How to Grow Your Business Instagram Account
Don’t know where to start when it comes to growing your Instagram business account? Here’s our breakdown on how to grow fast.
Posted 2 years ago
Written by
Julia CohenPosted 2 years ago
Donāt freak out! We have the 5 ingredient recipe that can help you grow any Instagram business account.
We know the feeling. Growing an Instagram profile is hard enough, but what if youāre asked to grow your business Instagram account? And, what if the business is *gasp* not very easy to visualize on a platform that is completely image-based? Maybe youāre selling software or an app? But donāt worry, weāve got you covered.
Growing a business Instagram account doesnāt have to be difficult at all. Just make sure you have a strategy and stick to it. Not sure where to get started? We do! And weāre sharing it with you below.
Understanding your audienceš
The secret to growing any Instagram business account is to deliver the type of content your audience wants. Sounds simple in theory, but how do you know who your audience is and what they want?
There are many ways to get the information that helps you figure this out. Here are some suggestions:
šAsk the marketing team for a rundown of their buyer personas.
Who are they targeting when they are running ads? Who shows up for events? Try to find out what type of content that audience normally consumes. What publications do they read? How are they on social media?
šAsk sales staff who they are selling to and how they are finding those people.
What do customers have in common? What questions do they ask? What are their concerns? This gives you an idea of what things they may be looking for when they stumble across your Instagram account.
There are many different methods you can follow to define what your audience likes and how it behaves.
šDocument your findings to ensure you draw correct conclusions
We find Hubspotās (free) persona template simple and sweet. Itās a great method to document all the information you gather in a way that makes it easy to make sense of later ā and draw the right conclusions.
When youāre thinking about creating relevant content later on, you may come back to the different teams with more advanced questions such as āWhat do our customers love most about our brand?ā to help you figure out what things you should highlight on Instagram.
Note ā if your company is really small, roles may not be clear or the information could not be available altogether. In this case, you can gather some of this information yourself by checking out your local and global competitors, or by asking existing customers a few questions. There are relevant data everywhere. You just need to be willing to put it all together.
Developing your strategyš
Now that you have a lot of information about your businessā audience, itās time to translate that into social media content. Start off by looking into your competitors. What content creates the most engagement with their audience? Take notes. Here are some things you may want to look for:
- Tone of voice
- How they structure their bios
- What they choose to highlight within their bio
- How they visually represent their brand (grid design & aesthetic)
- How they engage with their audience
- What call-to-actions they use in their captions
Now go broader. Look at a non-competitor Instagram business account and see what they are doing that helps create engagement. Is there anything you can āstealā and adjust to fit your offer? Just because youāre selling a service doesnāt mean you canāt have a lively grid with amazing pictures. Maybe you can highlight your employees and tell their stories or let followers in on how your business works behind the scenes.
Timing mattersā°
Now that you have an idea of what to post, itās important you keep an eye out for when to post. Depending on your audience, there are certain times that will result in better engagement than others. When are your followers most active? If youāre selling a service, it may be best to post new content during lunch or the early afternoon. Are you selling retail products? Likely the evening works best for you. The good news is, you donāt have to guess out of the blue. You can simply evaluate how your posts perform in terms of likes and comments via Instagram analytics.
Consistency is keyš
Now you know everything you need to grow your account. But thereās one more thing: consistency! The best strategy and hashtags in the world wonāt get you anywhere if you donāt post regularly. But consistency is not just about how often you post, itās also about what you post.
š Schedule: aim to post at least once a day (ideally twice a day) at the right time. You can prepare the content beforehand to reduce the workload.
š
Pick a grid design: when new users see your post and enjoy it, they will likely go to your Instagram profile page. This moment is when they decide if they will follow you or not. A professional grid goes a long way in aiding that decision. You could work with different colors or content styles. The rule is to ensure your most recent 12 posts look good together. VSCO is a great app to help you plan your grid.
š Favorite filters: You may be tempted to use different filters and styles for your posts, but be mindful that most followers follow you for a certain type of content. Try to stick to it. Pick 2-3 filters that match and use them consistently. You may even want to choose a specific color scheme to make your image and video content fit together. Again, VSCO lets you save filter sets to help with this.
Letās recap!š
Worried this is all too much? Take a deep breath and letās recap the 5 simple steps you can follow to get you started on your growth journey:
šµļøāāļø Gather information! Try to learn about your target audience and what they like.
š Develop a strategy. What kind of content do you want to post and why?
š Figure out the right timing. Post when your followers are most active.
#ļøā£ Nail hashtags! Discover the most relevant hashtags to grow your account with Flick.
š Be consistent. Ensure you post regular content that fits well together.
Thatās all! To ensure you learn from what youāre doing, keep an eye on your account analytics. This is also a great way to show your boss whatās working later on. Monitor engagement metrics, such as followers, likes, and comments.
It doesnāt have to be more complicated than this. Ready to get started on your Instagram business account?
And feel free to contact the Flick team if you need more advice or a pat on the back for a job well done.
Thinking about trying out the Instagram hashtag strategy?
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