excellent content you produce for your Stories.
33. Announce new posts in your Stories
While we are talking about ways to use Stories to market your small business on Instagram, don’t forget to alway announce a new post on your Instagram feed in your Stories. Some of your customers might watch all of your Stories but may not see all of your Instagram posts in their feed. By sharing a new post on your Instagram Story, it’s an easy Instagram marketing tip for a small business to increase engagement on a post. Learn how to share a post from feed to your Instagram Story here.
34. Give shout-outs
While we are on the topic of shout-outs, one of our favorite and unique Instagram marketing tips for a small business to test out in 2021 is giving shout-outs to fellow small businesses. When you give a shout-out on Instagram it’s key to properly tag the accounts. Learn how to tag a small business on Instagram here.
35. Post about current events
Maybe one of the top Instagram marketing tips for 2021 is to post about current events. Traditionally, brands might have decided to not ‘get political’ but now it’s key to take a stance and post about current events as part of your 2021 Instagram marketing strategy – whether you are a big brand or a small business.
36. Keep an eye out for trends
This is another point where staying engaged with your followers and watching competitors and influencers comes in handy: there are trends in social media, and staying on top of them will keep your brand hot and relevant. Whether it’s a certain meme, a hashtag campaign, or specific types of content, adding your brand’s voice to the conversation can do a lot for your small business.
37. Organize a giveaway
Yes, giveaways are still a great Instagram marketing tip in 2021! Giveaways are a tried-and-true method of growing your following and increasing engagement. You can offer a free product, service, or coupon to be selected at random from users who follow your instructions. Asking them to tag a friend to enter the contest will help increase your exposure.
38. Monitor your following and keep tabs on your small business analytics
For small businesses just learning how to do Instagram marketing, you might not know where to start when looking at your small business’ Instagram analytics. To start, Instagram provides insights on your stats in the Insights page for Instagram business profiles — and you can learn a lot from watching them methodically. It will help you see what strategies are most effective: what kind of content creates the most engagement, optimal timing for posting new content, and lots more.
39. Follow new accounts
We already touched on following new Instagram accounts and engaging with them but this Instagram marketing tip deserves a bit more detailed explanation of why your small business should incorporate this Instagram growth tip as part of your marketing strategy going forward. Following new accounts helps you connect with more potential customers and puts you on the radar – often times people will follow you back right away and if not, they might follow you back after you like and comment on their content regularly.
40. Periodically unfollow accounts
And while we are talking about why you should follow new accounts, it’s also important for your small business to unfollow Instagram accounts periodically. This doesn’t need to be part of your small business marketing strategy everyday but this is something that you should do on a monthly basis. Go through your followers and unfollow any accounts that you do not engage with on a regular basis. In 2021, Instagram released a new feature called ‘least interacted with’ which makes this Instagram marketing tip extremely easy to do!
41. Use Instagram ‘save’ feature to save content you love
Did you know you can save content on Instagram similar to Pinterest? Use the Instagram ‘save’ feature to save content that you love, either as inspiration or content that you would like to repost eventually. Learn everything you need to know about Instagram Saves here.
42. Ask people to save your content for algorithm boost
One interesting 2021 Instagram marketing tip is to encourage your followers to save your content. It’s been said that content that has been saved is viewed as more valuable to the Instagram algorithm. So one way to give your small business a marketing boost on Instagram in 2021 is to ask your followers to save your content. Even better if you turn this into a giveaway!
43. Feature your Instagram account on your website
Is your small business already doing this super easy Instagram marketing tip? If not, be sure to make it easy for your customers to find your Instagram account on your website. This is a super simple Instagram marketing tip for small businesses to grow their Instagram followers.
44. Post important updates often
One reason people choose to follow a small business on Instagram is to get regular updates about your business. For example, have you changed your store hours? Are you hosting a sale? These are all things your customers need to know and it’s important to post about these updates when you are posting about your small business on Instagram.
45. Give sneak peeks
One of the easiest Instagram tips for a small business to market their products is to give their Instagram followers a sneak peek. Whether it’s an exclusive sneak peek of a new product or a tour of your work space, your followers will enjoy seeing a behind-the-scenes glimpse of your company and they will have another reason to keep following you.
46. Post consistently
For anyone just learning how to do Instagram marketing, our number one Instagram marketing tip in 2021 is to post consistently. Posting regularly and consistently helps keep your followers engaged and ensures your content will continue to show up in your customer’s Instagram feeds.
47. Dedicate a set time for social media every day
A great way to ensure your small business is able to keep up with your 2021 Instagram marketing plan is to set aside a dedicated time each day to work on social media. Whether you use this time to post on Instagram, respond to comments or create content for your small business to post on Instagram, it will be easier to post consistently if it’s part of your daily schedule.
48. Interact with stories
It’s very easy to respond with quick emojis to others Instagram stories. Easy way to interact frequently and stay top of mind with your customers. This lets them know you are watching their stories and you care about what they post.
