At Focused Engagement, the entire month of November has been centered around social media marketing and a variety of topics surrounding it. In the modern world, social media is becoming increasingly essential for local business success. There are ways to succeed without utilizing social media, but it is much harder simply because most people find information about local businesses online. If you are looking to grow a lot, you must be willing to at least try using social media.
The beauty of using social media for your local business is that there are multiple different platforms that you can use. Some of these platforms include Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Snapchat, and Instagram. Each of these platforms can do something different for your business, so it is important to consider your business needs first and foremost. In this post, we will be focusing on the benefits of Instagram for a local business. Here are some helpful tips as you think about using this platform!
Instagram’s local business benefits
Ability to visually show off your products/services
Possibly the top feature of Instagram is that it is a visual platform. Every single post on Instagram requires at least one image, which can catch the eye of people that are interested. This way, you can post your products, services, or anything that you think will bring customers in. On other social media platforms some companies have trouble with getting their point across with visual content. That is no issue on Instagram and we heavily recommend that you create unique content, take interesting pictures, and make your content interactive. You will not regret it in the long run as people become more interested in your products and services!
Users can search by hashtags
Hashtags are nothing new, as they are on most social media platforms and have been used for years now. But luckily for those that decide to use Instagram, hashtags are very effective for local businesses. On Instagram, users can click on your created hashtags and they will redirect to similar posts. If you use similar hashtags on many of your posts, they will all be in the same place for users to view. This is why many businesses create their own hashtags; they benefit from the extra views of their brand.
Interaction and engagement are made easy
Another positive aspect of Instagram is how easy interacting and engaging with your customers, and vice versa, is. Once you post a photo, users can comment, and you can easily reply to them. They can also direct message you and have a conversation there. Instagram is very user friendly and with the type of content you post, you will gain new followers and more business in no time.
You can engage with competitor followers
A general rule of thumb regardless of which social media platform you use is that you should do some competitor research. Look over their pages and see how their aesthetics look, what they post, and how they engage with their followers. These can be used as guiding tips for how you can run your local business Instagram account.
Once you know more about your competitors, another tip would be to begin posting similar but distinctly unique content that you know your followers will like based on what they like from your competitors. This should help you gain a larger following of people that are already interested in your local business industry.
Insights can show what is working
If you were not aware, Instagram has their own analytical insights tool. The tool is called Insights and it can really help you out. This tool can help show you what is working and what is not working. It will show you how many accounts you have reached in certain time periods and gives you other useful information. Once you have studied these insights, you will be able to create the content that your audience resonates with the most and stay away from stuff that they do not enjoy. Insights can be accessed by going to the profile page and clicking the icon in the top right corner and then clicking insights. There you will find useful data!
Need some help?
Are you ready to begin using Instagram for your local business? Let Focused Engagement help you! With our talented team, we will help you grow your business and bring in new customers. Please contact us today and take a look at our digital marketing services