5 Things To Know About Instagram To Boost Your Business 

Running a business nowadays means you must arm yourself with the right marketing tactics and strategies. It’s no longer enough to have the right product or service to offer to your audience—you also need to ensure it reaches your target customers or you risk making no sales. And what better way to do that than to use all marketing means available to amplify your presence? 

Wouldn’t it be better to have your quality products and services reach the right people? In the niche example of an electrical contractor for instance, aside from using efficient software like Jobber for scheduling jobs and managing your other tasks, it’s also crucial that you know how to market your brand so you can have more leads and potential customers. 

Instagram tips for boosting your business 

One of the most effective platforms you can use for marketing your services is social media. Instagram, in particular, can boost your business if you know your way around it. You’re missing quite a lot if you’re still not using Instagram (IG) to widen your online presence.  

That said, here are five things you didn’t know about Instagram to boost your business: 

1. Your number of followers isn’t as significant as you think 

You may think that Instagram is about having thousands of followers just to say you’re making an impact. However, this isn’t always the case, especially if your business involves providing services to a very tailored audience. You don’t need a large following if that number comprises people or accounts who aren’t likely to hire your services. 

So, don’t be too caught up with having only a few hundred followers. What matters is how you connect and engage with them. Pay more attention to serving them content that can be of value to them and how you can help solve their daily struggles. Introduce your services and make sure they know how to reach you. Can you link to anything you can offer for free? Some companies use social media to demonstrate they listen to and understand their customers by offering things like this contractor invoice template that can be downloaded and fully customized any number of times. 

2. You can collaborate with relevant businesses for more exposure 

Another useful feature of Instagram is the ability to collaborate with influencers and other businesses so you can have more exposure. You can collaborate with a relevant company you believe your followers would find valuable or perhaps a client who also happens to be an influencer. As in the example above, electrical contractors, can team up with home builders and remodelers since they often work together for clients.  

Aside from boosting business exposure, collaboration can help expand your network. Since business is all about connections, building relationships with other companies can help widen your social circle. This could result in more referrals and, of course, better revenue for your business. 

Collaborations on Instagram could involve going live on the platform with an influencer or other relevant businesses that can help you achieve your goal. You can also post IG stories, photos, and videos tagging the business or influencer and vice versa. Doing these exposes your business to your collaborator’s followers and clients. 

3. Hashtags still work 

Hashtags are one of the oldest features of IG, pioneered back in the day. In essence, hashtags categorize your content so readers interested in particular subjects and categories can quickly locate them. It enables your postings to be seen by more people who care about your niche or industry and are therefore more likely to want to follow your profile or brand. 

When you put a hashtag on your content on Instagram, it appears on a separate page of posts and stories that also use that hashtag. This makes it easier for people looking for content using that hashtag to locate posts that are interesting to them and likely to engage them. On the flip side, hashtags can help you find posts and content relevant to your business.  

4. You can post long-form videos using IGTV 

Another excellent IG feature you can take advantage of is IGTV. It allows you to upload up to a 60-minute video that your followers and other IG users can watch, like how they’d watch television. Your IGTV content can be of anything that can offer value to your audience. For example, a tutorial or a video featuring your new services or products. 

You can respond to frequently asked questions (FAQs) or give a step-by-step walkthrough of what your business does so your audience can be better acquainted with your brand. Just be aware that these longer-form videos need more production qualities than typical Instagram videos, so be sure you have the means to achieve the level of quality you desire. 

5. IG Stories have various features for better engagement 

You might think that IG stories are only about photos and short videos you can upload for your audience. On the contrary, you can actually take advantage of various features that can help you get the engagement and interaction you want for your profile. 

A good example is the “questions sticker” that enables you to ask questions and let your viewers or followers answer them. It could be anything about the business or your products and services. This tool is fantastic for creating communities and promoting consumer involvement. A brand can be seen as trustworthy, compassionate, and human by showing that it cares about its customers’ opinions and is available to answer questions. This encourages consumer loyalty. 

Final words 

There are definitely more than enough ways to use Instagram to boost your business. These five things mentioned above may not be something you’d use when marketing your brand on Instagram. But now that you know them, why not take advantage of these tips and features? Before you know it, your profile is already gaining leverage and more exposure, which is absolutely what your business needs.