When it comes to marketing your business on social media, Instagram can be a little tricky. But with consistent effort and a dash of creativity, you will find your rhythm quickly — and will soon be seeing an increase in valuable engagement with followers and potential customers.

By focusing your efforts on frequency and crafting attractive posts, Instagram can become a valuable tool in your marketing approach. Here are seven tips to get you there.

1. Make every post a rockstar

   You have lots to share about your amazing product or service. But that doesn’t mean posting with wild abandon. Each photo and caption makes a statement about who you are, what you offer and how you serve your customers. Valuable and relevant content that tells a compelling story key to keeping viewers engaged — and coming back.

2. Captivating images only

   Visuals are the main attraction of Instagram. Always spend that extra bit of time to frame the subject or crop out the unnecessary. Images should be eye-catching, good quality and captivating. Have fun finding ways to make your photo stand out, whether with vibrant colour or action in the image itself. But keep it simple and on-brand: Draw attention to the message of your post, not to that fancy filter.

   Another savvy way to reach more viewers is to feature more faces in your feed. Posts with faces typically attract 38% more likes and 32% more comments, studies show.

   Read our blog: How to create a killer local SEO strategy for your business

3. Variety is the secret sauce

   Use your images to show off different sides of your business — the products, the space, the people, the experience. For example, if you run a restaurant, post beautiful snaps of your special of the day. You can also share company milestones like winning a service award. A variety of photos and videos provide a well-rounded view of your business. Viewers will appreciate getting the whole story, and your feed won’t come across as a marketing machine.

4. Keep the momentum going

   Keep your business top-of-mind with regular posts. Research from Hootsuite shows that posting 3-7 times per week is the best way to optimize your reach without annoying your followers. Get into a daily habit of posting and it will become second nature. Plus, getting your posts regularly shared and engaged with is a good way to get Instagram’s algorithm to display them higher in your follower’s feeds.

   Timing is key, too. Time your posts for when you want your customers to think about visiting your space or placing an online order. For example, if customers tend to visit your shop at 2pm, post about your new product release just after lunch.

5. Captions matter

   First of all: Always include a caption. An experiment by the Social Media Lab found that captions increased a post’s reach by 29% and resulted in 127.5% more comments than a caption-less post.

   It’s not just about the information you’re sharing, it’s how you’re telling your story — your personality and style. Be authentic, witty, relatable and informative. Use words you want to be associated with, but avoid marketing-speak. Sales-y posts puts you on the fast track to losing followers.

   Include a call-to-action whenever you can. Do you want viewers to visit your shop, share their thoughts on your new menu, review an experience? Ask them to comment or visit your bio for more details.

6. Have a great bio — it matters

   Your bio it’s a fantastic place to provide curious visitors more details about your business. Include what makes you unique, who you are, where you’re based, your tagline. And don’t forget to add a link to your website — you can change it up to reflect what’s going on in your business at the time.

   Read our blog: The power of a good brand story

7. Be hashtag savvy

   Hashtags matter. Too many hashtags can look spammy and turn off your followers. And using several hashtags that are already popular (more than 200K posts) could result in your post being lost in the popularity contest.

   Opt for a balance between common and unique hashtags, with a limit of five. Create a hashtag (not too obscure!) of your business name or a product you’re promoting and encourage others to use it on their posts, too.

8. Engage and encourage followers

   Instagram is a great place to build relationships. Treat each comment and like as an opportunity to engage with existing and future customers. People like to know they’re being listened to and appreciated. Reply to every comment, good or bad. This shows you’re paying attention, that you care. It reflects positively on your brand.

   Tip: If there’s someone who likes a number of your photos, take a few minutes to like or comment on some of their posts, even engage with them in DMs.

9. Encourage UGC content

   Ask your followers to review your business or share images of their experience at your shop or with your product, using your preferred hashtag and tagging you. What better marketing for your shop than a custom happy enough to post publicly about their experience? You can also repost on your feed. This not only makes your customers feel appreciated, it shows you’re an attentive business owner.

   Idea: Offer an incentive such as a discount code or giveaways for followers that post photos featuring your product or hashtag.

   Take your business’ marketing to the next level

   Now you have the know-how on using Instagram to expand your reach and attract followers. If you want to learn more about leveraging the power of Instagram for your business, we can help. We’ve got a team of search marketing experts who are uniquely skilled at getting your business found by more customers. Get in touch with Creative Guild today to find out more.