Follow me! if_nothing_changes
I don’t know about you, but when I think about Instagram, I think of beautiful pictures of a Caribbean Island, high end cocktails that I can’t afford just yet or food that looks insanely artistic, but you wouldn’t know what it was? As my life is CURRENTLY hectic during the week dinners are anything but “Instagram worthy”
It has been my daughter’s 9th birthday this week. She is horse mad and asked for a horse cake.
As you can see, I was so impressed with the quality, I took a photo to share it to friends and family and a put it on my personal Instagram reel. I was taken back by the number of likes and comments. I even had a few friends reach out and ask where I bought the cake from. This made me start thinking, maybe I should be using Instagram for my own business?
INSTAGRAM today is a huge social media channel, with an estimated 1.074 billion monthly active users who are each looking for their own niche content to engage with. You can guarantee customers are following accounts they love on Instagram and if you want your brand to be seen then you should be there too.
Engagement and followers
As I’m sure you already know, the SECRET SAUSE to social media is engaging with your followers. When a brand engages with its followers. It creates an itch for more content that users can’t scratch quickly enough. As the creator of the content, you might be tempted to tailor your strategy to how your followers are attracted to you. While important, instead think about how anyone can find you on the platform. Besides actively engaging with comments and likes, there are two places on Instagram your brand can be waiting for people to find you: the search bar and the explore page.
Search bar
Treat the Instagram search bar like you would with any other search engine, like google or Youtube. So, try and set your business profile with the right key words in your bio or “about me” page on your website. I didn’t even think of that when writing mine, so I went back to both and adapted it slightly to try and be more “searchable” if that’s even a word?
Explore Page
WHEN YOU ARE ON HERE YOU KNOW YOU WOULD HAVE CRACKED IT!
This is a bright shining spotlight on some of the best algorithmically curated content on Instagram. If you’ve cracked the explore page with your niche, its akin to going viral and you will also have seen a bump in your followers…… one day, one day!
Isn’t Instagram just a picture sharing app?
I thought so too, but it turns out I was very much mistaken. Instagram is a very different animal to what it was even 2 years ago. As I’ve played around with it more this week. There are so many features that I didn’t realise it had like buttons, and ad formats added, sounds and stickers and obviously filter. It places a premium on video content- nothing online captivates people’s attentions like video so that it what I’ll be doing more of.
When to post
I still can’t really find an answer to this question if I’m honest. It all varies based on your business. Are your customers bust from 9-5? Your location is also a factor as seasonality plays a role and also your follower’s location- where are they spending their leisure time when scrolling? However, when researching a good NORTH STAR I’d certainly post in the morning. I have found that this gives your customers/ followers the whole day to encounter your post, instead of it all being crowded at the end of the day.
Hashtags
There are 3 general ways to place hashtags.
- In a comment right after the post
- At the bottom of the caption in the post itself
- Incorporate the hashtag into your caption copy.
PLEASE remember that you only get a limited number of characters in the caption so chose wisely and make sure they are relevant.
Instagram’s algorithms favours hashtags in chronological order, meaning comments coming after a post that contain a hashtag will get more visibility in search pages.
Smartie G tip- You might find commenting with hashtags immediately after posting drawers in the newest users
Have you got any other tips for Instagram? I’d love to know your experience with it all. I will be researching the “stories” part of Instagram for my next post so if you’d like to share anything that would help, I’d love to hear from you
if_nothing_changes Send me a message- I’d love to hear form you
I share your thoughts of beautiful pictures of a Caribbean Island on Instagram. I certainly do use it as a secondary platform with my business for pointing to my blog posts.
But I will certainly have to look back on my profile to see if I’m using the right keywords – thank you for that tip. And while I was also thinking Instagram was more a picture sharing app – what did I just do today? – I uploaded a video that I made today shouting out about my new blog post. But I must admit – I completely missed the hashtags.
While I have no real tips for you, know that Threads are becoming popular and I received a recent notification that some of those I follow want me to post there.
