Instagram Marketing For Small Business | The Best Way to Do Instagram Marketing

– Instagram is one of the biggestand baddest social media
networks on the market right now. With over one billion active monthly usersand 25 million active business accounts,it’s clear they’re not
going anywhere anytime soon. That’s why in this video,we’re covering 10 Instagram
marketing strategiesfor small business so you
can better use the platformto connect and convert your
ideal customer and client. Let’s get to it. Hey there my name is Adam Erhart,Modern Marketing Strategist,and welcome to the Modern Marketing Showwhere we help you make
marketing that matters. So if you’re interested in
learning about the latestand greatest marketing
strategies, tools, tips, tricks,and tactics, well, you may
wanna consider subscribing. Alright so seeing as you’re
here now watching this video,it means you already understand the powerand the influence that Instagramhas had on the market in general. So rather than drone
on and on about thingsyou already know, let’s
dive right into the tips,starting with number
one, optimize your bio. The very first thing you
wanna do on Instagramwhether you’re just getting startedor whether you’re looking
to take your accountto the next level is to
really fully optimize your bioby describing accurately,
clearly and conciselywhat you do and who you do it for. This is also your opportunityto talk about why you’re worth following. After all, what you do
and who you do it foris one part of the puzzle
but why is your accountworth someone’s attention and time?Of course, if you’ve got them there,you’ve compelled them with what you doand who you do it for and
why you’re worth following,well then obviously you’re
gonna wanna follow this upwith an effective call to actionleading them somewhere
to get them off the siteand to basically try to build
your network some other way. A perfect example here is offeringsome kind of freebie
or guide or lead magnetand making sure to link that
up using the link in your bio. A really important note
is to obviously make surethat whatever place you’re
sending them off Instagramis mobile optimized because
almost all of Instagramtakes place on a mobile device. So the last thing you
wanna do is send themto some ugly website that
doesn’t work when they get there. Also, bonus points if
you’re using a link trackerlike Bitly which is going
to enable you to seejust how many people are clicking the linkand ending up where you want them to go. Alright, tip number two is to make sureto have a brand plan. The three words that can help you buildan effective brand plan are consistency,clarity and congruence. Consistency means that you’re
applying a regular schedule,meaning you’re posting regularly,you’re checking in regularly,
responding to commentsand responding to DMs on a
regular and consistent schedule. All of which help provethat you’re a reliable
and trustworthy brand. Clarity is all about what you’re about,your style and what you do and making surethat is really clear exactly what you do,who you do it for, why
you’re worth followinglike we already covered,but also the theme and
the tone and the styleacross your entire account. Confusing someone is
one of the quickest waysto lose them no matter
what we’re talking about. Lastly, we have congruence. Again, this kind of
marries the consistencyand the clarity by making
sure that what you do,what you talk about, what
you post and all the imagesall really work together
and all really followthe same line and the same theme, again,making sure that we avoid confusing anyoneabout you and about what you’re about. Tip number three is to
leverage both feed and storiesin your Instagram marketing plan. The way that I like to think about itis feed, real good,
and stories, real time. Meaning that you wanna make
sure that you’ve curatedand created your absolute best contentin your feed so that
you’re really portrayingyour best brand image possibleand putting your best foot forwardand then using stories to
show things in real time,live action as they happen. If you’re running Instagram ads,which we’re gonna talk
about in just a minute,well, then you can leverage
both feeds and storiesand see which one provides the betterreturn on investment for
you and your business. Our next tip is to use hashtags. Now I’m sorry that I even need to say thisbut it’s just so important
and so many peopleare still missing the
boat here in leveragingand using them across all of their posts. And it’s so important
because this is how peopleare going to be finding
you and your content. Now there’s three tips I have
when it comes to hashtagsto really help to elevate your gameand get more bank for your buck. The first of which is that
you need to do #research,meaning, you’ve gotta go out thereand find out what other influencers
in your space are using,what the top brands are usingand what your competitors are usingin order to attract and build an audience. Also, most importantly,
you need to find outthe hashtags that your ideal
target market are usingbecause these are the peoplethat you’re actually
trying to show up for. The next tip is that even
though you’ve done your researchand you’ve got a kind of
a stock pile of hashtagsready to go, you wanna
vary them up over timeso that you can continue showing upin front of new and varied audiencesby using a variety of different hashtags. If you stick to the same
hashtag, time and time again,over time all that’s really gonna happenis you’re gonna show up in
front of the same peopleagain and again so your
account is gonna stagnateand not grow as much as it
could by varying the peoplethat you’re trying to reach. My final tip when it comes to hashtagsis to make sure to use
the keyword shortcutinside your phone which is
gonna make it a lot easierto pop them up quickly rather than havingto hand type out each and every single onewhich can be incredibly
time-consuming and laborious. My next tip is to make sureto leverage a micro-influencer strategy. Now I know you’ve heard
of influencer marketingwhere celebrities and
people with large accountsgo out there and get paid in
order to promote a producton their feed but there’s a sub-segmentof this massive industry