49. Build relationships with influencers
As a small business you might not have the budget to pay for influencers as part of your 2021 Instagram marketing but this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t build relationships with them. Find local influencers and engage with their content frequently. After you’ve built a relationship with them through their comment section, DMs and stories you could ask them if it would be okay to send them a free sample.
50. Have fun!
And last but not least, don’t forget to have fun with it! Yes, there can be a lot of work involved when utilizing Instagram to market your small business but this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be able to have fun while doing it! If you aren’t having fun posting about your small business on Instagram anymore, maybe you can try to change up your schedule to still post consistently but less often. Or maybe it’s time to hire someone to help out with some of the social media marketing tasks so you can only focus on the Instagram marketing strategies that you do enjoy.
Check out some advanced Instagram marketing strategies & tips for small businesses:
9 Common Instagram Caption Mistakes That Tank Engagement: If you’re a small biz struggling to meet your engagement goals on IG, captions just might be the culprit. Learn about 9 caption mistakes that may be preventing your posts from reaching their full engagement potential.
3 Ways to Measure Your Brand’s ROI on Instagram: Small businesses have to stretch a dollar in order to succeed on social media – this guide will show SMB owners who to measure their Instagram ROI to ensure they are getting full value.
How to View Instagram Stories Without Anyone Knowing: You may want to view an IG Story without anyone knowing. Whether its a competing local business or you just want to remain anonymous, we will show you how.
How to Add Links to Instagram Stories: Does your business have a website or products to sell? Adding links to Instagram Stories is an underrated IG marketing tip for small business owners.
How to Delete an Instagram Story: If you uploaded an IG Story by accident, of it is no longer relevant to your business page, make sure you know how to delete it fast.
How to Tag Someone on Your Instagram Story: Tagging popular users and dedicated fan is an underrated marketing strategy for small business IG pages – learn how to do it here.
Instagram Story Questions: Asking a question on your IG Story is a great way to engage with users and help familiarize them with your business. This post shows you how to ask question on a Story, how to answer them, and more.
Instagram Story Dimensions & Resolution Guide: Everything from IG Story aspect ratio, dimensions, resolution, and format, as well as adjusting dimensions and converting files – this technical guide for your IG Story formatting will help ensure that your IG business page shines through on a professional level!
Instagram Story Games: A Guide: Whether you use Create Mode or game-like Stories, you can now begin to replicate what would be categorized as IG Story games, which could be a big hit with generating more engagement from your brand audience!
Instagram Story GIFs: A Guide: Adding GIFs to your Instagram Stories is a great way to make your IG business page more fun and engaging – learn how to add GIFs with our simple guide.
7 Quick Tips to Build an Instagram Hashtag Strategy
In the year 2021, hashtags are a fantastic way to reach new audiences on Instagram. They require very little effort and no cash investment, but they can lead people who may be interested in your content right to you.
But how do you choose the right Instagram hashtags for your post? How many should you use, and where should you put them? Whether you have a sleek video ad or image you want to share, the right IG hashtag strategy, alongside an awesome video maker and story editor can definitely help. Here are some 7 quick and effective tips to up your Instagram hashtag game:
1. Be conscious of the number and placement of your hashtags
In a recent study, SocialInsider examined 650,000 Instagram posts to determine how hashtag use affected their performance. What they found was that overall, posts with 7 or 30 hashtags hidden in the caption got the most engagement.
However, they found that the number, placement, and visibility of hashtags for optimal performance varied according to the profile size. Here are their profile-size-specific recommendations:
Number of followers
Number of hashtags
Placement
Under 5k
6
Hidden in caption
5k-10k
5
First comment
10k-50k
2
Hidden in caption
50k-100k
8
Hidden in caption
100k+
6
First comment
2. Hide your IG hashtags in the caption
If your brand is in any of the categories where hiding your hashtags in the caption is most effective, you may be wondering: how does one hide a hashtag?
Instagram limits the amount of text shown on your feed and hides additional text behind a “show more” link. Your goal is to get your hashtags to appear after that link. The problem is, when you’re keeping your captions short and sweet — always a good idea — how do you add enough text to keep your hashtags hidden?
The trick is to add line breaks. But this is a little harder than it sounds, because the Instagram app tends to wipe out line breaks added to text inputted directly to the caption editor.
The solution is to type your caption in a different text editor (like a note-taking app), then copy-paste. Type a character (a period is most inconspicuous, but you could also use asterisks or anything you like), then a line break, then another character, then another line break, until you have at least 5 lines. Add your hashtags underneath, and then copy and paste the whole thing into the Instagram caption editor.
Check out this example to see how it is done:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CK6Ymo_MZyN/
3. Find popular hashtags related to your brand
Check out what hashtags influencers and brands like yours are using. People interested in related content will be searching those hashtags and will therefore be more likely to come across your content. It’s a great way to ensure your posts are reaching appropriate audiences.
