Instagram marketing has been a lifesaver for small businesses since the moment it came to existence. From the beginning, it was obvious that businesses can use the platform to showcase their products and gather followers who'll be happy to support a brand.
\r\nUnlike Twitter, where marketers have to be creative in how they write and what they write, Instagram doesn't require words. If the product is photogenic, all you have to do is post photos of it using different filters. People spend a lot of time on Instagram – it has the highest engagement among social media platforms – so they don't mind scrolling through photos of products they are interested in. As a result, Instagram users get exposed to relevant brands all the time. The engagement for brands is higher than anywhere else on social media platforms: 68% of users regularly engage with brands on Instagram while only 32% of users regularly engage with brands on Facebook.
\r\nInstagram isn't only about organic growth. It is also the perfect platform for advertising. Most marketers and small business owners know the main Instagram rule: Post great content, especially great images. In this article, I discuss everything that's beyond this rule.
\r\nMany shy away from Instagram stories. Ephemeral content seems outdated and takes a lot of effort for something that lasts 24 hours.
\r\nYet, Instagram stories are one of the most effective social media marketing features. Stories contain links and texts, which can increase traffic to your website immediately. Features like hashtags and geotagging that are available in Stories make it easy for users to find you based on your location and interest. Stories imply urgency and calls to action. Stories appear on top of one's Instagram feed and play automatically one after the other, so the user is unlikely to miss it, even if they had no intention of watching the brand's Story.
\r\nTo create a Story, open (or download) Instagram and create an account for your brand, if you don't have one. You can take a photo or make a video and upload it to your Story straight away with a single click. Instagram makes it extremely easy – you don't need any knowledge or skill to create a Story.
\r\nThe easiest and most rewarding way for a small business to stand out of the crowd is to perform excellent customer service. Large brands can't possibly achieve the same level of customer service. Large brands are bombarded with comments, complaints and questions. No matter how huge their sales and marketing and customer service teams are, it's impossible to deal with this many customers all talking online (and offline).
\r\nSmall businesses often make it their goal to provide personalized, friendly, caring and attentive customer service. This not only wins them new customers via word of mouth but also facilitates loyalty among old customers.
\r\nFor Instagram, make it your goal to reply to comments (good ones as well as bad ones), answer questions and react to complaints in time. Not to miss any mentions of your brand (tagged and untagged), use social listening. Social listening tools collect mentions of your brand on major social media networks and bring them to you in real time. Monitoring and analyzing your mentions on social media helps you spot a social media crisis in time and manage your brand reputation.
\r\nInfluencer marketing is another practice that has proven to be effective for all businesses, big or small. The difference for small businesses is that while corporations often employ offline influencers (celebrities, sportspeople, etc.) and expensive online celebrities, small businesses target micro and macroinfluencers. And these microinfluencers are often no less, if not more, effective. Here's why: Celebrities are useful for brands mainly because they spread awareness among millions of their fans. Influencers with 2,000 or even 50,000 followers have online growth that is traceable. These smaller influencers value their reputation and may only advertise your product to their community if they genuinely like it.
\r\nMicroinfluencers also have another benefit: They are usually more relevant to your product. Often, they've proven themselves to be an expert in a specific niche. All you have to do is find influencers in your niche.
\r\nTo find relevant influencers with small or medium levels of following, use an influencer marketing database or a social listening tool with the influencer marketing feature.
\r\nIn marketing, as in everything else, most things have already been tried before you. To avoid experimenting yourself – for a small business, experimenting can be expensive and scary – look at your competitors and learn from their successes and mistakes. Use tools to analyze what has worked for them and what hasn't worked for them in terms of marketing campaigns.
\r\nLook at the posts that get the most engagement and at the posts that get the least. Observe how they talk to their followers and commentators, and how the latter react.
\r\nSeparately, pay attention to complaints and praises related to your competitors' products. You'll discover pain points and best features that you probably wouldn't have noticed otherwise.
\r\nYou'll need to outline metrics that are specific to Insta marketing and regularly check on them. These can be the number of followers, the level of engagement, share of voice, the number of brand mentions on social media. Calculating those every month will give you an idea of whether your marketing strategy is working.
\r\nInstagram has long been associated with images. While images, obviously, remain as the most important type of content for Instagram, other formats are making their way into the mix, which helps the businesses that are using them stand out.
\r\nFor example, long (thoughtful, funny, educational) posts with images attract and keep the users' attention. Long-form videos have recently been added to Instagram and are popular among brands and users. This isn't surprising, given the growing popularity of video content. While there is no universal content mix recipe, it's worth trying to use all of the available content types and see how they work for your brand.
