Over the past few months, we have been talking about reevaluating and refreshing your brand’s online presence. Last time we discussed Facebook, today let’s take a look at Instagram.
Instagram is a powerful tool to get your brand in front of an audience quickly and build quality connections. Having a business account offers several free features that make it super easy to hit the ground running.
Instagram is growing fast adding 111 million new users in the past quarter alone. That is over 1 million users added each day. It’s a very active community with over 500 million active daily users who “like” over four billion posts every day. So let's talk about a few features that you can use right away to help you grow your business and your online community.
IGTV
IGTV (Instagram TV) is a great way to build a community around your brand through video. The format allows you to share longer, more engaging videos. An excellent way to offer more value and connect more deeply.
Video Calling
Video can be more personal than a call depending on the circumstance. The video call feature allows for up to 6 recipients to participate, making it useful for both customers and team members.
Question Stickers
A question sticker can be used on your Instagram story and allows your viewers to submit a question that can then be answered live within a story for everyone to see, adding to brand transparency and trustworthiness.
Shoppable Posts
Customers buy directly from Instagram. There are a few steps for businesses to take to qualify for this feature, but once approved you can tag the products or offers from your catalog manager.
Direct Messages
Direct messages on Instagram goes both ways. You can reach out directly to the customer and be available to them if they reach out to you, saving time and increasing connectedness.
Live Video
Many brands are opting to spend time 'going live' online, and using the live video element of Instagram is quick and easy. Viewers can type comments that you can respond to in real-time, making you more approachable, convenient, and with proper execution ... entertaining.
Push Notifications
The use of push notifications means that you will never miss a thing when it comes to your brand. Reply to messages instantly, see related content, and hear what your audience has to say about your posts while it's happening. You will never have to worry about falling behind or being out of date.
Link Tree
Link tree can direct your followers to all of your content in one place. Perfect for Instagram since there is only space for one link in your bio, you can offer several links or sites for its audience to explore.
Reposting User Generated Content
Reposting content by others can add credibility and build trust. It also promotes your community as well as your business, a win-win.
Add Contact Information
As a business on Instagram, you can add email and phone numbers to your account which users can click to connect them to you by phone or email immediately.
Call To Action Buttons
To make accessing your services effortless, add a CTA button to your business profile, which users can click to act while the timing is right. This can include buy now, sign up, order now, get tickets, etc.
Insights
Tracking how your posts are performing keeps you in the know. To stay on top of what your audience is loving or what they are not. Adjust as needed to ensure that you always have the highest impact.
Conclusion Instagram has some fantastic features for businesses that can help successfully build your brand. Best of all, these features come completely free with your business account and are accessible to anyone. Making use of these features will allow you a more personal connection with your audience and put your brand in the spotlight. If you have any questions or would like more information on how you can make these tools work for your business, please let me know. ----------------------------- Brandi J. Bergeron is a Marketing Practitioner, Branding Strategist, Content Creator, and Partner in Moon Mission Media. Her finger firmly on the pulse of digital media's leading-edge, Brandi, and her colleagues have advised some of the top global fitness and wellbeing brands. A graduate of LSU, Brandi has 20+ years of marketing experience. She loves to help her clients thrive in both traditional marketing and the constantly changing seas of digital and social media.
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