5 Ways For Better Instagram Management Of Businesses

Instagram Management is the topic for today.

But, hey! Do you remember the days when we started using smartphones?

Those days were pure addiction.

Facebook on our palms was all we wanted to open our eyes to.

Then in 2010, came the visual counterpart of our virtual social carry-ons.

Yes! The current photo and video sharing giant platform Instagram, it was!

Grown to a gigantic user-base of 1 billion monthly active users, Instagram management is surely the new mantra for marketers.

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Many of us didn’t realize the potential of this platform until some smart brands started making their business accounts on Instagram.

It is easy to get everything snapped and documented in one place.

People can follow you through stories, your snaps, through hashtags and Instagram ads.

Isn’t it super cool to get connected through a visual medium?

The users can see exactly what your offerings look like.

You get them interested in your product, and they’d come running to your brand story for more details.

Here’s the best part:

The users on Instagram keep coming back. They want to see what’s new.

Let’s explore how we can leverage Instagram to grow your business.

Instagram Management: The Stats That Matter:

Here’s an interesting fact: 71% of Instagram users are under 35 years of age.

Now, how does this matter? 

Because that presents an opportunity for the aspiring business owners.

So, why is there an opportunity?

Because the stats say so!

According to a blog post at Hubspot:

“More than 72% of Instagram users have purchased something they have seen on the platform.”

Do you see it? 

A ripe market of shoppers who are mostly under 35 years is awaiting your entry with a product.

So, why not sell them something they need and want? 

The next important question, But how will they know that you’re selling something? 

Here’s the confusing yet the right answer:

It is better to be a bit secretive here. You don’t always need to tell them that you’re selling something.

You need to snap or make a video to sell something.

Easy peasy, right? 

Wrong!

Here’re the details to run a successful Instagram business account:

Many brands outsource their management to an Instagram management service provider. These Instagram management services include almost all aspects of business account management. What we intend here to do here is to guide you to DIY your Instagram management. 

Let’s have a look at how to develop an intriguing Instagram business account.

Start With Making A Business Account On Instagram:

Most of us use Instagram to follow our fields of interest. 

From connecting to see our favorite stars’ daily life insights to make food choices and preferences by going through the restaurant Instagram marketing efforts, almost all of us use this highly engaging platform. 

However, as a social media user, our visual connection choices are different from a business that wants to take customers on board. 

So, a consumer’s perspective is totally another thing while managing an Insta account from a marketer’s perspective is another.

Not to forget that Instagram management as a business could be your jackpot.

So, if you own a business page on Facebook, but you haven’t started your Insta handle, the upcoming text is a gold mine for you.

 Let’s see how:

According to the Instagram blog, this social network had 25 million business profiles by 2017.

Why not climb up the bandwagon?

Let’s see how to do it – creating an Instagram Business Account.

How to Make an Instagram Business Account

The first step is to switch your personal account to a business account. For that:

1. Open the Instagram app on your phone. Go to the Edit profile section.
2. Going through the settings, you can find the option ‘ Switch to Professional account.’  

3. Once you select the mentioned option, the next step is to choose the type of profile you want.  Pick the business profile option.

 

4. After that, you can update the business category and contact information.

It enables you to use Instagram’s business tools, such as:

• Instagram analytics 
• Using Instagram posts as ads
• Using links in stories
• Scheduling your posts to get auto-published

These Instagram Marketing tools help you to measure how engaging your visual content is and develop a greater reach.

Watch the attached video to have a better understanding:

5. After setting up an Instagram business account, the next step is to create an engaging bio for your business.

An engaging bio:

• Gives the basic description of the business
• Uses relevant hashtags
• Includes links to promotional content.
• Makes use of appropriate emoji
• Can be updated whenever needed

Some Important Questions About Instagram Management And Marketing

Let’s discuss some important questions you are sure to have in your mind.

What Is A Competitive Engagement Rate On Instagram?

 Before answering this question, we first need to understand ‘what is engagement rate?’ 

 According to instazood.com:

 Engagement rate = (Number of likes or comments / Number of followers) X 100

 Makes sense? It should!

There can be a considerable number of followers on an Instagram account. However, having an equal number of followers on 2 different accounts does not ensure the same engagement rate.

Let’s get to the original question now, what is a good engagement rate on Instagram?

Instazood points out that an engagement rate between 1.5%-3.5 is considered average while above that limit, it is considered high.

The next probing question on the list is here:

How Can You Organically Grow Your Instagram Followership?

You know the business.game.

People pay to get likes and comments.

Some companies provide increasing followership services.

It’s a nasty game, though.

You can get banned anytime if you keep using bots to achieve Instagram followership.

Here’s another way which may be a bit tedious, but it’s worth the effort.

You can always grow your social media presence organically.

But how to organically grow your Instagram account?

Let’s have a look:

Good Instagram Management Starts with Running A Thorough Research To Know Who Your Audience Is:

Irrespective of how fast-growing and competitive digital marketing becomes, the basics stay intact. You need to go to the demographic and preferential research of who your audience is? 

Identifying their pain points is a marketing task that still remains at the core of this cut-throat digital marketing world. 

Keep An Eye On Your Competitor’s Moves And Plan Accordingly:

Your competitors sure are checking what you’re doing. So, before they move fast, take the lead, plan your move to engage those highly receptive Instagram users.

Collaborate With Accounts Similar To Yours:

*Collaborate to dominate* is the next big thing in the world of Instagram. 

Finding out similar accounts and reaching out to them for collaborations is the need of the hour. All your efforts converge on the only point of creating engaging content.

Now that the foundation is laid, let’s see how to create engaging content for business profiles:

5 Ways To Create Engaging Business Content For Instagram Business Profile:

We have gathered five practical solutions to creating engaging visual content that creates brand awareness on Instagram.

