If you can’t watch your favorite band play live, watching your friends’ Snap Chat stories and Instagram videos is a pretty good alternative. The same is true for small businesses. Maybe we wouldn’t really care to watch a Marketing Director’s latest concert videos, but we would be interested in product demonstrations, the latest deals and promotions, and live client testimonials.
Some small businesses have begun using Snap Chat as a marketing tool to do just this, but they are often limited by the number of people they can reach. This is because it takes some effort to actually begin following a company on Snap Chat. Either you have to snap a photo of their Snap Chat while you’re in the app, or you have to look them up by name. But with Instagram, you’re able to instantly reach a larger audience through relevant and popular hashtags, links leading directly to your profile with that big ‘follow’ button, and adding live feeds of your profile onto your website.
And now, Instagram is rivaling Snap Chat’s concept of quick photo and video snip-its that disappear after 24 hours with Instagram Stories. This is just an added feature on top of the apps’ infamous capability of posting permanent photos and videos that show up directly in users’ newsfeeds. Stories appear at the top of your newsfeed and consist of chosen compilations from the people you are following. So why is this such a dream for small businesses?
Your company now has the upper hand when promoting limited-time deals, live events, product demos, and more. Let’s use Black Friday as an example: If you ran a special on 30% off a specific product, ideally you’d have wanted to post pictures and live videos highlighting that sale to Instagram Stories throughout the day. One of the benefits of this includes having the ability to update customers on the amount of time and the quantity of the item left for the sale. The biggest benefit, however, is that your Story doesn’t get lost in a newsfeed like a regular post might. Since Instagram now prioritizes posts based on interest and not chronologically, your post may not be the first one they see, and it might not be easy to find. Your audience will always be able to find and view your Story – right at the top of the app.
Another useful Instagram feature? Your bio. This is the descriptive area that appears above your profile’s photos and videos. You can feature the link to your website in your bio, which allows your followers to click directly to a certain product or blog post. You can also choose to include emails, Twitter accounts, Facebook URLs, and other contact information. We recommend adding a brief description about your business in your bio as well.
Still not sure how to maximize Instagram to your company’s full potential? We’ll help you with that! Contact us today, and we’ll start filling your Instagram with interesting and visually appealing content!
hello@morningcoffee.biz | (216) 640-1319