\r\nYou can upload pre-recorded videos or shoot one straight from the app. I recommend the first option. You can also trim videos that are too long straight in the app.
\r\nInstagram feed allows videos of up to 60 seconds. If your video is longer, the user will be able to watch it as IGTV. All videos have to be no more than 10 minutes long. You don't have to do anything special to upload either a short or long video: Just keep in mind that the user will have to do an extra click if your video is more than 60 seconds.
\r\nInstagram is perfect for encouraging user-generated content, and user-generated content is perfect for increasing engagement, spreading brand awareness, entertaining and inspiring your followers, and making them feel closer to your brand and your product.
\r\nAll methods that call for user-generated content have proven themselves to be effective: contests, viral hashtags, challenges. People who are encouraged to participate in product creation or product marketing feel like they are part of the community and are more likely to buy the product and become a loyal customer.
\r\nInstagram is so much more than just a pretty platform. It's a space for real, creative, outstanding marketing, as well as for perfect customer service and unusual market research. Instagram is made for small businesses – it's all about individuality, connection and providing anyone with the opportunity to create professional-looking gorgeous content.
\n","docType":"article","guid":"articles_577527ed176892e97a409d7f2193d65a","lastModified":"2020-08-27T21:31:00.000Z","published":"2020-08-27T21:31:00.000Z","structuredData":null,"subtitle":"Instagram is the perfect platform for advertising. Here's how to make your ads stand out.","template":"v1","title":"Instagram Marketing: Best Practices for Small Businesses","type":"article","author":{"avatar":null,"bio":"Founder and CMO at SEO PowerSuite and Awario. Digital Marketer & Speaker at SMX, BrightonSEO. Author at Search Engine Land, Search Engine Journal, & more.","name":"Aleh Barysevich","image":null,"slug":null,"social":{"facebook":"https://www.facebook.com/abarysevich","linkedin":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/alehbarysevich/","twitter":"https://twitter.com/ab80","website":"https://www.link-assistant.com/"},"status":"enabled","title":null,"type":"New BDC Member","user":{"imagePath":"https://staging.business.com/images/","profile":{"company":"SEO PowerSuite","jobTitle":"Founder and CMO","website":"https://www.link-assistant.com/"}}},"breadcrumbs":null,"channels":{"primary":{"name":"Marketing","slug":"marketing"},"sub":{"name":"Social Media","slug":"social-media"}},"meta":{"robots":"index, follow","description":"Instagram is so much more than just a pretty platform. It's a space for creative marketing, customer service and market research.","title":"Best Practices for Marketing on Instagram - business.com"},"parsedContent":{"toc":[{"id":"1-use-instagram-stories","title":"1. Use Instagram stories"},{"id":"2-upgrade-your-customer-service","title":"2. Upgrade your customer service"},{"id":"3-use-influencer-marketing","title":"3. Use influencer marketing"},{"id":"4-look-at-your-competitors","title":"4. Look at your competitors"},{"id":"5-measure-results","title":"5. Measure results"},{"id":"6-create-different-types-of-content","title":"6. Create different types of content"},{"id":"7-attract-user-generated-content","title":"7. Attract user-generated content"},{"id":"conclusion","title":"Conclusion"}],"json":[{"component":"p","children":["Instagram marketing has been a lifesaver for small businesses since the moment it came to existence. From the beginning, it was obvious that businesses can use the platform to showcase their products and gather followers who'll be happy to support a brand."]},{"component":"p","children":["Unlike Twitter, where marketers have to be creative in how they write and what they write, Instagram doesn't require words. If the product is photogenic, all you have to do is post photos of it using different filters. People spend a lot of time on Instagram – it has ",{"component":"a","props":{"href":"https://www.webstrategiesinc.com/blog/which-social-media-sites-get-the-most-engagement#:~:text=Which%20Social%20Media%20Channels%20Have,of%20one%20thousand%20followers%20(%3C.","target":"_blank","rel":"noopener nofollow"},"children":["the highest engagement among social media platforms"]}," – so they don't mind scrolling through photos of products they are interested in. As a result, Instagram users get exposed to relevant brands all the time. The engagement for brands is higher than anywhere else on social media platforms: ",{"component":"a","props":{"href":"https://neilpatel.com/blog/b2b-leads-from-instagram-stories/","target":"_blank","rel":"noopener nofollow"},"children":["68% of users regularly engage with brands"]}," on Instagram while only ",{"component":"a","props":{"href":"https://neilpatel.com/blog/marketers-guide-to-instagram-stories/#:~:text=Instagram%20Stories%20give%20marketers%20a,just%20need%20a%20little%20creativity.","target":"_blank","rel":"noopener nofollow"},"children":["32% of users regularly engage with brands on Facebook"]},"."]