6 Surefire Ways to Grow Your Small Business Using Instagram

With roughly one billion active users each month, it’s no secret that Instagram is one of the biggest social media platforms out there.

Although it has been around for a while already, Instagram continues to be a go-to for brands to market their products, reach new audiences, and boost their sales. In fact, an estimated 71% of small business owners turn to Instagram to enhance the visibility of their products and services.

If Instagram isn’t a part of your marketing strategy yet, now’s the time to hop on the bandwagon your fellow small business owners are riding. Having a powerful presence on the platform will no doubt raise brand awareness and your bottom line.

With that in mind, here are six surefire ways to grow your small business using Instagram:

1. Optimize Your Business Bio

Your business bio basically serves three purposes: It conveys a corporate personality, describes what your company does, and prompts the audience to take action.

Through your business bio, your followers should be able to tell what you’re all about as soon they get a glance.

Summarize what you do in a way that represents the image you hope to present. Make sure that it stands out from the rest so you can easily be remembered. One such way is by humanizing your brand. Go for a more lighthearted feel and use a conversational tone when communicating your message.

Another thing about the bio section is that it’s the only space on the IG profile where you can include a URL link. That said, don’t forget to post the most significant link in your biography so users can access it – whether it’s a link back to your official website, your latest product, or your most recent blog post.

2. Create Content That Resonates with Your Audience

A successful Instagram feed shouldn’t only be visually appealing and unique, but it should also be one that appeals to the audience in mind.

While you may already be familiar with your target audience, do you know what type of content they’d be interested in? No? Well, it’s time to do some research, and we mean competitor research.

Go through the accounts of your competitors. Find out which kinds of images (or videos) get the most engagement, and use them as inspiration to create your content. Let your creative juices help you brainstorm ways to put your own spin on them.

Here’s a couple of tips to get you on the right track:

• Post a sneak peek or teaser video whenever you’re launching a new product
• Show a tutorial of how your audience can use your products
• Go behind the scenes by showing your audience the day-to-day routine of your small business
• Conduct an AMA (ask me anything) to establish rapport with your audience and set yourself as a thought leader in your industry

Also, keep in mind that Instagram isn’t just about photos and videos anymore. There are other options available to help you increase your reach and engagement – lives, stories, carousels, reels, and IGTV. Experiment with them to determine which one suits you perfectly. Whatever it may be, the help of the third party services will help grow your Instagram profile.

3. Take Advantage of Hashtags

Your hashtags are pretty much the signposts that lead potential customers to your Insta page. Using hashtags relevant to your brand will make it easier for them to find you.

Many small businesses are guilty of using random hashtags – those that are completely unrelated to their posts – which is why they struggle to attract new followers. There’s no better way to avoid this is than by tapping into your industry’s hashtags.

Tools like Hashtagify and RiteTag are a great place to discover the best hashtags to use for your business and target audience.

Once you have your list of hashtags, feel free to experiment with them and see which work best. As long as your hashtags are pertinent to your posts, then you have nothing to worry about.

As for the number of allowable hashtags, try sticking to a maximum of 10 per post. Though Instagram allows 30 hashtags, it’s best not to overdo it. Your audience will find you spammy and perhaps even desperate, and you certainly don’t want that.

4. Host a Contest

Here’s a no-brainer: People love freebies, so why not run a fun contest on Instagram?

Many small businesses have done it, and they sure did see a boost in engagement, exposure, and followers. That should be enough reason to convince you to try it yourself!

So, how can you host an IG contest that can generate more engagement and grow your following? Below are some ideas:

• Like to win: Ask people to like a specific post to win your contest. Doing so helps increase the number of likes and impressions on your content. Plus, you’ll be able to target a new audience.
• Tag to win: People who tag their friends, relatives, or just about anyone they know, will win a prize in the form of a free item. As for your brand, it will gain more exposure.
• Caption this: A “caption this” contest is ideal if you’re looking to drive a lot of organic traffic to your page. Simply share an image and ask your audience to come up with a description for it. The one with the most creative caption claims victory.
• Trivia or skill-based contest: Especially if the products you offer are designed to help people learn or hone certain skills, you can ask your followers to record and post and video of themselves showing off that newfound skill.
• Follow us: Why buy followers when you can invite people who will likely say yes instantly? How’s that possible, you ask? Just tell them that one (or a handful) of them will be lucky to win an amazing prize!

5. Use Highlights to Showcase Your Small Business

Thanks to Instagram’s Story Highlights, business owners like you can share more details about your company, including your products, services, staff, and latest events.

Highlights are the Stories you feature on your profile. The only difference is, they won’t disappear. Whereas Stories only last for 24 hours, Highlights are there to stay. So, whatever it is you want your visitors to learn about you, you know where to put them!

As much as possible, start with the basics:

• About: Include a couple of posts about your brand, hours, contact details, goals, and values
• Location: Show a map of your location, as well as photos of your store and its neighboring landmarks
• Products/services: Let your audience know what your latest and best-selling products (or services) are by featuring them in your Highlights
• FAQs: Share answers to those questions your customers would frequently ask about
• Customer reviews or posts: Repost from customer feed posts or post an image that shows online feedback from another source

6. Craft Winning Captions

Captions can make a difference in growing your brand.

The first line is usually the one that catches people’s attention and helps them decide whether the post is worth expanding or not. So, be sure to take your time thinking of the perfect line.

Checking the rest of your caption is just as crucial.

In case you’re not aware, keyword search is a recently added feature in Instagram, which means that you must always include words you want people to associate your business with. This could be your brand and product names, or general terms related to your industry.

There are plenty of ways brands utilize captions. Some treat captions as a place to share stories, while others use them to add a short, snappy headline to a post. Captions also present an opportunity for you to ask questions and tell your audience to sound off in the comments. It’s a definite move to get them engaged and involved.

However you decide to use your captions, ensure that they will get your audience hooked.

That’s a Wrap!

When done right, Instagram can be a powerful marketing tool that can help grow your small business like never before. By applying the steps we mentioned above, you’ll be on your way to the top. Followers will turn into leads, and these leads will turn into sales, revenue, and profits.

Good luck!