Hi, is it just me, or is there no picture of the cake? I would love to see what it looks like,
I had no idea Instagram had so much to offer, I am going to add it to my list of things to investigate,
No tips from me, but I will be keen to see what other put.
I found value inside your Instagram post. Especially, the hash tag mention. I do have an Instagram account, but don’t focus as much attention as I should. Primarily because of not understanding the algorithm. Keep sharing the value.
THANK YOU for letting me know about the picture. It has now been updated. Thank you Tony. Our family business is a bakery so on occasions we do have perks on descent cakes!
I have heard that you get the best result by posting 3 times per day, once in the morning, once in the afternoon, once in the evening.
Not sure how true it is. Of course, not everybody has the time to post 3 times per day. If not possible, then at least once per day. The key is consistency.
You are completely right, consistency is key. It’s been about a week and I’m finding it hard to remember already. I think they key is to schedule the content and have it all ready and planned. 3 times a day is like anything else, the more you do something to better but be careful of burnout and thinning your content. Quality over quantity
I am starting to learn about Instagram myself and was curious about how to best use hashtags and really appreciate your post. I have always avoided social media like the plague, but now I am embracing it full-on as it is a great way to grow and promote my business!
Thank you so much for your comment and support. I have, but I’m currently finding its the best way to drive traffic…. I’ll let you know how it goes!
Sarah, I’m so glad you brought this subject up. It’s something I’ve been thinking about for a long time. I already have an Instagram channel showing supercars and classic cars from shows I’ve been to. Thinking about the affiliate marketing business. I’ve seen so many adverts reels on Instagram. I think you’re right, it is a very good place to advertise the business. Adding short videos with a link to your blog should be very beneficial. I don’t remember seeing a picture of the cake in your blog or is it on your Instagram channel, thank you so much all the best thanks, Atif
Thank you so much for letting me know about the picture. Hopefully it’s on now. I’d love to know what you think of it.
What I’ve learnt about Instagram does seem worth pursuing to drive traffic, but the key is to give value. Thank you so much for your support
One tip I have is to use LinkTree in your bio. The main restriction with Instagram is that you can only have one sungle link, and that is in youir bio. You can’t link to anything in the caption.
Using LinkTree gives you the opportunity to have several lonks to landing pages, a blog, a product you have, or something else. There is a free version that goes a long way!
Cheers, Katrin
One tip I have is to use LinkTree in your bio. The main restriction with Instagram is that you can only have one sungle link, and that is in youir bio. You can’t link to anything in the caption.
Using LinkTree gives you the opportunity to have several lonks to landing pages, a blog, a product you have, or something else. There is a free version that goes a long way!
Cheers, Katrin
This is a brilliant tip. Thank you so much! I will certainly look into this. Much appreciated
I’ve been told we need a business page for platforms like instagram, FB and You Tube et al. What is your experience with this? Probably a good question for the mentors! Your cake is adorable. Your daughter must’ve been ecstatic!
I’ve had Instagram for many years but have only used it to store things that interest me. I guess this is something to consider moving forward as it may be beneficial for business as well! Thanks for sharing!
Denny
I’m glad I read your take on IG. For the last several years I have primarily used IG for a multitude of things, including my previous business, but recently I am thinking more and more about shifting my efforts over to TikTok. Luckily I think they both can be used cohesively together, so I don’t have to choose between one or the other. Do you have any experience in using both of these together, or are you primarily just focused on IG alone? Thanks for sharing!
Hello! Thank you so much for your comment, I really appreciate the time you took to read my blog. I actually have both, and I would recommend having both too! Try and get a business account on IG so you can see the stats and see what kind of posts work better than others. x
Thank you for this post. I have started my online business and am about to research different social media. Although I have 2 Instagram accounts, I do not post regularly. They will need upgrading and a little more knowledge on how it works to enhance my online business. Your post is helping me towards that goal.
Sarah,
Thanks a bunch for sharing insights on using Instagram for business! I’m in the early stages of checking out Instagram, along with Facebook and maybe YouTube. It’s definitely a learning curve for me as I explore each one and figure out which platform suits me best. Exciting times ahead!
Sherri