Good Instagram Management Starts With Choosing A Theme Which Resonates With Your Brand Personality

Every brand has a unique personality. Your business must have it too.

If you haven’t started working on the personality of your product, start with the basics.

Choose a color theme that stays consistent throughout your content and creates a brand connection in your follower’s minds.

Here’s a real-life example from the Instagram handle of Charles and Keith.

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All you see are the shades of whites and browns in the backgrounds of most of all the products.

Whenever followers view a new post, they immediately spot out which brand’s photos they are watching.

Whatever you do as a marketing initiative, make sure to make that effort consistent.

The color scheme is one such factor to focus on. 

Some brands create brand associations with different themes and use them in their marketing campaigns.

Here’s an example from the Instagram handle of Nike:

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What did you observe?

Nike associates itself with sports. You can clearly see the usage of this association in the image of their Insta feed above.

It is a time-consuming process, but you can definitely design themes for your account’s uniformity on Instagram.

Use Template Photos From Free Photo Editing Tools:

There are three ways to go about Photo editing.

1. You can go the old school way of hiring a professional to edit your photos, but to be honest, it is a wastage of resources in this digital era.
2. The second way is using Instagram’s in-built photo editing tools. You can use them to edit your photos.

 Pick those filters to edit your photos for a more professional look. 

3. The final way is to use graphic designing platforms such as Canva or Venngage to create stunning photos that awe your followers.

Popular Instagram Photo Editing Tools To Get Better Instagram Feed:

Here’s a list of photo editing tools that are popular among Instagram users:

• Later: Instagram users face the difficulty of previewing their feeds. Instagram Later – the amazing photo editing app – has resolved the problem for them. It allows the user to see how their photos will appear to a third person viewing their profile.
• VSCO: This app has been so popular on Instagram that the hashtag VSCO is one of the most shared hashtags on Instagram.
• Storeo: It is an IOS app that allows the user to record stories longer than 15 seconds. 
• Foodie: As the name suggests, this app is best for clicking food photos. Anyone interested in their restaurant Instagram marketing can use it to create appealing images

These tools provide thousands of templates that you can use to support your visual content. 

Use The Photo Captions To Provide Relevant Information:

A caption speaks volumes about a picture. It is pivotal to the understanding of a picture you have posted.

An appealing photograph becomes memorable if the caption resonates with its viewer.

As a marketer, you need to invest your energies in finding what is actually relevant for your audience.

There are different strategies to craft a fantastic caption of your intriguing photo.

Let’s just have a look:

• Give An Accurate Description Of What The Picture Is All About:

Think about it for a while.

You’re trying to run an Instagram image search on your personal account, and you don’t see a single picture relevant to your search.

You will definitely be frustrated.

But, guess what is more frustrating?

Finding irrelevant images for your highly relevant search query.

That is why as a marketer, you need to give an accurate description of a product image in its caption.- to increase its visibility in the Instagram image search.

• Using Emojis To Give A Sense Of Association To The Viewer:

Emojis are cute.

They make you express better during boring text sessions.

Similarly, when you put emojis in your text on your photo captions, it creates a positive association in the viewer’s mind.

• Do Not Make The Viewer Think That You’re Pushing Hard To Sell Your Product:

Keep it natural. 

Do not overload the caption with information. Stuffing hurts!

However, if you can’t make do without putting a lot of information, keep it structured and non- salesy.

• Design An Error Free Copy Of Your Caption:

Keep revising your captions, especially if you spot errors in the drafts.

It’s easier than you think and rewards beyond your expectations.

An error-free caption copy is what hooks your customers.

Tag Relevant Accounts In Stories For Collaboration:

Stories make the latest Instagram trend. 

You can create stories and tag similar accounts on your stories so that your content gets better visible to larger audiences.

You can tag your industry influencers in your stories for better reach.

Other collaborative efforts include taking Instagram bloggers of your niche into your marketing circuit.

Use IGTV To Create Engaging Videos:

Instagram stories allow only 15 seconds long videos. But less can’t always be more!

There’s another tool associated with Instagram, named IGTV.

IGTV allows Instagram users to upload stories as long as 15 minutes from mobile devices and 60 minutes from the web.

The minimum duration for an IGTV video is 1 minute.

There’s an optimum image size for an IGTV thumbnail, which is 420px by 654 pixels.

Now, how do you utilize this time and space?

• One idea is to create behind the scenes videos for your brand.

 Customers have a curiosity to find out what their favorite brands do during the process.

• Another thing that is on the go on Instagram is celebrity endorsement. 

You can reach out to a celebrity or Instagram influencer of your niche to create brand awareness with influencer marketing.

Now, after all the information to set up Instagram for business, here’s what we have learned so far:

A Quick Recap:

What we have covered in the post:

• Why is Instagram the next marketing tool for businesses?
• How to set up an Instagram business account?
• What is the optimum engagement rate for Instagram?
• How to organically grow an Instagram business account?
• 5 strategies to create engaging content for Instagram, which are:
  • Creating a thematic account
  • Using tools for good quality pictures
  • Strategizing the captions smartly
  • Tagging relevant accounts on stories
  • Using IGTV for lengthier stories.

Concluding Remarks:

Owning a business is one thing, but giving it deeper-dimensions through consistent effort is another. It is a multi-faceted competition which needs precision and consistency to keep up the pace. 

Therefore, for a social media platform that is growing at a considerable speed, Instagram management for marketers becomes extremely crucial. 

However, if Instagram management and Marketing for your business seems to be a burden, you can always turn to professional help.

So, are you ready to give a go to switching your personal Instagram account to a Business account?