Can Instagram make you money?
Instagram has made photographers out of all of us. Well, some 100 million of us anyway. But it hasn’t always been seen as a useful tool for business. Now however savvy brands and businesses everywhere have started to harness the power of this image-based social platform.
The increase in attention from business received an extra boost in November 2012 when Instagram finally made its platform available on the web, not just as a mobile app. This gives those wanting to reach their customers extra devices to do so, beyond mobile. According to reports, over half of the world’s top 100 brands are now using Instagram.
When you set up your account, it makes sense to make your username the same as your Twitter handle.
So what can a business do with Instagram beyond taking pictures of the countryside with the Toaster filter?
1. Show off your products
Instagram makes everything look pretty. Take some pictures of your latest products and add questions in the captions – get people to respond. You can give sneak peeks at new products about to be released and get a buzz going around them.
Get creative when it comes to the images – put your products in different scenarios etc. If you can, show your product in use.
2. Behind the scenes shots of your businesses
People like to see how others work and it humanises a brand to see the people behind it. If you’re having an event, make sure there’s plenty of action shots drumming up interest among your customer base.
You can make use of photomaps, a new feature which can map out all of your geotagged images so people can see where you and your business have been.
3. Respond to hashtags
Hashtags are how the images on Instagram are sorted. If you want to get your images noticed and build your presence, use the hashtags that are already in-circulation or create your own and stick to them so your followers can respond regularly.
You can use hashtags which directly reference your brand, or create specific hashtags for campaigns.
4. Set competitions
Competitions are a great way to get people to interact with your brand on this platform. Set up a hashtag and ask people to take photos of, or relating to, your brand and products. You can then ask your followers to vote.
5. Give offers
If you regularly add offers or promotional codes to your images, your followers will keep an eye on your feed and engage with it. You can also use this to get more people to follow your feed.
6. Make your feed visible
Make sure you are promoting your Instagram feed through your website to draw people in. It might be an idea to publish some of your best pictures on your site to drum up interest in your feed.