When you type a hashtag into the caption editor, Instagram will automatically tell you how many posts exist that use that hashtag. You can also use a hashtag finder or generator tool to help you discover hashtags related to your content.
4. Search Instagram hashtags before using them
Before you use a hashtag on Instagram, make sure search it yourself to see who is using it and what kind of content comes up. Just because a popular influencer or brand used it, doesn’t mean it’s appropriate for your content.
5. Combine popular IG hashtags with smaller niche hashtags
It’s the eternal dilemma of online advertising: should you use a popular search term/category/hashtag, which may have a wider reach, but a lot more competition? Or should you use a smaller niche one, which may not appeal to as wide an audience, but is more likely to be seen by people looking for that specific kind of content?
The answer is: both!
Popular photography hashtags can certainly put you on the map, but there are a lot of other Instagrammers on the map. Niche or location-based hashtags help you stand out to the audience that is most relevant to you. Use a combination of both in every post.
6. Keep a list
You don’t have to reinvent the wheel every time you post something on IG. Compile a list of hashtags relevant to your brand. That way, when you create a post, you can consult the list and choose appropriate hashtags without having to conduct exhaustive research all over again. You can also mark on this list how many times you’ve used each hashtag.
7. Switch it up
Varying your hashtags makes it possible to reach a wider and more diverse audience. People who search #sailing are not necessarily the same people who search #sailboats, but if you’re a sailboat rental company, it’s a good idea to reach all of them. Using different hashtags in each post gives you the opportunity to try out lots of different hashtags and see which ones get you the most engagement.
Remember that Instagrammers use hashtags to find content that interests and inspires them. By employing these tips and using a variety of relevant hashtags, you’ll help the people most interested in your message find you — and hopefully, become devoted followers and customers.
Check out how this post switches it up with the hashtag use in post and in the comments for a great variety of hashtags!
https://www.instagram.com/p/CKMoQi1hxND/
Instagram Hashtag Strategy Action Items:
1. Tweak the amount of hashtags you use, as well as the placement of your hashtags, according to the chart above. 2. Research hashtags relevant to your brand & industry. 3. Get organized. Keep a list of the hashtags you’re using and plan to use different hashtags for each post (remember to combine popular hashtags with smaller niche hashtags). 4. Check your Insights regularly to see how well your hashtag strategy is working. Within your Post Insights, you can see how many Post Impressions came from the hashtags you used.
7 Secrets For Entrepreneurs to Get The Most Out of Instagram Stories
By: Cori Widen, Product Marketing Lead at Boosted by Lightricks
Once you get the hang of it, Instagram Stories is an easy (and fun!) feature to help grow your business – but are you getting the most out of your Instagram Stories? We’ve rounded up 9 Instagram Story secrets that every entrepreneur should be aware of to give your Instagram Stories a design boost, increase social media reach and ultimately drive more sales. Keep reading to learn all about the latest Instagram Story updates, secret social media tips, engaging content ideas and more.
1.Check Out The New Font Options If you’ve ever wished Instagram Stories had a few more design options you are in luck! They’ve recently rolled out several new, beautiful font options. Make sure you’ve downloaded the latest Instagram app update to see the new Instagram fonts and give your Instagram Stories a design boost. If your Instagram account has access to the new fonts, you’ll see ten font options at the bottom once you’ve started typing your text. Not sure where to start with fonts? Here’s ‘5 Ways to Make Your Instagram Stories Stand Out’.
2. Use Fun Elements Like Music Possibly the easiest way to give your Instagram Stories an immediate boost of personality is to use fun features like music! Instagram offers a huge selection of songs to perfectly fit with all of your Instagram Stories. Tip: If the original audio isn’t great quality in a Story, simply turn ‘sound off’ and add in music to instantly improve your Instagram Stories. Need some more cool Instagram Story content ideas? Check out this article ‘50 Engaging Instagram Story Ideas for Your Brand’.
3. Promote Your Own Content Often Want to drive more sales for your business? Start promoting yourself more! Every time you post on Instagram, share your own post to your Instagram Stories and encourage your followers to check out your latest post and engage with your content. Tip: You can also re-share old posts you’ve posted in your timeline that are still relevant. This will help boost your engagement rates and help you re-purpose high-quality content. Want to revamp your Instagram content? You’ll want to check out our ‘21 Ideas to Revamp Your Social Media for 2021’.
4. Repost Customer Content Not only should you be posting your own Instagram posts to your Stories… you should also be featuring your followers’ content as well! Any customer sharing a photo or review of your product or services should get a shout-out. Reposting your followers’ content lets them know you see their posts and tells them you appreciate their support. Also, when your followers see how often you repost their shout-outs, odds are you’ll start to see a lot more posts about your business! Tip: Want to increase DM’s from your customers to drive sales? Here’s ‘8 Easy Ways to Get More Instagram DMs From Customers’.
