If you’re running an online business, and not harnessing the power of Instagram, you’re missing out on several business opportunities. Many entrepreneurs, including Garry Vaynerchuk, Brian Dean, and Harsh Agarwal, have made their first million dollars online. Method? Promoting their brand online, especially, on social media. More specifically, Instagram! Instagram is the hottest social media platform to scale your business to another level. It helps you collaborate with like-minded people, run ads, perform outreach to gain customers, and so on. Many SaaS companies, Sports blogs, and e-commerce websites such as PortraitFlip utilize Instagram in order to offer their services. Instagram allows you to use IG stories, IG TV, and Reels to promote your brand for free. To be the best on Instagram, you’ll need these 7 practically proven ways that help you increase your profile visibility, post reach, and engagement (without spending a dollar).
1. Design & Promote UGC
If you want maximum engagement on your post, you must roll up your sleeves and publish UGC (user-generated content) on your profile; it’s an approach where you grab your followers’ attention in a more sophisticated way. In simple words, creating content that can give your audience a chance to feature themselves on your profile. The best way is to run a contest, shortlist the people who win it, and offer them exciting coupons and deals. Also, you can tell them interesting stories, facts, and techniques (related to your niche) that can add value to their daily lives. UGC contains captivating captions, a storyline, and an effective message to grab viewers’ eyeballs. You can check out this Instagram post, how cleverly PortraitFlip has stated facts in the most captivating template. This way you strike up a conversation with followers, and make your brand more personal and valuable.
2. Post The Captivating & Quality Content
Great posts capture users’ eyeballs. Hence you must design captivating & high-quality posts for your brand. It’s absurd if anyone tells you that only a professional photographer or adept photoshop artist can create quality content. You can easily design captivating IG posts on Instagram itself or on photo editing tools such as Canva or Inshot. When you do, it demonstrates to your audience the commitment to your work. Also, people get turned off when they see sloppy, blurred, and badly cropped images on Instagram. It’s better you create worth-sharing content and prevent the reputation damage caused by the other way. For instance, PortraitFlip, a “photo to painting” service has endorsed its baby portrait on this post in the most captivating way. The fact is users love to take their time out to read and see a post that’s fully optimized—that has a quality image, caption, theme, etc.
3. Use the ‘Ask A Question’ Sticker On Story
Instagram growth of a brand relies on several factors: quality of content, user engagement, profile optimization, and so on. One of the tried and true ways is how well you use Instagram stories. Although there are several features, the ‘Add a question’ sticker stands out for many reasons—it asks your followers to question you in an amusing way. It makes two-sided communication and allows you to interact with the followers for a longer time. Before you use this feature, gain some followers and utilize it the way you want. As long as your followers engage with the story, your profile appears on the explore section, increasing brand visibility. For instance, if you sell t-shirts online, you must come up with, “What’s your favorite quote?”, or “What’s your favorite Marvel character?”. This way you customize t-shirts and sell what they really want.
4. Always Use Hashtags
Instagram hashtags are the best to get yourself visible to your followers. It either makes or breaks your brand—If used correctly it makes your brand stand out. There are three types of hashtags: Location-based, Industry-specific, and Popular hashtags. For instance, if you’re selling a handmade painting online and operating from the USA. You must use hashtags such as #onlinebusinessinusa, and #newarkonlinebusiness. On the other hand, you must sprinkle hashtags such as #handmadepaintingsonline, #charcoalhandmadepaintings, or #handmadepaintingservice as industry-specific hashtags. For popular ones, it’s great to add hashtags such as #handmadepaintings or #handmadeportraits. Make sure you won’t overdo it as it may shadowban your profile. You can have 30 hashtags (maximum) used in your caption. The perks of using hashtags are several—they segregate your posts and videos effectively, encourage audience engagement, increase exposure and discovery, and make your brand stand out.
5. Make Use of Instagram Live
Why should you use Instagram live? Well, why not? It offers several perks over other Instagram-in-built features. Running a poll or adding a question sticker is great, however, making use of the live feature is something that can change the game. Firstly, it sends notifications to all your followers and asks them to join you. Plus, it gives you the no. 1 spot on the story feed, increasing your visibility. The Instagram algorithm lauds live chats as it embraces followers and potential audiences to join the live session. Apart from that, It appears on Instagram’s discovery and humanizes your brand by showing a face behind your business. Going live on IG and having a one-on-one conversation with your audience builds trust, and makes your brand more credible and authentic.
Conclusion
Promoting your account on Instagram keeps you ahead of your competitors as it helps you in gaining new customers and generate revenue. There are many ways you can drive traffic to your Instagram profile and generate revenue, however, these 5 ways will help you elevate your brand presence at zero cost. So, which idea have you found intriguing and worth your time? Let me know by commenting below.
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