We know how difficult it is to start off fresh on a social media site, which is a whole new and overwhelming world of its own! If you’re in this position, don’t be nervous because we’ve come up with a list of what helped us out when we were starting out. Keep reading for 10 Great Tips for Instagram Newbies below!
1.Download the app
Do yourself a favour and download the app right away! Instagram is quite different from other social media platforms, most of which can just be used from a browser, whereas IG is just a mobile app- so having this downloaded will be quite helpful for you and will make things a lot easier to manage.
2. Choosing the right name
When you’re making your account, you will have to choose a username so make sure you choose a name that’s recognizable and relevant to your business because that is what people will use to find you online! If your company name is too long or not usable as a username, then you can work with a different name and put the organization’s full name down in the bio when it asks during the account creation process.
3. Update your profile
The business version of Instagram has the option to write a bio for your account in 150 words or less, so you’ll want to make sure that what you are putting there is concise, to the point, informative and impressive all at the same time. You’ll want your bio to be as specific to your business as possible, this means you should include your mission statement and what you do as a brand, you can also use the bio as a path to divert traffic by adding your website/link there.
4. Make sure that your profile picture is recognizable
The thing with Instagram is that you can only update your profile picture from your phone so you’ll want to make sure that it is saved on to your phone or that you can import it from Facebook or Twitter. Overall, your main goal should be to have a recognizable picture that easily leads to your profile and what usually works best, is your logo!
5. Research similar profiles and their best practices
It is essential that you know what other businesses are doing even if you want your style to be different because the only way you will achieve diversified and unique content is by understanding what to do and what not to do, which can only be understood through comprehensive research! So, find a business profile from your industry that has a large following and well maintained feed, from there you can start your research by scrolling through and noting some best practices!
6. First photo!
When you post your first photo, a lot of stuff can pop up and make you feel quite overwhelmed. Just remember that you need to crop your image to fit with Instagram’s regulations and you can also use tags and add hashtags to your posts to make them easier to find for people and this also introduces them into photo banks of similar hashtags.
7. Adding your location
When you are posting a picture, you have the option to add a location- it’s certainly not required but adding it can be a great pro. You can add your literal location or even get creative with it and put fun places that are relevant to your business. For example, if you are a coaching business, you can add “coaching heaven” to your post for some fun!
8. Make your Instagram presence known
If you are active online and putting in the total resources, then it’s only a matter of time before you start gaining a following. If you think you need a push or even just to get your name into the market- start sharing that you’re online with other people. You can do this through ads, announcements and using your pre-existing platforms such as an email list, this way- word gets out super fast!
9. Watch who you’re following
If you run a business account, it definitely becomes much harder to keep track of who you are following and what exactly you are getting out of that. Having a large online following helps you make and establish connections, which as a business – you can never have too many of! One easy way of finding other accounts to connect with is to use the hashtag domain. Clicking on a hashtag takes you to a whole bank of posts that have used the same hashtag therefore leading you to tons of connections!
10. Optimize your social presence
Now that you’ve mastered being online and maintaining your profile, it’s time for you to start engaging with your online community through all of Instagram’s interactive tools. Every time you are tagged, left a comment on your posts or given a like- you get notifications! By acting on these, you start the cycle of social media interaction, which has numerous rewards of it’s own but we’ll keep that discussion for another blog!
If you’d like to book a coaching call with us to discuss your Instagram strategy, contact us here!