How to Market Your Business on Instagram: Top 13 Ideas And Tips

Ready for some of the best tips on how to market your business on Instagram, brought to you by experts?

Instagram is continuously proving to be one of the most commonly used social media platforms that enjoy high engagement rates. With its 200 million registered business accounts and with 100 million photos and videos being uploaded to the platform every day, brands can easily use this to their benefit to leverage the power of Instagram marketing.

It’s also worth noting that almost 29.9% of Instagram users belong to the 18-24 age group and 32.1% to the 25-34 age group: an important detail any business that is trying to attract an audience should know. While also a highly competitive arena, your business can definitely benefit, especially with a solid marketing strategy and proper brand awareness. And if you’re even looking for how to promote your new, small business on Instagram, look no further. The app has a lot to offer for businesses in the beginning of their growth journey.

In this article, we’ll be covering some of the most worthwhile Instagram marketing techniques that will help your business achieve remarkable results.

Instagram Marketing Tip #1: Create an Instagram Business Profile

Before laying out your Instagram marketing efforts, make sure that you have created an Instagram Business Account.

There are a bountiful of benefits of turning your Instagram account into a business one! Here are some:

• Contact and website buttons allow your customers to get in touch with you and easily access your website
• Get access to the highly useful Insights tool that show you the analytics of the traffic coming to your pages such as reach and impressions
• Have the ability to create ads without having to depend on Facebook tools
• Increase your chances of your content being noticed in your fans’ news feeds

While the switch might seem simple, the benefits will be huge and impactful on your marketing endeavors.

Take advantage of selling on Instagram with our exclusive integration when you create a store on ExpandCart!

Create my free store

Instagram Marketing Tip #2: Use Sponsored Ads

Perhaps this is the simplest answer to how you can advertise your business on Instagram. Companies using Instagram advertising are on the rise and the number of monthly advertisers is now over 4 million! Here are some statistics you need to know:

• There are roughly one billion active Instagram users
• Instagram posts with a location get more 79% engagement
• For every 10 hashtags that are used in Instagram posts, 7 are branded
• 60% of Instagram users mention that they see new products while 70% of frequent buyers go to Instagram to discover new products

This means something important: Instagram is here to stay, and as a brand, it’s a truly cost-efficient way of reaching your target audience.

And besides the fact that Instagram has 1 billion users as a base, here are even better reasons to start advertising on it.

1. Considering the fact that Instagram and Facebook are connected, you can use Facebook advertising to better target your audience on Instagram.
2. Between creating ads and putting a budget, you could manage each aspect of Instagram ads in the Facebook ad manager.
3. An advantage of Instagram ads is that they are appealing and non-intrusive, which means that you could have higher conversions at a relatively low cost.
4. You could either use images or videos when you promote your products or services.
5. The ads are difficult to miss since they play in full-screen mode on the mobile phone screen.

Instagram Marketing Tip #3: Team Up With Influencers

If you want to increase your reach on Instagram, you should consider enlisting the help of influencers who have successfully built a huge fan base. Since more people are buying products based on the content of their Instagram feed, you would want to get help from Influencers to get your brand in front of them. And you want to do this because Instagram is the only app that enjoys that advantage, which proves how important it is for marketing your business!

Instagram influencers are power users who have a large audience base that follows what they publish and trusts their recommendations. However, in order to leverage successful influencer marketing on Instagram, make sure you reach out to influencers whose audience are relevant to your product.

This is an example of HP using an influencer for a campaign they were running:

So, forget about making short wins and focus on building a long-term marketing strategy with the help of influencers in your field of interest. You should always aim for building brand awareness with an audience that could be interested in your product.

Tip #4: Cross-Promote on Different Social Media Platforms

Cross-promoting works by promoting your Instagram content on other social media platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter where your audience already reside and trust you. That way, you create more exposure to your Instagram content while complementing your brand image and decreasing the cost of creating new content on Instagram.

Here’s an example of cross-promoting by for Instagram content:

You can cross-promote on other social media platforms using different ways – here are some suggestions:

• Schedule your Instagram content to be posted on other platforms using tools such as Hootsuite
• Promote your Instagram video content on Facebook or LinkedIn to drive traffic back to Instagram
• If you’re hosting an Instagram contest, post about it on other social media accounts to increase your followers on Instagram

When applied well, those tips could help boost your marketing on Instagram.