},{"component":"p","children":["Instagram isn't only about organic growth. It is also the perfect platform for advertising. Most marketers and small business owners know the main Instagram rule: Post great content, especially great images. In this article, I discuss everything that's beyond this rule. "]},{"component":"h2","props":{"id":"1-use-instagram-stories"},"children":["1. Use Instagram stories"]},{"component":"p","children":["Many shy away from Instagram stories. Ephemeral content seems outdated and takes a lot of effort for something that lasts 24 hours."]},{"component":"p","children":["Yet, Instagram stories are one of the most effective social media marketing features. Stories contain links and texts, which can increase traffic to your website immediately. Features like hashtags and geotagging that are available in Stories make it easy for users to find you based on your location and interest. Stories imply urgency and calls to action. Stories appear on top of one's Instagram feed and play automatically one after the other, so the user is unlikely to miss it, even if they had no intention of watching the brand's Story. "]},{"component":"p","children":["To create a Story, open (or download) Instagram and create an account for your brand, if you don't have one. You can take a photo or make a video and upload it to your Story straight away with a single click. Instagram makes it extremely easy – you don't need any knowledge or skill to create a Story."]},{"component":"h2","props":{"id":"2-upgrade-your-customer-service"},"children":["2. Upgrade your customer service"]},{"component":"p","children":["The easiest and most rewarding way for a small business to stand out of the crowd is to perform excellent customer service. Large brands can't possibly achieve the same level of customer service. Large brands are bombarded with comments, complaints and questions. No matter how huge their sales and marketing and customer service teams are, it's impossible to deal with this many customers all talking online (and offline). "]},{"component":"p","children":["Small businesses often make it their goal to provide personalized, friendly, caring and attentive customer service. This not only wins them new customers via word of mouth but also facilitates loyalty among old customers."]},{"component":"p","children":["For Instagram, make it your goal to reply to comments (good ones as well as bad ones), answer questions and react to complaints in time. Not to miss any mentions of your brand (tagged and untagged), use ",{"component":"a","props":{"href":"https://awario.com/blog/social-listening-faq/","target":"_blank","rel":"external nofollow noopener"},"children":["social listening"]},". ",{"component":"a","props":{"href":"https://www.link-assistant.com/news/best-social-listening-tools.html","target":"_blank","rel":"external nofollow noopener"},"children":["Social listening tools"]}," collect mentions of your brand on major social media networks and bring them to you in real time. Monitoring and analyzing your mentions on social media helps you spot a social media crisis in time and manage your brand reputation."]},{"component":"h2","props":{"id":"3-use-influencer-marketing"},"children":["3. Use influencer marketing"]},{"component":"p","children":["Influencer marketing is another practice that has proven to be effective for all businesses, big or small. The difference for small businesses is that while corporations often employ offline influencers (celebrities, sportspeople, etc.) and expensive online celebrities, small businesses target micro and macroinfluencers. And these microinfluencers are often no less, if not more, effective. Here's why: Celebrities are useful for brands mainly because they spread awareness among millions of their fans. Influencers with 2,000 or even 50,000 followers have online growth that is traceable. These smaller influencers value their reputation and may only advertise your product to their community if they genuinely like it."]},{"component":"p","children":["Microinfluencers also have another benefit: They are usually more relevant to your product. Often, they've proven themselves to be an expert in a specific niche. All you have to do is find influencers in your niche. "]},{"component":"p","children":["To find relevant influencers with small or medium levels of following, use an influencer marketing database or a social listening tool with the influencer marketing feature."]},{"component":"h2","props":{"id":"4-look-at-your-competitors"},"children":["4. Look at your competitors"]},{"component":"p","children":["In marketing, as in everything else, most things have already been tried before you. To avoid experimenting yourself – for a small business, experimenting can be expensive and scary – look at your competitors and learn from their successes and mistakes. Use tools to analyze what has worked for them and what hasn't worked for them in terms of marketing campaigns."]