5. Add Cute GIFs Okay so you might already be using GIFs in your Instagram Stories but have you discovered the secret to finding the best ones yet? Yes, there is a little trick the most savvy entrepreneurs use to give their social media a quick upgrade. Instead of searching by a term like ‘happy’ or ‘funny’ to find a GIF, try searching the name of a designer who creates GIFs to find all of their best ones. Check out this blog post for tips to find cute GIFs and this blog post to find unique GIFs on Instagram Stories.
6. Create Story Highlights Okay, so you might be sick of hearing how important it is to use Instagram Story Highlights but we’re including this Instagram strategy again because it’s one of the best ways to ensure you are getting the most out of Instagram Stories for your business. Instagram Story Highlights offers your business a prime location to feature all of your most important and best quality content for your followers to easily access. Read next: ‘How to Use Instagram Story Highlights Strategically as a Small Business Owner’.
7. Use Hidden Hashtags We all know how important it is to use hashtags on Instagram posts to increase the reach of your posts but did you know this strategy also applies to Stories? We saved our very favorite Instagram Story secret for entrepreneurs for very last. You can use all of the same hashtags you would use on your Instagram posts on Stories without anyone knowing. Insert hidden hashtags into all of your Instagram Stories by typing out your hashtags, reducing the font size then make the font the same color as the background OR simply hide them behind a GIF or photo.
Instagram Stories can already be a powerful tool to help entrepreneurs grow their business. However, with these secret tips, content ideas and growth strategies in hand, we know your business will get even more out of Instagram Stories than ever before!
Cori Widen is the Product Marketing Lead at Boosted by Lightricks. She has been leading product marketing campaigns and doing qualitative market research in the tech industry for 10 years.
Which is Better for Your Business and Influencer Marketing?
Everywhere you look in 2020, video is taking over the web. From six-second TikToks to YouTube channels with over 100 million subscribers, people just want video. According to a recently updated survey of over 3,000 consumers by HubSpot, 54% of consumers want more video content from the brands they love. You just can’t beat video for engagement, conversions, and brand awareness!
But where should you be sharing your videos? IGTV or YouTube? With all the social media available these days and all of them following the consumer trends, you have several choices when it comes to posting your video content. We’ll take a look at the pros and cons between two of the top video platforms, YouTube vs. IGTV, to help you make your choice.
Video Length
Your second consideration should be the length of your videos. (We’ll talk about your first consideration in a moment.) IGTV limits your videos to 10 minutes, so if you’re going for a lengthy instructional type or a feature-length entertainment piece, you’re going to want to go with YouTube.
If your account is verified, you can post videos that are up to 12 hours long (Upload Videos Longer Than 15 Minutes). However, if your aim is to fish followers and leads with fun and informative shorts, IGTV might be your best bet.
Sharing Capability
You’ve probably seen YouTube videos scattered all over the web, shared on social media and embedded in blog posts. Google isn’t worried about losing its position as the world’s biggest video platform, so they’ll let you share your videos all over the place.
IGTV, on the other hand, isn’t as interested in losing control of the content. They also don’t allow you to share YouTube videos to their platform. When it comes to sharing, Google FTW!
Searchability
Because Google owns YouTube, YouTube videos more frequently appear on the first page of search results and it’s easy to search YouTube itself for practically anything. You’ll never see any Instagram TV on Google’s search results, but that’s actually not because of Google!
IGTV only allows their content to be accessed on Instagram, so you can only be discovered or find new content when searching on Instagram itself. This makes searching IGTV for content more difficult than searching YouTube. You can’t just type in keywords or topics. You have to search specific users or hashtags to find related videos.
Analytics
When it comes to analytics, it’s another no-brainer. Google has entire products dedicated to providing accurate analytics to help you adjust and improve your marketing.
The same goes for YouTube. They show you the in-depth engagement stats you can use to tailor your campaigns. IGTV provides enough analytics to show trends, but they don’t go much deeper. Depending on how much insight you need, either one could work for you.
Audience
Your first consideration should be your audience. Where are they? What do they do? Who is your target audience? The other factors don’t matter nearly as much as making sure your content gets to the people you need to see it. Before you make any decisions, find your niche audience and build a home there. It’s always possible to branch out in the future.
All of these together will help you understand which video marketing tool is best for you and for your business! Check them all out now!
Is Instagram Taking Over the Online Video Market? The IGTV vs Reels Vs Stories debate gets real.
Large social media platforms can’t stand to see each other create, develop, and launch new ideas without immediately releasing their own version of the tool, feed, or platform. As social media everywhere becomes more video-centric, Instagram seems to have established a solid corner of the market with IGTV, Stories, and Reels. But what’s the purpose of having three video content formats on one platform and how are they different?
