10 rules of doing business on Instagram

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Creating an Instagram profile and thereby opening your own business is no longer a miracle of progress, but a common thing. True, it will have to be developed according to all the laws of this social network.

You can sell furniture, cosmetics or car parts by turning your Instagram into a couch shop, promote your services, or trade in audience attention. Each of the 700 million active users of the social network has its own page, which serves not only as an online album of moments from life, but also provides endless business opportunities. To be successful, you need to follow the rules that many Instagram entrepreneurs have already tested.

1. Start your profile like a regular blog

Any business needs start-up capital. If we are talking about a business on Instagram, then they can serve as an active and sufficiently developed account with a couple of dozen photos, as well as the first subscribers.

Take care of maintaining your business account before trading begins on it. Let it serve as a blog for the first time: post posts that will help users make a first impression of your product or service, find out the philosophy of the future brand, and see the process of preparing to launch a business. This groundwork will come in handy for the future, and you don't have to start from scratch.

2. Complete your profile in a way that inspires confidence

To make money using an Instagram profile, you need to fill out and design it in such a way that potential customers do not doubt that you can be trusted.

• In the description, tell the most important thing about your business. But the text should not be very long (about 150 characters). Do not forget about the ability to use active links in this field.
• Make posts with an eye on how their combination will look in the overall posting grid. It should look neat, pleasing to the eye with color transitions or eye-catching splashes of color.
• Come up with official hashtags for your project and use them under the texts of the posts so that over time they become recognizable for subscribers.

3. Post content that is nice to see in the feed

The visual component should come first. But not all pictures will be equally useful for the development of your business, the success of which directly depends on the number of subscribers.

• Follow the trends in photo processing. Frames with a lot of filters and adding frames, which were popular at first, are now unlikely to bring many likes.
• Use mostly live photos taken with your smartphone camera. Such users do it themselves and are used to seeing from others. Professional shots, licked after retouching, with obvious advertising content, usually do not get a good response in the form of likes. However, if they are linked by a single concept and specially filmed in formats familiar to Instagram (for example, layouts with things), then such an approach has a chance of success.
• Pay attention not only to each post individually, but also to the grid of posts in your account as a whole. It's like a book cover for someone who sees your profile for the first time.

4. Offer subscribers exclusive

One surefire way to retain your customer followers is to offer them something that you can't find anywhere other than on your Instagram account. For example, it is in it to announce discounts, promotions, contests and other offers from which the user can benefit.

5. Interact with subscribers

Social networks are a space in which the distance between a regular user and, for example, a Hollywood star is reduced: your favorite actress can write a comment or send a message to Direct. Customers would also like to communicate with companies.

• If you want to show the customer focus of your business, make Instagram a place where you can reach you: ask questions of interest, find out prices for goods and services, get service support.
• Also, subscribers will appreciate it if you pay attention to their comments with an emotional component. Even if they do not contain questions and do not require a theoretically binding answer. Sending emoji to a subscriber is a trifle, but nice.

6. Show what in life is hidden from prying eyes

The forbidden and the inaccessible are of the most interest. Take advantage of this and post what customers usually don't see. The subtleties of the production process, working moments - all this will be new to those who do not know your field of activity from the inside. Also, posts with such content increase user loyalty: when they not only sell something, but also share something with them, it is valuable.

7. Launch new items online

Another way to gain customer trust is to let them follow the path of a new product to the counter. Arrange a countdown to the launch of the new product, show what was behind its creation, giving out information in portions. Create intrigue and keep users on standby until details come in.

8. Encourage subscribers

The payment for trust can be a prize drawn in a competition, or a repost of a publication dedicated to your business. Subscribers will benefit from additional motivation. Let them have one more reason to follow your updates.

9. Use manual promotion

It is possible to find clients for your business by increasing the number of subscribers without additional investments. Promote your Instagram manually. Likes and comments that you leave under other people's posts, subscribing to their accounts, using hashtags, geotags and tags will help you with this. The reach of the audience due to these simple actions will increase significantly.

10. Inspire customers

Think not only of yourself, but also of others. It's great when content in a business account is thought-provoking, uplifting, smiling and inspiring. Not just selling, but giving emotions - for the sake of this, perhaps, it is worth working.