Tip #5: Leverage the Right Metrics

Prior to improving your Instagram performance, you should be able to track it first. Know what you are doing and what to measure, so that you have more clarity on what to do next and get the most out of your efforts. Start by observing the following:

1. Follower Growth Rate

The number of followers you have on Instagram may not be of much use, but the rate of their growth is. It’s an indicator that your content and its posting frequency are making a positive impact.

2. Engagement Rate

Measuring engagement, which includes likes and comments, will give you a better idea of how you should be changing things and what steps to take. You want to find out the average engagement percentage of both your total followers and per post to get the bigger picture.

3. URL Clickthrough Rate

The URL clickthrough rate is an important metric for seeing how many people click the link in your Instagram bio, which reflects on your conversion rate.

So to help your business in a more effective way on Instagram, you should be keen on monitoring the above metrics besides others such as the growth of hashtags, hashtags interaction, and others.

Tip #6: Use Hashtags Strategically

Almost every social media marketer knows how important hashtags are. However, it’s crucial to know how to use them in a strategic way, so that you get more people to see your content and engage with it. That way, you get to improve your overall reach. It’s an important way to also advertise your business on Instagram the more they get shared around!

The two hashtags types you need to focus on are:

1. Brand or Campaign-Specific Hashtags

A brand hashtag is usually your company name or slogan that you use to promote your brand on Instagram. Make sure that your hashtags are catchy and authentic to the nature and concept of your marketing campaigns.

2. Content Hashtags

Content hashtags are used within your content and are relevant to it. They help your content get recognized easily by your target audience and make it more discoverable. Be wary of using too many though; finding the right balance is useful.

You can also read this article to Learn How to Master Instagram Hashtags in 2021.

Tip #7: Craft a Remarkable Business Bio

Creating a strong business bio makes a difference in how you get noticed by others. Your Instagram bio explains what you do; it’s both your persona and the call to action you want people to take.

Pay special attention to the following parts of your bio:

• Profile Photo: The photo that represents your brand or company.
• Username and Name: Pick a proper username and name as they are both searchable
• Bio: You’ve got only 150 characters to make a good impression, so use them wisely.
• Website: The site that you want your followers to visit should be placed there.
• Call-to-Action Buttons: With an Instagram business account you get the option to insert an additional call to action such as options to call or email your business.

Taking time to build a successful business bio will make all the difference when it comes to marketing your business on Instagram.

Tip #8: Create a Solid Instagram Content Strategy

To successfully market your business on Instagram, you will need content that is both valuable and relevant to be able to attract your audience’s attention. You’ll need to which type of content does the trick.

For example, if you want to raise awareness about your products, you’d focus on posting more photos and videos that are related to those products. If you want to raise awareness about your work environment, you could focus on promoting the work culture and give your audience behind-the-scene glimpses.

So, depending on what you want to get from promoting your business on Instagram, you could adapt your content accordingly – even if that means having a mixture of content that is created by your brand and user-generated content.

Tip #9: Create Your Content Early

A challenge that many businesses face with Instagram marketing is posting consistently. However, consistency is integral if you want to see real-time results. One way to combat this problem is to do some additional planning and create your content at least one month in advance. There are a few things or steps to keep in mind when creating a content plan:

1. Knowing What’s Coming is the Best Way to Promote Your Business on Instagram

Planning in advance means having an awareness of any important upcoming events and planning your content around it. And we mean all your content; your social media posts, your blog, your product promotions, and more if you can. That way you are crafting content that is consistently timely and relevant.

2. Take Care of the Editing

A good suggestion is to edit your captions, images, or videos as you go or as soon as you finish them  that way, you avoid wasting time when it’s time to post the content.

3. Schedule it Out

There are many online tools that come in handy when scheduling your Instagram posts. You don’t have to schedule every post, though; just the ones you feel are ready to be posted. This will, in turn, help you focus more on other important aspects of your marketing efforts.

Tip #10: Look at Instagram as a Sales Funnel

This is how you can sell on Instagram; the platform is lucrative and is a great way to take your sales to the next level. It’s what makes Instagram such an integral part of marketing your business. You just need to know the steps you need to take, since selling on Instagram is a bit different as you cannot add external links to the posts on Instagram.

Making sales on Instagram could be possible with the help of building a solid brand image using your Instagram profile, which could be done as follows:

• Be Regularly Active

When promoting your business on Instagram, it’s important to also include yourself as part of the audience that consumes content and engages with other accounts in the process. Even if you don’t post every day, try to interact with content in your feed, follow others, and provide meaningful comments.

By being active on Instagram, there is more of an opportunity for your account to get noticed by your audience!

• Move Beyond Product Photos

Your Instagram account needs to maintain its aesthetics besides you having to keep up with your business needs, so you should be careful about how much product photos you’re posting.

