5 Ways to Use Instagram to Grow Your Business

Instagram is a game changer in the brand promotion landscape. Harnessing the power of this app can increase the reach of your community, promote your brand, scale sales of your product, and showcase who you are and what you’re about.

LOOK GOOD

First rule, decide on your brand theme and colour palatte. Be consistent and showcase a distinct visual style. Perhaps it’s in the composition, or utilising a similar filter, but take or use images that are on brand and of good quality.

Create authentic, behind the scenes content with Instagram Stories – it is an excellent way to give insight into the love, sweat, and tears that go into your product.

BOOST YOUR BUSINESS

You need to optimize your business account by working on your profile. For instance, your bio; you only have 150 characters to get across your message, but it is important that you use your brand tone and messaging to convey who you are and what you’re about. Also take full advantage of the business profile features like completing all the contact information and utilising the call-to-action buttons so users can directly book appointments or make reservations. (Click on edit profile > contact options > add an action button).

WE’RE ENGAGED

You need to dedicate time to increasing your interaction with your community and similar brands. Respond to comments and messages which adds to the users feeling of belonging – acknowledge those who take the time to tag, feature or mention you and your brand. And use hashtags – do your research on tags that fit with your style and type of company, but also look at creating your own. #iamLUXWMN is one we’ve launched to connect to our community – get sharing!

PEAK PERFORMANCE

When building your social media strategy, outline your objectives; what do you specifically want out of this?

Yes, pay attention to vanity metrics like upping your followers and increasing your likes, but also set measurable specific goals such as rating the conversions of visitors to your account to click-through rate.

Also analyse when the best time is for you to post; this varies greatly throughout industries. Go to insights > audience and scroll through to see activity times. It all helps in creating a strong content calendar.

AND, ACTION

Give your users a mission. Whether it’s just directing them to your stories or other digital platforms get them interacting. Perhaps it is an offer or competition, perhaps it is something as simple as asking them to tag a friend, upscale them from a passive follower to a contributor to your community.

Follow LUX WMN on Instagram and Facebook.

Insider Knowledge

Emilie Higle is a full-time influencer with 114,000 Instagram followers and founder of the blog, My Little Fashion Diary. She splits her time between Luxembourg and Paris, managing her platforms and hosting social media strategy masterclasses.

Why do you think Instagram is so important in forming a brand?

“I believe that Instagram is the best social media platform to engage with an audience today, and sharing visual content is the best way to introduce yourself and your brand and to build a relationship with your potential customers. Instagram has proven to be a powerful marketing tool for businesses looking to expand their presence online and the visibility of their products. Of course, you need a good digital strategy – it isn’t as easy as it may look.”

What does a small business or an aspiring influencer need to bear in mind when planning their Instagram feed?

“Being on Instagram is not just about posting a photo. You need some editing skills, you need to think about factors such as composition, lighting, and colour.

A beautiful feed will attract new followers so it has to be visually appealing for people to decide to follow an account.

“I work with nine pictures – the full grid – and I put a great deal of effort into the use of space and I work with a specific colour palette. The easiest way to create a cohesive aesthetic is during the picture editing process. Choosing the same filter will keep your feed consistent. Remember, having a beautiful and cohesive Instagram aesthetic is the key to turning visitors into followers.”

What are your Instagram rules?

“I try to post a picture each day or at the very least, every other day. Being consistent and engaging with your audience is key.”

Tell us a little about your social media strategy masterclasses.

“I give social media strategy classes in Luxembourg and Paris to help companies create a visual identity on IG, and to build a strategy and an audience. I help them develop editing skills and explain to them when and how to post. We discuss the strategy they need to adopt whether they want to sell online, drive traffic to a store, promote a new product, modernize their image and so on. In the masterclasses, I give tips on navigating the digital landscape. Keep an eye on my Instagram or blog for details of our next course!”

Follow Emilie @emiliehigle on Instagram or visiting her blog, mylittlefashiondiary.net.