Instagram TV(IGTV)
IGTV is the YouTube of Instagram. It’s a place where people can post their edited, high-quality videos in long format, up to 10 minutes. The app can be accessed directly or through your Instagram account. One key difference between YouTube vs IGTV is IGTV’s vertical orientation as the selfie culture seems to prefer the vertical format. Another big difference is that verified accounts on YouTube can take up to 12 hours to upload, while it is much faster to upload a video to IGTV on Instagram.
Marketing on IGTV
While IGTV isn’t exactly a competitor to YouTube, it is a pretty solid video platform in its own right. If you can create content that appeals to your audience, make sure to keep the content short, and remember to include links that advance your marketing goals. Additionally, with tons of awesome video creation apps, like Boosted available to download, it’s easier than ever to make professional IGTV videos. You can also always repurpose the IGTV content and share these videos to Instagram Stories and other channels as well. Check out our guide to IGTV for your business here.
Instagram Stories
Instagram Stories are temporary posts that are either pictures or short videos, usually accompanied with text or other special effects. Ring any bells? That’s right! Snapchat. Stories is Instagram’s response to Snapchat. Hashtags, polls, and countdowns make IG Stories an interactive and effective platform for video marketing and engaging with your audience.
Marketing on IG Stories
Stories make it easy to engage your audience with just the tiniest bit of creativity. You only have to hold people’s attention for 15 seconds. Throw in a fun poll or a catchy hashtag and you’ve got brand visibility and an engaged following! Still debating whether to use Instagram Stories in your marketing strategy? Check out this pros and cons list of Instagram Stories for your business here.
Reels
Once you recognize the trends of copying Snapchat and YouTube, you could have guessed that the next platform to emulate would be TikTok! Instagram Reels is a short-format video feed where users can post 15-second clips to make people laugh, show off a skill, or market their brand. While Reels is relatively new, it hasn’t made the same splash into the video marketing social media arena as TikTok, in fact, most of Reels videos are simply mostly TikTok reposts.
Marketing on IG Reels
While Reels will probably never achieve the success that TikTok achieved, it still presents a great marketing opportunity. Reels allows its user to create content that quickly highlights a product, shows some behind-the-scenes of your company culture, or illustrates the benefit your customers and clients have received. They’re really simple to create on the platform itself or you can use video creation apps, like Boosted, to create something a bit different! You can just make entertaining content that gets your brand in front of the right people! Need more Instagram Reels information? Check out this business owner’s guide to Instagram Reels.
Summary
When it comes to IGTV vs Reels vs Stories, each platform offers something a little different, so you should take your audience and your preference into consideration, but if you’re going for marketing impact, your best bet is going to be Instagram Stories.
According to the 2019 Social Media Marketing Report, 38% of marketers are using Instagram Stories while only 26% are using IGTV. Reels is too new to be on the 2019 report, but we know Instagram’s existing reach will most likely make Reels into yet another considerable platform, judging by the millions of views already claimed by NBA channels, Louis Vuitton, and others!
Instagram has become a must-have marketing tool for everyone from small businesses to corporate giants. Influencers and brand pages have the potential to grab tens of millions of followers by posting the right content consistently for their target audiences. These huge followings boost brand awareness and visibility, which are key elements in successful marketing.
The trick to replicating the Instagram growth that some of these brands and influencers have achieved is to first identify your target audience, and then to post what they want to see, while maintaining your unique brand personality.
Here are 8 of the fastest-growing Instagram Pages and the engagement strategies they use to keep growing.
Brands, Influencers & Engagement Strategies from the Fastest Growing Instagram Pages:
1. ASOS
Asos (@asos) is a British clothing retailer with over 10.5 million followers. Their Instagram page is plastered with user-generated content that shows real people strutting their stuff in Asos gear, and looking pretty good doing it.
High-quality, user-generated content is the ultimate weapon in Instagram marketing. There is simply no better way to represent your audience than with your audience. Seeing real people enjoying your product or service shows consumers that they’ll enjoy it too. For more insights, check out our guide on the topic here.
2. Chubbies
Chubbies (@chubbies) is another clothing and accessory line that targets men between the ages of 18 and 40. They currently stand at just over 500k followers. Their major stroke of genius was in developing a brand voice that engages that audience. On Chubbies’ Instagram page, you’ll find a whole lot of bro humor, memes, and a massive positive response from their followers.
If you want to reach people, you have to speak their language. Your brand voice should already be developed around your target audience, so be sure that your posts reflect that voice as well. Don’t be afraid to be funny, genuine, intellectual – or whatever it is that your audience will connect with. Just make sure that your brand voice is consistent so you don’t confuse your existing following.
3. Vans
As a well-established brand with 17.9 million followers, Vans (@vans) hardly needs an introduction. The official shoe of the skater boy since the 60s, Vans came to Instagram with an already large and dedicated following, which they keep engaged by posting content that speaks to the skater boy soul. Visit their page and you’ll find high-quality adventure shots, user-generated content, and sick skateboarding stills.
