You may have wondered if it is necessary for your business to be on Instagram. Or maybe you have set up an Instagram page but you are wondering how to maximize this social media platform for business.

Well Instagram has about 150 million monthly active users and that is a good audience for most businesses. The question is how to leverage Instagram in marketing that brand/product/service etc.

I have been trying to answer this question myself since I noticed a new follower on my Instagram account. This wasn’t someone I knew. I curiously clicked on that follower’s link and interestingly it was a business – ishopGhana.  Well I thought that was a smart way to get my attention and the attention of most people they used this approach on.

I want to share a few other tips on how to use Instagram for building your business. I hope they are of help.

1.       Engaging interactions

• You should like and comment on posts, especially those related to your brand and customers.

 If you are a Mother-care Shop for example, you can like and comment on baby photos.

• Target and follow prospective customers. They are bound to notice you and there is a high probability of them clicking on your profile. This will take some of your time but you can go through people’s profiles and target those with kids. (It sounds creepy but let’s just call it customer intelligence or prospecting!)

• Be creative in your comments, advertise yourself where and when you can. Look out for needs you can meet within a prospect/clients post.

• Use popular and relevant #hashtags  to your business. for a Mother Care, your hashtags may include #strollers, #bibs etc. depending on the products you have in stock or the services you offer.

• Tag your followers in posts they may be interested in. You may be able to tell from a prospects profile, what they are interested in. You can also use the offline purchasing history of your customers. For example a Mummy who buys Huggies diapers, may be interested in new products from Huggies you have in stock.

2.       Engaging Content

The content (pictures or videos) you post must be relevant to your brand and customer. This will get their attention and keep them following you for more.  For example, Instagram has 15 seconds of video, use this to give a helpful tip about using your brand.

A cake bakery for example can give tips on how to display cupcakes for a party.

I saw a video a Comedian (Funnyface) put on his Instagram page. He was doing a dance after the Black Stars won a match. It got  a number of likes and  comments. Am sure he achieved his aim of entertaining his fans!

Your post must be something your viewer will consider interesting. The content you post must strike a clean balance between fun and business.

Do you have any other ideas on using Instagram for business? Have you used Instagram to promote your business? Please share!