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When you started working as a social media manager, you probably had a slightly different idea about how it looks in reality. Multitasking, putting out fires, and constantly explaining to your clients that the number of followers isn’t the most important metric is probably your bread and butter. Let’s be honest – Instagram management is not always a bed of roses. Even a specialist who has a decade of experience can fall into a trap.
However, you can make your work a lot more balanced and planned if you’re aware of the risks you might face and some tactics that can boost the popularity of your instagram account for business purposes.
Today we want to show you how to take advantage of Instagram management’s nuts and bolts. After all, Instagram is one of the most powerful existing marketing platforms!
Why is Instagram perfect for business?
Instagram is one of the most powerful weapons any business can use. After all, it is right behind Facebook in “the most accessed network” competition. Statistically, users browse their feeds for a whopping 53 minutes per day! Imagine if they could dedicate at least a part of their time daily on consuming your content. Sounds appealing, right?
Great results with a low financial contribution
No one has to pay for creating an Instagram account. Although it’s no longer a piece of cake, you can increase a brand’s popularity mostly with organic traffic (if you know a few SEO and engagement tricks 😉).
Compared to traditional PR campaigns, the costs are much lower. The only things you need to invest are your time, know-how, and maybe a tool that can keep your publication process fluent.
A perfect environment to grow business
83% of users say that Instagram has helped them discover new products and services, and as many as 90% follow at least one business.
Arts and crafts businesses can benefit from Instagram profiles by showing their products and the creation processes. Here’s how Aoomi Studio uses their account to promote their products, show behind-the-scenes material, and engage with clients. They encourage people to tag them in photos to share this content and save it in the Highlights section. It works exactly like the brands’ ambassadorship.
What content performs best on Instagram? Juggle with a few formats
Are you wonderking how to manage an Instagram page? Using various formats can help you attract and keep followers. As a rule of thumb, diversity seems more engaging, so posting similar content might cause churn. Here’s how to prevent it.
Short videos to add variety
Although it might seem strange, Instagram isn’t only about photos. Of course they are essential, but since 54% of consumers want to see more video content, brands should provide them with it. You can post short videos instead of photos on your feed or create a longer piece and save it in the “IGTV” section.
Such content lets you add more context to your publications. Some brands even use TikTok to create short videos and then upload them on their Instagram profiles to reach their target audience.
Laurella is a clothing company that sells womenswear, and its marketing strategy is focused on creating long-lasting bonds with clients. Photos and videos show their products on different body types. Their Instagram profile has a lot of interactions such as comments, likes, and video views.
Boost engagement with live video meetings on Instagram
There’s nothing better for shortening the distance between a brand and its clients than running a live webinar. It could be a Q&A section or an online meeting when your company holds a premiere of a new product. It lets you gather the audience together at a specific time. You can set a reminder that any Instagram user can follow to get a notification when the event starts – a perfect “stay tuned” feature!
You can save live videos in the IGTV section so that anyone can watch them later and get to know about the latest from your brand. Below you can see how Milk Makeup uses this option and how many users view it.
Trick the algorithm – get featured on the Explore Page
While browsing your Instagram feed, you’ve probably come across photos that have a single emoji instead of text underneath or no description at all. If your profile is as popular as Kylie Jenner’s then go for it, but if you still lack a few followers and interaction then don’t choose this path.
Descriptive captions that add context and are relevant might increase the visibility of your profile. Not only will users gain more value from your posts, but Instagram machine learning will also catalog your content adequately. This means your content has a chance of being displayed on the Explore page, as Instagram can connect accounts that are the most relevant to a searched word.
Without subtitles, you can lose viewers
When it comes to video subtitles, it’s more about raising the accessibility of the content you create. It’s crucial to add subtitles to your videos for a few reasons:
- People with certain disabilities who want to view your video won’t be able to get to know the message without them.
- Don’t assume that everyone has earphones. Some users might be in a place where they simply can’t turn the sound on. They will close your profile if they aren’t provided with subtitles.
Remember that if a user sees that none of your videos have subtitles, they might never come back to you. Don’t let that happen.
Challenges of Instagram management
There are a few things that can give sleepless nights to any social media manager. Some of them might never happen to you, and you can prevent others if you create a robust online business strategy.
Let’s find out if you’re up to the challenge.
Takeaway stories – how to manage them and mitigate the risks
Suppose you’re a private university and want to show how students’ daily lives look like. Giving one of them access to your stories may be a good idea. The narrative will be casual and viewers will see what your school has to offer besides educational content. After all, a student’s life isn’t about learning only!
However, there’s a potential risk – it’s spontaneous, so the content that the student creates and shares could be inappropriate and harm the brand’s reputation.
| How to find the golden mean? You can add this person to your Kontentino team. After filming each video, they can upload it to the mobile app to send for internal approval. If everything is ok, a responsible person can then post it on your Stories. You can do so thanks to integration with Creator Studio, where you can plan both IGTV and Stories. |
Know the unknown – or how to benefit from the algorithms
One could write a whole book about Instagram myths. The vast majority would probably relate to speculation about its algorithms. The truth is, no one outside of Instagram knows how it works.