Don’t just post images of your products in front of a nice, clean, white background. People want to see your stuff in action. They want to see where your product will take them. Snatch up some good UGC or get out there and shoot your own images and videos of your product in its natural habitat.
4. Under Armour
Under Armour (@underarmour) is a mega clothing brand that could probably get by just fine by sharing UGC and quality imagery of their sports line in action, but they go the extra mile to grow their following by providing actual value in their posts. They achieve this with a series of IGTV workout videos that you can do at home with little to no equipment. It’s no wonder they have more than 8.1 million loyal followers and counting.
If you’ve got knowledge or skills that are relevant to your brand and audience and easy to convey in video, use them! A little effort goes a long way on a social media platform where everyone’s attention spans are in hyperdrive. Break your wisdom up into short tidbits and post them weekly or monthly to boost your following with people who are likely to be interested in your products and services. For tips on how to create more video content for Instagram, check out our blog here.
5. M.A.C. Cosmetics
MAC (@maccosmetics) is a make-up brand with no gimmicks. What you’ll find on their Instagram page is a lot of close-up shots of their makeup along with captions that provide clear product details. They also post a lot of tutorials – which their audience loves to engage with – but it’s those high-def close-ups that show off the quality of their products to their 23.4M followers.
Take your Instagram audience from followers to customers by showing them not just your products, but the value of your products up close with images and videos. Be sure to provide all the details they’ll need in order to make a purchase. Even an interested buyer isn’t going to sift through 20 Instagram posts to find your details.
6. H&M
A mega clothing brand with 35.6 million followers, H&M (@hm) maintains a simple approach to Instagram: professional-quality photos. Whether they’re lifestyle photos, staged product shots, or collages, every photo on H&M’s Instagram is pro-quality.
If you’re posting user-generated content, it’s likely that not every image is going to be super high-quality, so make sure you’re regularly posting images and videos that show off your products in the best light.
7. Strashme
After winning an influencer competition hosted by James Charles, Ashley Strong (@Strashme) gained an impressive 800k followers on Instagram. Her following continues to grow as she posts quick, edited tutorials on mostly bold makeup looks and occasionally how to take killer Instagram pics and videos. Making use of captions to elaborate when necessary, she keeps her videos short and to the point.
Deliver big value without losing your audience’s attention by editing your videos to remove any unnecessary fluff or dull moments. That doesn’t mean you have to condense everything you post, but adding some quick tutorials or humor is a great way to keep your followers clicking on your content.
8. Noah Beck
Noah Beck (@noahbeck) is the latest hot topic crossing over from TikTok to Instagram and showing 143% gains each month in followers. He currently has 4.4M followers. While his looks don’t hurt any, his flash fame is attributed more to his charming, chill, and genuinely kind personality.
Brand personality is what humanizes your businesses to your audience. On Instagram, it is conveyed through your brand voice and your visuals. Make sure your brand personality is relatable to your audience and do your best to keep it consistent.
Other Effective Strategies for Fast Growing IG Pages
Some other tactics seen on these pages and on some of the other fastest-growing Instagram pages include: shoutouts and reviews, as well as giveaways and competitions that draw the audience in. Behind-the-scenes images and videos help the audience connect and relate to your brand, as do motivational posts and underdog stories.
By: Cori Widen, Product Marketing Lead at Boosted by Lightricks
So 2020 hasn’t quite been as great of a year as we all hoped it would be…but luckily we’re already halfway to 2021! After a rocky first half of 2020, it’s only natural to start planning for a better year to come.
If you’re looking for ways to grow your small business in 2021, a great place to start is with your social media platforms. As a small business owner, word of mouth and social media can be a powerful combination to grow your business.
So, if you haven’t focused much on your social media strategy with everything happening so far in 2020, here are 21 ideas to revamp your social media for 2021.
1. Automate Your Social Media
As a small business owner, you might feel like you don’t have enough time to spend on social media. But did you know there are ways to help automate your social media strategy? It can be a lot of work to create quality content for your social media accounts and even more work to edit, upload, write captions and publish your posts. Try using a social media scheduling tool to help you schedule out your content a few weeks in advance to automate posting to your social media.
2. Plan Out Your Content
If you plan on automating some of your content, you will need to plan out your posts ahead of time. On a day you where you are feeling creative, take a few hours to brainstorm ideas for social media content. Next, create a big batch of social media content all at once. Once you’ve created all of the content, you can plan out what you want to post when and then schedule the posts out.
3. Set Strategies Seasonally
We often plan out our traditional marketing strategies by the different seasons, so why not set specific seasonal goals and campaigns for your social media strategy? An easy way to get started with seasonal marketing themes is by selecting a new business goal or marketing theme for each new season. You can even give your social media accounts a different ‘look’ each season by changing up the color schemes of your posts. For example, some influencers and businesses post bright, happy colors in the summer but switch to posting slightly darker, moodier photos for fall and winter.