known as micro-influencersand this is where I’d recommendyou really wanna start diving into. What micro-influencers are are essentiallyreally niche-specific businesses or peoplewith tiny audiences of
the exact perfect peoplethat you’re trying to reach. By going after them, you’re able to oftenget incredibly cost effective
placements and postingsfor really pennies on the dollarand reach exactly who
you’re trying to reach. But of course, finding
the right micro-influenceris gonna take a little bit of diggingand a little bit of research. Still, well worth the effort. If you’re totally new
to influencer marketing,well, I’ll make sure to link up a videoin the description below
as well as in the cardswhich will walk you throughmy influencer marketing outreach strategy. Really recommend you check it out. My next tip is to make sureto leverage user generated content. Leveraging user generated contentis a fantastic way to build brand loyalty,build engagement with your tribeand also take a little bit
of the load off your platewhen it comes to creating content. Fortunately, generating
user generated content,well, that’s a bit of a mouthful,well, it’s easier than you might think. All you really need to do is ask for itand probably one of the best
and easiest ways to do thisis by using a submissions
page right on your websitewhich you can direct people to. People submit content, you review itand you post it and give them a shout out,and that’s really it. My next tip is to understand
that timing matters a lot. Now a quick Google
search is gonna give youa number of different relevant
and up-to-date statisticsaround the optimal posting frequency,the optimal time of day, and
the optimal days of the weekin order to post depending on your brand,or your business, or your
market, or your industry,or any of those factors. But there are some general guidelinesthat are working at least right now. For starters, posting
one to two times a dayseems to be best with
three on the upper end. Eight to nine a. m. ,
five p. m. , and two a. m. seem to be the best times to postand if you’re just gonna be posting twice,well, around eight or nine
a. m. and two a. m. surprisinglyactually works out pretty well. And if you happen to be posting videos,which you should, well, nine
p. m. seems to be the best time. Basically, you wanna be postingoutside of regular business hours. If you’re a national
or international brand,these times are based
on Eastern Standard Timebut you may wanna vary it
for your specific market,especially if you’re
located on the West Coast. As for which days of the week,well, Monday and Thursdays seem to providethe best results, and
Sunday the absolute worst. Again, one of the things
you’re gonna wanna do hereis some active market research,meaning, follow your industry leaders,follow what your competitorsand other leaders in the space are doingand model it after them
and then of course,track and check and test
and re-test over timein order to find the right frequencyand timings for you and your business. My next tip is to really
understand demographic details. First, the obvious stuff. 61% of Instagram users
are under the age of 31,69% under the age of 35. There’s about 7% more females than males,this number has been changing
rapidly year over year,but older demographics
and younger demographicsare both still on the platformand those markets are growing quickly. So one of the most
important things you can doin your business whether
we’re talking about Instagramor marketing in general,
is really clearly dial inwho your exact ideal target market is,what are their pains and their problemsand their frustrations
as well as their dreamsand wants and desires,and how can you put your
message in front of themin the best way and in
the best place possible?It may very well be Instagram
or it could be Instagramand something else, or
maybe just something else. But the only way to know thatis to really dive into
your ideal target marketand who you’re trying to serve. Alright, moving right
along to our next tip,paid promotions. My advice here is pretty straightforward. If you’ve got a business and
you wanna generate more leads,customers and sales, well,
you’re gonna wanna leveragethe incredible power of Instagram ads. This does a couple really
cool things for your business. The first of which is that it allows youto keep your organic feed
free from all promotionsbecause you’re gonna be
able to supplement thatwith paid advertising. The second thing is that understandingthat Instagram ads are
one of the most powerfuladvertising tools available today,namely because they’re
owned by Facebook adswhich as we all know has
one of the most powerfuladvertising algorithms available,allowing you to pinpoint your
exact ideal target marketand put your message
directly in front of them. If you’ve got a business
that’s trying to generatemore leads, customers, and sales,you should be using
Instagram ads, end of story. Our next tip is to leverage Instagram DM. Direct messages are a fantastic
way to build connections,outreach, network,and connect with other
people just like you. The key with Instagram direct messagesand basically all networkingis you need to lead with value,meaning, you’ve gotta go
out there and find outa little bit about the personand how you can help to serve themwith no intention of
getting anything in return. That’s what ads are for. So make a connection, seek
to understand them firstand really build that relationshipand the last thing you
wanna do is spam someone. Terrible for business. Alright so if you’re interested
in generating more leads,customers, and sales for your
business using Instagram,the next step is gonna be to
check out the video I post herecalled Instagram Advertising Tutorialwhich is gonna walk you
through the exact strategywe use inside the agency
for all of our clients. Really get you off to a good start. So make sure to check that
video right after thisand if you enjoyed the video,make sure to give it a thumbs
up, subscribe to the channeland say hello in the
comments section below. Thanks so much for watching
and I’ll catch you next timeon the Modern Marketing Show.