However, based on the experiences of social media specialists and their observations, there are a few aspects of the algorithm worth taking into account:
- It cuts the reach of instagram accounts whose users are less active. This means a large number of followers is no longer key.
- Posts are sorted according to your preferences, as assumed by the AI. They no longer appear in chronological order.
| Avoid the algorithm’s dark sides:To keep your followers up to date with your business actions and new posts, you need to make friends with “Stories.” It’s the perfect place to share your publications, interact with other users, use surveys and announce any digital events.Plus, remember to save the best Stories in the Highlights section. You can share your ideas for Stories and any other content type within Kontentino and wait for your team’s feedback. |
The biggest nightmare – Instagram’s banning policy
The worst thing one can imagine is losing their Instagram account, especially if it has gathered a loyal following. In the past, such incidents have occured and companies (as well as the people who were running their instagram accounts specifically for personal branding purposes) have had their profiles deleted without any explanation.
This situation is similar to the mystery of the algorithm – no one knows what the reason for it was. Sometimes it’s just a system error, other times it’s due to the fact that someone has reported your page (e.g. a competitor playing dirty). Each case is different, however the account can hardly ever be brought back to life.
| What can you do to prevent this? Actually, there’s not much you can do. It’s beyond the reach of any social media manager. Firstly, you should diversify your marketing actions and be active in multiple places. With Kontenino, you can take care of your Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter as well.Secondly – the more loyal your followers are, the stronger your bonds with them will be. If anything bad happens to your main account, many users might be willing to follow your new profile and help you spread the word about it. On the web, it’s communities that hold the most power 🚀. |
Instagram superpowers – or what are the advantages of management and good practices
Now we know what can happen and how to react, it’s time to talk a bit about good practices to implement right away to make the most of your business account.
#1 Create a brand hashtag
It’s not a new tactic, but one that nobody should omit. You can build brand recognition by having a specific, unique brand hashtag. What’s more, it enables users to identify their content with your company and promote it with their posts.
Here you can see how Gucci boosted the reach of their collaboration with KAI by creating the #kaixgucci hashtag. The luxury fashion house added a few Stories with this tag to their official profile and saved them in the Highlights section.
#2 Create templates and filters for posts and stories
Chaos vs. a consistent feed – which would you choose? This study shows that customers expect your profile to be coherent, because if it’s not your brand might be perceived as unprofessional.
Having a unique set of photo filters and similar templates makes it easier to create visually appealing content. Think about it as the Instagram version of your brand book.
#3 Be consistent with your organic content – create a posting calendar
Users can’t forget about you. This doesn’t mean that you should bombard them with content – just post regularly so they will know when to expect new publications. Only consistent posting can increase your organic traffic.
To keep an eye on every social media channel (not only Instagram), you can use one tool that lets you add content ideas and share them with your team (or clients) for feedback. Creating posts quickly in one app, storing all assets there, and scheduling publications can make collaboration more fluent, save time, and organize Instagram management. Actually, Kontentino ticks all of those boxes.
#4 Share stories of those who tag you – it optimizes your SEO
Yes, Instagram works like a browser and has its own SEO rules! If anyone mentions you in their Story, they expand your reach and show the algorithms that your account provides users with valuable content!
Let’s just say that there are over 500 million Stories created on Instagram every single day. The popularity of this form of communication is not just a trick to keep your visitors updated about your brand’s life.
If anyone tags you in their Story and you repost it, you immediately build your profile’s credibility according to Instagram’s machine learning rules. Have you ever wondered why influencers tend to share their fans’ stories, even if they clutter their own Story? Now you know the answer – there are SEO rules behind it. Besides, it shows that other users recommend your products or services – so why not boast about it a little?
#5 Let users find you with more inclusive hashtags
This may be a minor change for you, but it’s a giant leap for mankind. If you write your hashtags all in lowercase, they will be more complicated for users to read and almost impossible for bots to do so. This applies especially to long tail phrases. So instead of writing #instagramaccountsforbusiness, include capital letters and use #InstagramAccountsForBusiness instead.
It will also make your content more accessible for people with disabilities. People with visual impairment or poor vision can use systems that turn text into sound – and if hashtags include capital letters, such tools can read them correctly.
Make Instagram Management great again
Managing a business profile on Instagram might be more challenging and exciting than it sounds. Although it’s not always a piece of cake, having a specific content plan and using powerful tools can turn disadvantages into plus points.
After all, having an Instagram profile can indeed be beneficial for any company – statistics show that up to 80% of app users have made a purchase based on what they discovered on this platform.
Instagram isn’t only a channel for building brand awareness. It provides a variety of options that are perfect for creating loyal communities and engaging with clients. It’s best to learn by practice, so you can try out Kontenino for 14 days for free and start your digital marketing journey today!
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