4. Evaluate New Platforms
Have you been keeping up to date with new trends in the world of social media? New and emerging platforms like TikTok are becoming increasingly popular for businesses of all sizes. If there are any new platforms or features that you haven’t tested out yet, now is the time to start analyzing which new platforms make sense for your business to join.
While you are evaluating your social media platforms and thinking about trying out some new platforms, you might want to consider dropping a platform. If you’ve been posting consistently to a platform and are still seeing low engagement rates, it’s time to evaluate whether or not it’s worth your time to remain active on that platform. Check outWhy Your Small Businesses Should NOT Be on Every Social Media Platform for more insights.
6. Analyze Your Posts
It’s a good practice to regularly check the analytics of the posts and Stories that you’re sharing to social media. By reviewing the analytics for your posts, you can see which types of content are performing best – with higher engagement rates, views or link clicks. Once you’ve analyzed your posts, see if there’s a common theme among your best content to help you decide what type of posts you should create more of in 2021.
For Instagram, you can check out our guide here for navigating your Instagram Insights, as well as here for understanding your Stories analytics. Additionally, here is our guide for everything you need to know about TikTok analytics.
7. Update Your Bios
One of the quickest and easiest ways to revamp your social media accounts is to update all of your bios. It’s a good idea to review your bios and see if there’s any important updates that need to be made. Be sure to include a link to your website and make sure your bios are consistent across all of your social media platforms.
Do you keep tabs on what your competitors are doing? If you’ve never put together a competitive analysis on your competitors, you are missing out! This is a great chance to understand what they are doing well on social media and gain some ideas on where you could improve. Make a chart listing out their strengths and weaknesses. Then, come up with a plan of action to implement changes to your own social media strategy.
9. Research New Hashtags
Hopefully you are already taking advantage of hashtags in your social media strategy! But did you know it’s important to not use the same hashtags on every single post? One of the best ways to revamp and grow your social media in 2021 is by researching and testing out new hashtags. Create a list of new hashtags and keep track of which posts and hashtags perform best to help your Instagram posts perform better and to enable you to connect with new customers.
One of the great things about social media is the ability to connect and build a community. To help you grow your social media community even more in 2021, it’s a great idea to look for more ways to collaborate. Are there any like-minded small businesses you could partner with? For example, you could collaborate and host a social media giveaway for your followers. This is a great way to grow your following with customers who are likely to be interested.
Get inspired by this recent brand collab giveaway from @twobearscoffee:
If there’s anything we learned in 2020, it’s that today’s consumers want brands to be part of the current conversationa. If you aren’t already taking an active stance in movements that you are passionate about, it’s time to stand up in a meaningful and authentic way in 2021, like clothing brand @minimioche did here:
Are you guilty of hiding behind your work as a service-based business owner? Or only featuring your physical products on your social media feeds? It’s time to get in front of the camera and get personal! Show your customers the face behind the business. Share more personal posts to help them get to know you better and feel more connected to your business on a personal level.
One of the most important types of content in 2021 might just be short-form videos. 2020 has already proven that consumers love engaging with short-form videos, so get ready to create more of this type of content to revamp your social media accounts!
Boosted is a great tool for creating short-form, high-quality video content for your social media platforms. Boosted has a built-in library of photos and videos that are already perfectly formatted for social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram.
If you’ve ever wanted to try out TikTok but weren’t ready to learn a whole new platform, Reels is a great way to begin posting more video content. The easiest way to start out testing Instagram Reels is by repurposing existing video content. It’s easy to upload a video (or several) from your photo gallery into Reels. Try uploading an existing video or an Instagram Story that you have saved to your phone as one of your first Reels.
Has it been a while since you’ve taken new photos for your small business? It’s time to up your photography game in 2021. You don’t have to be a professional photographer in order to shoot new content – all you need is a smartphone with a quality camera and a willingness to learn. Be sure to have good lighting and a clean background when taking photos. Also, be sure to check out some photo editing tools to give your photos a more professional look.
16. Organize Your Instagram Story Highlights
Have you ever taken the time to review your Instagram Story Highlights and reorganize them? Story Highlights are prime real estate on your Instagram profile so be sure to feature the most important and valuable content in your highlights. Need some ideas for what to post in your Instagram Story Highlights? Check out this blog post on How to Use Instagram Story Highlights Strategically as a Small Business Owner.
While we are talking about highlights…did you know you can customize the look and feel of your highlights too? This is an easy way to revamp your Instagram feed in 2021. You can easily create new icons to revamp your Instagram feed in 2021 with consistent, branded highlight cover images. Click here to learn how to create Instagram cover images.
