Instagram has emerged as one of the most popular social media platforms with more than one billion monthly active users. Realizing the business potential of Instagram, businesses have flocked to the popular photo-sharing app in ever-increasing numbers to boost their brand awareness and connect with their target audiences. With Instagram becoming increasingly e-commerce friendly, the potential of the platform to drive sales is also being unlocked. According to research, more than 80% of Instagram users follow at least one business account, translating to over 200 million users visiting business profiles every single day. With 60% of people reporting that they discover new products and services on Instagram, the business potential of this social network cannot be ignored by businesses, large or small. It is evident that given the intense competition in virtually every business niche, no business can afford to not include Instagram in its marketing campaigns. You can buy real Instagram comments to boost your engagement and create a buzz around your brand.
Advantages of Using Instagram for Businesses
Instagram is being used by businesses principally to drive brand responsiveness, connectwith their target audiences, and build communities of loyal customers who will not only purchase and use the product and services but also act as brand advocates. By using relevant, original, and engaging content, businesses can interact with their target audiences and introduce them to the brand and the products and services. By using hashtags with high relevance and posting content when users are the most active, brands can boost their visibility and drive valuable traffic to their websites or e-commerce platforms for fruitful conversion. According to a Facebook survey, 44% of the respondents said that content posted by brands helps them to find new information about products and services. Using Instagram’s Shoppable posts, users can tap the posted image to find out more information about the product and other related items and can buy directly from the platform. With these posts showing up on the Explore page, more potential customers have the opportunity of discovering them. Some of the essential steps for selling on Instagram:
Create a Compelling Profile
The first step in making a success of Instagram is to build your follower base. You can attract the attention of Instagram users by posting high-quality and engaging photos, however, your chances of making them follow your account will increase if they are impressed with your profile in the bio section. Given that you have a limitation of 150 characters, you need to craft it crisply and compellingly to inform users who you are, what you do, and what value you offer that makes you distinctive so that they are encouraged to follow you. You must have a username that reflects the nature of the business and is also the same or similar to your other social media accounts. instacoolbio
Think of including an emoji to make your profile entertaining. Adding a keyword in the bio that has a high volume of search and is relevant to your business can drive the all-important visibility. By optimizing your bio and posting content that revolves around your core offerings, you increase the chances of your brand being discovered by your target audience and consequently, your following. Make sure that your profile contains a compelling CTA because you need to prompt people what to do next after viewing your bio. Also, including the website link in the bio is mandatory for driving traffic from your Instagram account to your website or e-commerce platform.
How to Showcase Your E-Commerce Product Catalog
If you want to generate sales, you must do much more than posting beautiful photos of your products. You need to craft a powerful Instagram marketing strategy aimed at showcasing your product range and facilitating e-commerce transactions for your followers. As a recent popular notion, read about the APAC marketing trends and see what you can implement for your marketing campaigns.
Instagram hashtags: Users of Instagram need to click on hashtags to discover the content of their choice. Hashtags represent the only way of content discovery for users. It is, therefore, vital for businesses to use relevant hashtags to drive brand visibility. The use of hashtags must be carefully researched because you would want to use those hashtags that users use to search for content. Even though Instagram permits the use of up to 30 hashtags in a post, it has been proven that the ideal number is between seven and eleven observes an social media marketing consultant. It is important to choose high-quality hashtags that the audience is most likely to use for searching for content relevant to your business and brand. To avoid cluttering your post with too many hashtags, use a few of the most important ones with the post and include the rest in the first comment after the post. Using hashtags that are branded, relevant to your business niche, entertaining, or promote contests typically work the best.
Instagram Stories
According to Instagram, as many as 58% of the people who participated in a survey said they became interested in a product or a brand only after seeing it in Stories. With around 500 million Instagram users viewing Stories daily, mastering it is vital for the success of e-commerce ventures. The main use of Stories that have a life of only 24 hours before they vanish is an opportunity for brands to present themselves more candidly and informally that show their human side. You can use Stories to share videos of people using your products and also see their efficacy by comparing before and after photos. You can also use them to share a view of what happens in your office or factory or even special events to showcase the human side of your brand and give a feeling of exclusiveness to the users. It is also a great vehicle for going live with coverage of a new product launch or announcement of contest winners.
Conclusion
It’s an intensely competitive world for online businesses and brands must do what they can to raise their brand awareness and build connections with their potential customers. Instagram is the ideal social networking platform for driving brand visibility and generating website traffic that can then be converted to sales. Give the huge popularity of Instagram, online businesses can’t ignore its potential.
