Instagram has come a long way and is now the third-largest social media network in the world. This growth was only accelerated when Facebook purchased it. For a network that has surpassed X (Formerly Twitter), entrepreneurs can market startups on Instagram to leverage its massive following to create awareness and drive sales.
Read on for tips on how to leverage Instagram features to grow your start-up.
1. Follow people
Apart from the photos shared on Instagram, people are very generous with following each other back. It’s easy to get a thousand followers for your business within the first two to four weeks depending on how interesting your content is. Instagram allows you to follow 50 people every 10 minutes. You could follow as many as possible in a day, then take a break for three to four days as you wait to be followed back. You can unfollow those who don’t follow you back. Several mobile apps can help you unfollow people who don’t follow back.
2. Freebies
Startups should be aware of how many wonders freebies can do. Using freebies, Dropbox beat rivals to thrive in a market where other startups had failed. To market startups on Instagram, you can reach out to influential personalities with a free package if you are a software company or a free item if you deal in tangible stuff. Tell them to use it and give you a shout-out on their Instagram profile if they like the product. Most of the time the most difficult thing is to get these influential people to pay attention to you. After getting their attention, and getting them to use the product you are offering, they will shout out your product on their profiles and include your handle with the photo. It’s a win-win situation; they have a product they probably needed, for free, and you have your shout-out.
3. Engage with your audience
The most rewarding effort ever for startups on any social media network is audience engagement. Reply to their comments and requests or questions. Engage with them in a fun but respectful way because they will become more open to giving you feedback.
4. Use hashtags
To successfully market startups on Instagram, use hashtags. On X you can only use about 2 hashtags at most because there are limits on the number of characters. On Instagram that is not the case. Successful brands use up to 15 hashtags in one post. People search for products on Instagram using hashtags more than on other social networks. The more you use, the more you are exposed to a wider range of people. Additionally, following up a post with a short description and about 5 to 10 hashtags is good for increasing engagement.
5. Be somewhat loose with your posts
People like it when you open up to them. People like it when they know more about you because it calms their nerves and gives you credibility. Startups can leverage this preference to gain more credibility on Instagram. Posting photos of your staff playing around, or taking coffee and telling stories may work better than showing your actual product in every post. In short, bring your followers into your behind-the-scenes. Let them in on your company culture, strategies, team, etc.
6. Run contests
Contests work magic in audience engagement. They make people fight for something. They push people to the need of wanting to win. One of the best contests I have ever seen on Instagram involves Mashable. Often they will run a contest whereby users will be required to tag their posts with a hashtag created by Mashable, for example, #MashPics – for a chance to be featured on the company’s Instagram page. It pays because occasionally you will find their followers competing for that spot to be featured by a huge brand.
7. Time your posts
Nothing is as painful as posting one of your best shots as a company and then realizing it didn’t get the number of likes you anticipated. It’s all about timing. Understand your audience and know when they are online to give your posts the right exposure.
Once you’ve developed an active presence on Instagram, make sure you have quality content that can capture attention.
Many brands may be able to create this type of content while others may need help from PR professionals to turn their ideas into actual words. PR agencies like Pressfarm help you create newsworthy content to gain the attention of media professionals and influencers. They also go the extra mile by providing companies access to their PR database of over 1 million journalists. These contacts are filtered to help you find your perfect media match easily.
Thanks to Pressfarm’s understanding of digital PR and marketing they can help companies like yours gain media attention through relevant search results on multiple search engines. Pressfarm’s team of PR specialists, expert writers, and certified designers has what it takes to help your brand stand out online.