18. Send More DM’s
Another social media marketing strategy that your small business should consider in 2021 is direct messaging. DMs can be a powerful way to connect with customers and influencers. The very first tip to getting more DMs is to actually start sending more DMs yourself! Send DM’s to some of your most loyal customers and local influencers. And be sure to make it sound personal (everybody knows when it’s automated). Once you’ve built up a relationship, you can send your customers exclusive sales through DMs or ask influencers if they would be interested in collaborating.
One of the most important rules when it comes to social media success is consistency. If you weren’t posting consistently on your social media feeds in 2020, it’s time to revamp your social media feeds with consistent content in 2021. If you want to see real results, you will need to post regularly. This will help your followers stay more engaged and ensures your content will continue to actually show up in your customer’s Instagram feeds.
Here are some additional insights on the topic from branding & web design studio @brightenmade:
It can be a challenge for small businesses to reach new audiences organically on social media. Investing in a little paid advertising can be a powerful way to revamp your social media in 2021. With Facebook and Instagram, your small business can target very specific audiences and help increase your exposure to the people who are most likely to be interested in what you have to offer.
21. Set Some BIG Goals
Last but not least, don’t be afraid to dream big. Have you ever sat down and thought about your goals for social media? If not, 2021 is the year to dream big when it comes to social media. Now that 2020 is halfway done, it’s time to start thinking about your social media ‘resolutions’. Once you know your goals and set a plan, you will know exactly what you are working towards.
Cori Widen is the Product Marketing Lead at Boosted by Lightricks. She has been leading product marketing campaigns and doing qualitative market research in the tech industry for 10 years.
8 Easy Ways to Get More Instagram DMs From Customers
By: Cori Widen, Product Marketing Lead at Boosted by Lightricks
One of the most powerful features on Instagram might not be what you’d expect…Instagram Direct Messages. Yup, DMs. There are so many reasons for a small business to love Instagram Direct Messages. Utilizing your DMs enables your small business to connect with your customers personally, helps build stronger connections, increases brand loyalty, humanizes your business and improves customer service.
In fact, according to Forbes, “49% of customers bought items they did not intend to buy due to a personalized recommendation from the brand they were doing business with.”
Small businesses, especially service-based businesses, can utilize Instagram DMs to gain more customers. So what can you do to encourage potential customers to start sending you more DMs? Here are 8 easy tactics for receiving more Instagram DMs from prospective customers.
1. Send DMs
The very first tip to getting more DMs from your customers is to actually start sending more DMs yourself! Get used to how Instagram direct messaging works and try to send out a few brand-building DMs every day to help spark conversations with potential customers.
2. Respond to DMs
If your customers have sent you an Instagram DM in the past and never got a response, why would they send another? Something as simple as a “Hey, thanks for your feedback!” to acknowledge that you saw their message could prompt further dialogue.
3. Say Hi to New Followers
Make new followers feel appreciated right from the start! Send them a new message thanking them for following. Be sure to personalize the message with their first name and be authentic. Nowadays, people can spot automated messages right away.
4. Offer a Deal
There are so many ways your brand can offer great deals exclusively to your Instagram followers. Post to your social media accounts that you are hosting a special sale and that your audience should send you an Instagram DM for the discount code. Alternatively, you can create a group of 15 people to send a private group DM message with a VIP promo code.
5. Use the DM Sticker for Stories
Instagram recently introduced a new DM Me sticker. When you place a DM Me sticker in a Story, your followers can tap it and type a message that is then sent straight to your DMs. This is an effective and direct way to boost both your Story engagement & volume of DMs.
Posting frequently to your Instagram Stories in general is another great way to increase DMs. Not sure what to share to Stories? You can gain access to great stock photos/videos and easily create high-quality marketing videos with the Boosted app.
6. Ask a Question / Polls
Ask your customers a question! You can do this either within the description of your feed post or by using the question sticker for Stories. Ask for a recommendation or what their favorite product of yours is. If you don’t receive a lot of engagement right away, try offering a small incentive, such as a discount code for whoever comments on your post or responds to your Story.
7. Check Up On Loyal Followers
Show your fans that you appreciate them. Reach out to some of your most loyal followers – thanking them for their support, asking them how they are doing and of course, offering an exclusive deal once in a while never hurts.
8. Host a Contest
Reward your most active and engaged followers on Instagram! Host a contest and offer the first 10 people (or whatever number you’re comfortable with) to send you an Instagram DM for the chance to win a small prize. Check out our guide to running successful Instagram giveaways here.
Pro tip: as of April 2020, Instagram made it possible to manage your direct messages via desktop computers & web browsers! DMs for desktop can be a huge timesaver for your business. If you previously spent a ton of time on your phone typing out DMs, now you can engage with your customers & audience much more efficiently (think: laptop keyboard instead of iPhone keyboard).
Cori Widen is the Product Marketing Lead at Boosted by Lightricks. She has been leading product marketing campaigns and doing qualitative market research in the tech industry for 10 years.