Posting content that helps your followers understand your vision is crucial. This way, you get to clarify your company beliefs and aspirations and what you want to provide them with. If you post content that is more related to your shoppers than it is to your products, for example, that could help increase the content engagement and gives your brand further attention.

• Post Pictures with Real People

When you run a business that is product-oriented, you have an opportunity to show those products in action – you could show people interacting with your products, which brings your fans a step further in the sales funnel. They start imagining themselves using your products.

Besides, people tend to be more attracted to photos that seem real and organic rather than staged ones. They help give your product a more authentic feel to it, and they give your prospective shoppers an overview of how your product would look like when in use.

 Tip #11: Create Instagram Contests to Better Market Your Business

One of the most meaningful ways to interact with your audience is to run an Instagram contest that includes some giveaways. It’s a simple, proven way to push your marketing activities further. And if it’s a small business you’re trying to promote on Instagram, it’s a great way to generate an initial buzz and get the word around about your brand.

It could take some time to learn how to run a winning Instagram contest, but it’s not that difficult and is worth it as you give your brand the exposure it needs and deserves.

The good news is: running such kind of promotions has unlimited possibilities. Here’s three types that you could run:

• Like Contests

Like contests should only require the users to like your photo so that they could get a chance to win; which is considered minimal effort in turn of joining a contest. You’re guaranteed lots of engagement!

• Comment Contests

While similar to a like contest, the difference is people should comment on a photo or a video to be part of the contest. This could immensely help you with targeted feedback while simultaneously increasing your post engagement.

• Photo Contests

As a highly popular form of a contest, the subscribing users should post a certain type of photo using a certain hashtag of your choice, which would give you a lot of brand exposure.

Tip #12: Publish Instagram Stories

You could leverage Instagram stories which are a feature similar to Snapchat, leading ultimately to a wider audience by creating more original content that has a different form from regular posts.

Instagram is getting even more interactive as stories give your users an additional way to be engaged with content that’s nothing less than great. It’s a feature that enables followers to share your content with others before it disappears, leading to people getting to notice your brand more.

With just a good idea and a bunch of tools, Instagram stories are created more easily without much prior preparation to get your media out there to your audience.

Also, since it’s not seen by as many people as posts are seen, it gives you room to experiment without risking lots of people seeing it until engagement tells you otherwise.

Tip #13: Market Your Business on Instagram by Creating Engagement

As a business owner, it’s crucial that you focus on creating an engaged following on Instagram. If your followers aren’t excited or eager to interact with your content, you won’t see a favorable return on your time investment. Here is how you can build the engaged community that you need:

• Know Your Followers

Know your audience first so you could know how to serve them better. So, bear in mind that even if you’re posting great content on Instagram, you won’t find success until it reaches the intended target audience.

If you want to advertise your business on Instagram effectively, it’s worth it to invest effort in learning how to pinpoint your audience and study them and what appeals to them so that you could cater to that content-wise.

And don’t forget, the more effort you put into understanding, the better results you are going to get from your marketing efforts on Instagram.

• Ask More Questions

Asking questions to your followers works great for increasing engagement. The reason being simple: people like to feel valued and heard.

Since your audience will like to feel heard and seen, asking questions could be a valuable asset at your disposal. To be specific, they would like to see that their opinions matter to you, and it could make all the difference in building an engaged community. For small businesses looking to promote their brand on Instagram, this is also a great way to get to know your audience.

To do so, it could be as simple as asking how their day was, or what they plan to do in the future. You may not get initially the response you were hoping, but in time things will start to change, as long as you are giving it that effective human touch – something that is much needed and craved by online dwellers.

• Stand Out from the Rest

Instagram is getting crowded and many brands are always competing for attention. You need to stand out in a unique way!

If you are a travel blogger, maybe you could share a travel tip that is unique to you. Sharing your experience or knowledge that is not available with anybody else is a great way to stand out from the rest.

The more knowledge you share on your Instagram, the more value you bring to your page and to your followers.

In Conclusion, Marketing Your Business on Instagram is Easy

If you want to market your business on Instagram, it’s important to understand the ins and outs of the app in order to make the best of it. And with doing that, the ideas about how you can also evolve alongside it will come to you easier!

The platform’s visual-centric aspect makes advertising your business a fun experimentation round, and the results will be none the more better than you, well, basically standing out on your shoppers’ feeds!

Utilize Our Social Media Marketing Solutions

Create a free store on ExpandCart and add exclusive social media integrations to your store!

Create my free store