},{"component":"p","children":["Look at the posts that get the most engagement and at the posts that get the least. Observe how they talk to their followers and commentators, and how the latter react. "]},{"component":"p","children":["Separately, pay attention to complaints and praises related to your competitors' products. You'll discover pain points and best features that you probably wouldn't have noticed otherwise."]},{"component":"h2","props":{"id":"5-measure-results"},"children":["5. Measure results"]},{"component":"p","children":["You'll need to outline metrics that are specific to Insta marketing and regularly check on them. These can be the number of followers, the level of engagement, ",{"component":"a","props":{"href":"https://awario.com/blog/share-of-voice/","target":"_blank","rel":"external nofollow noopener"},"children":["share of voice"]},", the number of brand mentions on social media. Calculating those every month will give you an idea of whether your marketing strategy is working. "]},{"component":"h2","props":{"id":"6-create-different-types-of-content"},"children":["6. Create different types of content"]},{"component":"p","children":["Instagram has long been associated with images. While images, obviously, remain as the most important type of content for Instagram, other formats are making their way into the mix, which helps the businesses that are using them stand out. "]},{"component":"p","children":["For example, long (thoughtful, funny, educational) posts with images attract and keep the users' attention. Long-form videos have recently been added to Instagram and are popular among brands and users. This isn't surprising, given the growing popularity of video content. While there is no universal content mix recipe, it's worth trying to use all of the available content types and see how they work for your brand."]},{"component":"p","children":["You can upload pre-recorded videos or shoot one straight from the app. I recommend the first option. You can also trim videos that are too long straight in the app."]},{"component":"p","children":["Instagram feed allows videos of up to 60 seconds. If your video is longer, the user will be able to watch it as IGTV. All videos have to be no more than 10 minutes long. You don't have to do anything special to upload either a short or long video: Just keep in mind that the user will have to do an extra click if your video is more than 60 seconds. "]},{"component":"h2","props":{"id":"7-attract-user-generated-content"},"children":["7. Attract user-generated content"]},{"component":"p","children":["Instagram is perfect for encouraging user-generated content, and user-generated content is perfect for increasing engagement, spreading brand awareness, entertaining and inspiring your followers, and making them feel closer to your brand and your product. "]},{"component":"p","children":["All methods that call for user-generated content have proven themselves to be effective: contests, viral hashtags, challenges. People who are encouraged to participate in product creation or product marketing feel like they are part of the community and are more likely to buy the product and become a loyal customer. "]},{"component":"h2","props":{"id":"conclusion"},"children":["Conclusion"]},{"component":"p","children":["Instagram is so much more than just a pretty platform. It's a space for real, creative, outstanding marketing, as well as for perfect customer service and unusual market research. Instagram is made for small businesses – it's all about individuality, connection and providing anyone with the opportunity to create professional-looking gorgeous content. "]}]},"resource":null,"sponsorship":{"sponsorType":"no-sponsor","name":null,"thumbnail":null,"bio":null,"slug":null,"status":null,"social":{"website":null,"linkedin":null,"twitter":null,"facebook":null}},"thumbnail":{"path":"https://staging.business.com/images/content/5f4/821335a215eff298b4567/1500-0-","caption":"Chainarong Prasertthai / Getty Images","isBlurred":false},"bestPicks":null},"related":{"relatedArticles":[{"title":"How to Inject Creativity Into Your Business's Marketing Methods","canonical":"https://www.business.com/articles/inject-creativity-into-your-business-marketing-methods/","slug":"inject-creativity-into-your-business-marketing-methods","thumbnail":"https://www.business.com/images/content/5e0/b9a7c5a215e2b0d8b4576/1500-0-","dek":"The more creativity you can include in your campaigns, the better off you (and your brand) will be.","lastModified":"2020-01-05T13:00:00Z","published":"2020-01-05T13:00:00Z","sponsored":false},{"title":"Step-by-Step Guide to Social Media Marketing for Small Businesses","canonical":"https://www.business.com/articles/social-media-marketing-guide/","slug":"social-media-marketing-guide","thumbnail":"https://www.business.com/images/content/5f2/b26d79c658aa0158b4567/1500-0-","dek":"Social media marketing is a key part of modern business. