How to use Instagram for eCommerce
Instagram is quickly becoming a popular marketing forum for brand and organisations worldwide, and especially since a majority of users are between 16-29 years of age. If you are a brand or an organisation that is targeting audiences of this age group, Instagram could be a fantastic medium for you!
Here’s what you should do to make the move to Instagram:
- Acquaint yourself with the medium: With Instagram’s rising popularity in the business sector, they’ve started an Instagram for Business blog which offers tips, brand spotlights, examples as well as news from Instagram HQ. Thoroughly study the platform, and learn how to leverage it to your advantage.
- Offer a Visual Experience: If your brand isn’t too strong on visuals, see if it’s feasible to give it a visual personality. Sit down and decide on what image you’d like to give your brand, plan your pictures around that. Tell a story with your images; but make sure to connect with your customer… if not done right, even posting images of employees working behind the scenes might not work.
- Gather a strong following: Followers are crucial to how well your brand is doing.
Linking your Instagram account with your Facebook one is guaranteed to increase your followers, since it has higher visibility.
Follow your followers and build good relationships with them. Find users that you think would be interested in your brand and follow them as well. You may unfollow profiles if you feel they are unresponsive.
- Market your Brand: Find trending hashtags and join a larger community with your story. Incorporate popular hashtags with the messaging of your brand. Make it your personal story put out there for everyone involved to appreciate. Find creative, exciting ways to use your products and always involve your followers. Ensure that your posts go out according to a set schedule, but DO NOT SPAM.
- Engage: Ensure that you maintain good relations with your followers. Take a look at their profiles, like, comment and converse with them.
Hold exciting contests for your followers; ask them to put up pictures with a particular hashtag related to your brand to increase visibility.
Keep tabs on the competition: Instagram allows you to follow brands and organisations that are similar to yours. Make use of this so you know how you can better yourself.
