Instagram is one of the marketing giants of the 21st century, and it is foolish of a business to not take full advantage of it when it comes to increasing sales and marketing their business as a whole. Instagram is fairly easy to use, even for the average technophobe, and has been proven over the course of many studies and real-world examples; to increase customer engagement and sales over the course of use. Businesses in the 21st century would be foolish not to take full advantage of the platform which social media offers, and fully integrate their business into this platform. For businesses that are not used to social media or online integration platforms, this process can be pretty intimidating and hard to understand. So, here are five ways to increase sales using Instagram as a platform for your business.
1: Use Your Instagram Profile Like a Shopfront
Regina Georgia, a marketing blogger at Academ Advisor and Writing Populist, commented that, “The best way to understand social media’s role in a business’ online presence is to imagine the online ‘profile page’ as if it were a storefront. The average consumer will stumble upon your business’ profile and it is the first impression which they have of the business.” You need to make the correct impression and a lasting impression during this ‘first encounter’. Build an inventive profile which is built to capture your target market and draw people in further. Use the bio-option for your profile to include a casual welcome, a little bit about your business, and a pointed and clear call to action for visiting customers. There are options to add an email address, phone number, and website link to your bio as well which all act as calls to action. Incentives are also a great thing to include in bios, as they draw people in and act as a draw for potential customers. Utilise the story and highlight functions to give people more of an idea about your business.
2: Branding!
Branding your business is key for recognition both offline and online. As you may already know, the colour of your logo, the handwriting or font used on marketing messages, and other key unique identifiers are important. These unique identifiers will catch attention of new consumers, but most importantly they will create brand loyalty and brand recognition to what your brand stands for and looks like. Develop a style with what you post, a general colour scheme, brand elements, and hashtags which fit with your business as a whole. Ensure your branding is always consistent.
3: Ensure your Content is Personable and Engaging
Personalised marketing has always been more successful in the marketing sphere. It is important to make the customer feel special, and people who feel specifically targeted by a company will be more likely to engage with that company in the future. Though content and branding are important to initially draw people in, it is more important to promote a personalised shopping approach and a relatable brand, when it comes to long term strategy.
4: Manage the Shopping Experience on Instagram
The next step is to manage how people get from your Instagram profile to a point where they are actually buying from your business and engaging with your company beyond social media. One thing that you can do is connect your platform to a shopping cart (something like Shopify, for example). Another way to integrate the shopping experience is to tag your products in photos, as well as leaving links below photos and in bio for your website and specific products on sale.
5: Utilise Instagram Advertising for Products
Once you have developed your Instagram profile and business branding, it is important to ensure that you allow your business to branch out and take advantage of the tools that Instagram offers. Poppy Fields, a business writer at Write my Australia and Australian Reviewer, noted that, “Instagram offers a fantastic range of promotion tools, the majority centering around Instagram ads. The majority of these are fairly well priced and reach a large amount of people, something that in-person advertising does not achieve.” Utilizing Instagram advertising is key to positive word of mouth from online marketing and overall success from social media marketing.