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to start a successful strategy.","lastModified":"2020-08-06T10:36:00Z","published":"2020-08-06T10:36:00Z","sponsored":false},{"title":"A Marketer's Guide to Social Media Marketing","canonical":"https://www.business.com/articles/guide-to-social-media-marketing/","slug":"guide-to-social-media-marketing","thumbnail":"https://www.business.com/images/content/596/907b951ee4731778b456b/1500-0-","dek":"Businesses can no longer ignore the power of social media marketing","lastModified":"2017-07-27T07:00:00Z","published":"2017-07-27T07:00:00Z","sponsored":false},{"title":"From Hashtags to Tweets: Your Guide to Retail Social Media Marketing","canonical":"https://www.business.com/articles/amy-nichol-smith-guide-to-social-media-marketing/","slug":"amy-nichol-smith-guide-to-social-media-marketing","thumbnail":"https://www.business.com/images/content/595/a91d11039ebda218b45ac/1500-0-","dek":"Finding your niche in the social media world","lastModified":"2017-07-19T07:00:00Z","published":"2017-07-19T07:00:00Z","sponsored":false},{"title":"Everything You Need to Know About Email Marketing","canonical":"https://www.business.com/articles/how-to-write-email-marketing-campaign/","slug":"how-to-write-email-marketing-campaign","thumbnail":"https://www.business.com/images/content/5f0/da0225a215e702d8b4567/1500-0-","dek":"Learn how to set marketing goals and achieve them through a targeted email marketing campaign.","lastModified":"2020-07-14T12:09:00Z","published":"2020-07-14T12:09:00Z","sponsored":false},{"title":"The Ultimate Guide to Social Media Listening","canonical":"https://www.business.com/articles/social-media-listening-ultimate-guide/","slug":"social-media-listening-ultimate-guide","thumbnail":"https://www.business.com/images/content/5ef/df07c5a215e6e698b4586/1500-0-","dek":"Knowing what your customers think about you has a real effect on your customer service, product development and marketing. Social listening is a great way to gain insight.","lastModified":"2020-07-03T16:00:00Z","published":"2020-07-03T16:00:00Z","sponsored":false},{"title":"The Power of Instagram Influencers (and How to Find the Right Ones)","canonical":"https://www.business.com/articles/guide-to-influencer-marketing/","slug":"guide-to-influencer-marketing","thumbnail":"https://www.business.com/images/content/5c1/8397d9c658a8c718b4587/1500-0-","dek":"Learn how you can start and benefit from an influencer marketing campaign.","lastModified":"2018-12-18T18:00:00Z","published":"2018-12-18T18:00:00Z","sponsored":false},{"title":"What Are the Most Important KPIs for Content Marketing?","canonical":"https://www.business.com/articles/important-kpis-content-marketing/","slug":"important-kpis-content-marketing","thumbnail":"https://www.business.com/images/content/5ed/902e19c658a6b318b456c/1500-0-","dek":"Here's how to use KPIs to measure the success of your content marketing campaign and improve on it.","lastModified":"2020-06-04T18:14:00Z","published":"2020-06-04T18:14:00Z","sponsored":false},{"title":"5 Social Media Growth Hacks To Boost Productivity","canonical":"https://staging.business.com/articles/5-social-media-growth-hacks-to-boost-productivity/","slug":"5-social-media-growth-hacks-to-boost-productivity","thumbnail":"https://staging.business.com/images/content/57a/8ecba3187b1967c2a81b7/1500-0-","dek":"Social media is an essential part of any online marketing strategy and you’ll need to be as creative as possible to make it work for you.","lastModified":"2016-08-09T19:00:00Z","published":"2016-08-09T19:00:00Z","sponsored":null},{"title":"Pocket Fuel: 10 Essential Steps to Start Freelancing on the Side","canonical":"https://staging.business.com/articles/10-essential-steps-to-start-freelancing-on-the-side/","slug":"10-essential-steps-to-start-freelancing-on-the-side","thumbnail":"https://staging.business.com/images/content/575/f88db2f87b1d70f425718/1500-0-","dek":"Here's how to start freelancing and begin winning high-value clients while you're still working a day job that pays the bills.","lastModified":"2017-02-22T23:54:45Z","published":"2016-06-14T18:00:00Z","sponsored":null},{"title":"Pocket Fuel: 10 Essential Steps to Start Freelancing on the Side","canonical":"https://www.business.com/articles/10-essential-steps-to-start-freelancing-on-the-side/","slug":"10-essential-steps-to-start-freelancing-on-the-side","thumbnail":"https://www.business.com/images/channel/business-basics.jpg","dek":"Here's how to start freelancing and begin winning high-value clients while you're still working a day job that pays the bills.","lastModified":"2016-06-14T18:00:00Z","published":"2016-06-14T18:00:00Z","sponsored":false},{"title":"How to Utilize Influencer Marketing Without Breaking the Bank","canonical":"https://www.business.com/articles/budget-friendly-influencer-marketing/","slug":"budget-friendly-influencer-marketing","thumbnail":"https://www.business.com/images/content/5e9/c512e7b4374a6408b456d/1500-0-","dek":"Micro-influencers can provide a lot of value to businesses on a budget","lastModified":"2020-04-19T16:00:00Z","published":"2020-04-19T16:00:00Z","sponsored":false}],"relatedReviews":[{"doc_type":"category","thumbnail":"https://staging.business.com/images/rz/5b99633151ee47a8528b4582/Call_center_bbernard.jpg","canonical":"https://staging.business.com/categories/call-center-services/","title":"The Best Call Center Services for 2021","dek":"Our team has compared the best call center services for 2021. 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