There are reasons to resent social media \u2014 for one, it can be infuriatingly addictive and potentially isolating. But like anything else in today\u2019s social landscape, it\u2019s a two-sided coin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Social media also fosters connections that would be challenging to make in person, especially between businesses and consumers. It gives businesses a chance to be relatable, and according to the data, it\u2019s working. At least 90% of people on Instagram follow a business, according to Instagram data from October 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Instagram is a crucial tool to grow your small business online<\/a> \u2014 and you don\u2019t have to dive headfirst into the influencer hype to use it successfully. To help you get started, here are six Instagram marketing tips from small-business owners and marketing pros.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1. Keep it in-house, but don\u2019t be afraid to delegate<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Suzie Mills, co-founder of Practice Everywhere, a digital fitness company, and Honest Soul Yoga, a yoga studio with locations in Texas and Virginia, tried to hire an outside firm to manage the businesses\u2019 social media accounts. Ultimately, the curated approach didn\u2019t pan out. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t timely, it never made sense, it never looked personal,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rather than spend big bucks on a third-party company, chances are you can find people with a knack for social media within your own business. Julia Lopez, Mills\u2019 co-founder, suggests giving a few trusted employees access to the business\u2019s Instagram account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou need to give your Instagram to the people that know your business and your brand best,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. Plan ahead<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Scheduling out content and time to publish Instagram posts is critical for busy small-business owners\u2019 productivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cKnowing what days I will post versus what days I just share to my Story are so vital,\u201d said Dominique Lenaye, owner of Itty Bitty Bookstore in Stoughton, Wisconsin, in an email. Unlike traditional Instagram posts, Stories disappear after 24 hours. In the same vein, Lopez and Mills put their Instagram photos and captions into their Google calendar to help them stay on schedule and collaborate more easily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Angel Kwiatkowski, founder of Cohere Coworking in Fort Collins, Colorado, says her best advice for new small-business owners is to \u201cphotograph everything relentlessly.\u201d That way, you don\u2019t have to rack your brain for content ideas \u2014 or lean too heavily into promotional content. To avoid the latter, Chelsea Huddleston, marketing director of ELEV8 Climbing and Fitness in Traverse City, Michigan, tries to strike a balance on the gym\u2019s Instagram account: 60% photo content and 40% promotional content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. Share the spotlight with staff and customers<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n When you\u2019re not sure what to post next, don\u2019t be afraid to pass the baton off and give your staff and customers some attention. Lopez says following your employees is a solid first step. If they share your passion, they might \u201cshare things that are in alignment with the business\u201d on Instagram already. In that case, simply repost their relevant content \u2014 with credit, of course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And be sure to look at posts that tag your business. Reposting customers\u2019 positive interactions with your brand (especially on Stories) shows off your business while showing your customers some love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 4. Leverage the features that make sense for your business<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n There are numerous ways to promote your business on Instagram \u2014 but they won\u2019t all make sense for your specific brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI definitely think that overwhelming your Instagram with two, three posts a day is not the way to go,\u201d Lopez says. That\u2019s where Stories come in handy, she adds. Stories are a great way to share snippets of your day without inundating your followers\u2019 feeds. By adding interactive elements, like polls or questions, you can also better understand your audience and what they want from your account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Maria Romo, owner of The Brow Shaping Queen in Frisco, Texas, finds tagging specific businesses to be more organic than hashtags, so this is where she directs her energy. \u201cI feel like you\u2019re probably seen more if you tag other businesses because then they re-share you,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 5. Let apps do the work for you<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s no shortage of small-business apps<\/a> to make every aspect of your company \u2014 including social media \u2014 easier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lenaye uses Planoly, a free Instagram scheduling app, to keep her business\u2019s account organized, while Huddleston uses Canva Pro templates to simplify the posting process. For editing photos, Aimee Breeden, owner of Studio A Staging in Baltimore, turns to Adobe Lightroom. Other apps, like Unfold, offer free templates for posts and Stories, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 6. Remember that Instagram isn\u2019t the end-all be-all<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s so easy to believe that any methodology is the thing that\u2019s going to make or break your business,\u201d Kwiatkowski says. But your business\u2019s future doesn\u2019t hinge on any single thing alone \u2014 Instagram included.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBelieve in yourself,\u201d Breeden says. \u201cThe more you do it, the better you\u2019re going to get at it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n More From NerdWallet<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Hillary Crawford writes for NerdWallet. Email: hcrawford@nerdwallet.com.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The article Small-Business Owners Share 6 Tips for Using Instagram originally appeared on NerdWallet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There are reasons to resent social media \u2014 for one, it can be infuriatingly addictive and potentially isolating. But like anything else in today\u2019s social landscape, it\u2019s a two-sided coin. Social media also fosters connections that would be challenging to make in person, especially between businesses and consumers. It gives businesses a chance to be […]","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":2459,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","attr_excerpt":["There are reasons to resent social media \u2014 for one, it can be infuriatingly addictive and potentially isolating. But like anything else in today\u2019s social landscape, it\u2019s a two-sided coin."],"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2451","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business"],"yoast_head":"\n