Integrating Instagram into your marketing strategy is essential for the survival and growth of your business and one of the best ways to capture an incredible audience, but how do you brand your page for maximum effect?
You are a social media user, right? Probably you’re part of the 500 Million+ who makes use of Instagram daily but hasn’t considered branding your account to aid your entrepreneurial journey. Perhaps, you have been trying to Instabrand but it isn’t working right for your business. We have you in our thoughts, and that’s exactly what this post will address.
Perhaps, more than any other social media platform, Instagram will give you the avenue to promote business via branding. Aside from being important for your business, building a strong brand on Instagram is also sacrosanct in attracting your right audience, i.e. your customers.
However, creating a brand isn’t a walk in the park. You’ve got only a few seconds to make a great first impression. When an Instagrammer visits your landing page, it’ll take him/her just a few seconds to decide whether to go back or scroll-on on your profile.
To make those few seconds count, it’ll take some skill and thought to make the account stand-out out of 1 Billion+ monthly users. Don’t worry…you’re not alone. We are here to help you with tips that will make you Instafamous. It will, in turn, distinguishes your business account from the clique of businesses with a boring account cum timeline. Or how well can we describe a business account of just 15 photos, 100+ followers, and little to nothing updates in the last couple of months? Boring indeed!
Why don’t you just grab a bar of chocolate, pick a pen, and piece of paper, sit back, and learn, while we walk you through the following 7 ways we’ve collated to help improve your Instagram branding efforts:
1. Identify your Goal
Get inspired by exploring the wonderful World of Instagram – look up hashtags that interest you and click profile after profile.
Some of our favorites:
@entrepreneur
@businessinsider
@pandimoofficial
@buisnessweek
This is the foundation on which your brand will be built. What do I want to do? You should first ask yourself. Before answering that question, let’s quickly remind you that Instagram is a visual platform. So your goal should be achievable with video, pictures, and maybe a short text to complement. Now to the question, do you just want to share your work? Or your passion? Or your Expertise? Or to build a network? Or your interest? Whatever it is, let the message be clear to you, so that goal setting will be easy. Just make sure the goal is SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely)
2. Make Findings
Now that you have a direction (goal), look out for a sizeable number of accounts that have built their brands on the platform, compute a list of about 10 brands that got your attention at the first instance, then pen down their hashtags, and all other features that attracted you to that account at first.
However, this is not a competition. Have a look at what other people in your Niche and what professionals are doing, note the things that they do well – you are also not here to copy them – this is about awareness and improvement. Now write down three things you can do better!
3. Be Wisely Competitive
In the real sense, there is no competition that you’re delving into; you just have to look at other brands in your niche, discover their best method of handling their brands, do well not to copy them. Just get awareness from there, note a couple of things you can improve on and make better.
4. Create Your Style
After checking out the potential competitors in your niche, you should create your style (theme) that will be unique. Your theme must be of great value to your audience, the colors, fonts, and logos (if you have any) must be consistent throughout your branding efforts, this shouldn’t exclude the tone and manner of your posts. You need a coordinated theme that is clear and concise, so your brand could resonate with your customers. On no occasion should your clients get turned off because you aren’t staying true to the brand they love.
4. Set up your bio
Here, you have just 150 characters so you have to choose words carefully. Your profile description tells the visitors who you really are, what you’re about, and most importantly; what they should expect from you. In creating your bio, you should try to focus on your target customers, and how your profile will help or inspire them because they might not follow you if they’re not sure of what to expect from you. Then you need to add a CTA (Call To Action) for the link at the end of the bio. Remember you have just 150 characters, so don’t hesitate to use emojis in your bio, especially to drive visitors’ eyes to the CTA link. All in all, be original, the other accounts are just for brainstorming – they’re not to be copied.
5. Set up your username and display picture
First thing, your username should be simple, and as well memorable – short. If the account is a personal brand, it’s a better idea to use your real name, and business name if it’s a business brand. As we all know, an Instagram profile is the homepage for your brand, and your username, which will pop-up alongside your display picture (DP) – this should be your professional header – provides the easiest way for people to look up your brand. If you’ve created a logo; use it to stand out
6. Highlight Your Hustle
Having your hustle expressed in a couple of short videos or pictures that complement your theme and style is cool. They’re lady’s favorite compared to regular Instagram Stories that vanish after 24 hours. Create things you want to permanently (or till you wish) highlight to give your viewers more insight about your business in small beautiful circles.
You have a story, Instagram has a feature to make it permanent on your timeline, and your visitors can watch them anytime without missing any of them; unless you decide to pull them down – it’s a win-win-win situation. From who you are, to what you do, to how you do it, to providing answers to frequently asked questions about what you do, indeed, the usage of the highlights is endless.
Given the above, won’t it be cool to try them out? Now you can start making videos and/or pictures of what you do. But before you post them, be certain that they represent your style and theme (Instabrand), your username, as well as your display picture – the combination of all will make content, from where you’ll tell the story of what you do.
7. Take your first pictures
You are ready to fly the coop with a basic branded set up on Instagram but the last tip here is to take actions – take pictures.
Pro tips:
- Don’t forget to #hashtag campaign with your brand
- Always monitor your account
- Do not apply cliche filter on your photos, rather use apps that will appear natural
Finally, Instagram has the best avenue to provide a deep peek into what your entrepreneurship is all about with its 1 Billion+ monthly active users. At any time, you can share posts that will aid your entrepreneurial hustle. Utilize the above tips, and become Instafamous in no time – Yeah! That’s our aim with this post.
Still here? Congratulations you are now on your way to Instagram
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