Social media may have started off as an entertainment tool but now 91% of businesses use it for marketing. If you're just starting out and trying to grow your audience, then you should make sure your business has an Instagram account.
It can be tough to grow your event planning business especially if word of mouth is your only source of marketing. Opening an Instagram account for your business is an awesome way to get your name and brand out there for people to find.
Keep reading for ten tips on how to be successful on Instagram.
1. Find Your Audience
Your first step to marketing on Instagram will be to find your audience and start making content geared towards them. For event planning, your audience might be young people in New York City who enjoy hosting events.
When you can find and target your audience, then you will know what kind of content to produce for them. Your audience will be your number one way to gain more followers and get more business. This means you should be marketing towards the right people who can either consume your service or point you in the right direction.
2. Build Relationships
The best thing about social media that you can actually build a relationship with your audience. Instagram gives you a platform to communicate with potential clients and stay in touch with current clients.
If someone leaves you a question or concern on your Instagram page or through direct messaging, you should aim to respond to their message within 24 hours. This will show them that your brand cares about its customers and the relationships they have.
3. Create Shareable Content
Instagram is all about photos and videos so when you're making your content you need to keep that in mind. As an event planner, you will have many opportunities to capture shareable content that people will love.
Quality content is better than quantity. Make sure that your content is relevant to your brand and your image before posting. Having shareable content is an awesome way to market to potential customers. Your current followers can share your content with their friends to help build your audience.
4. Post at the Right Time
No one likes an Instagram page that spams their stories and feeds with random posts all day. So along with creating shareable content make sure you're posting at the right time too!
The Instagram algorithm has changed greatly over the years so finding out the best time to post isn't as easy as it used to be. To figure out the best times to post you will need to do a bit of trial and error with your own account and track the results.
Try posting on a Tuesday at 5 pm and then another Tuesday at 11 am. Compare how many likes and engagement you got on your post between these two days. The best times to post can vary day to day so it may take you a bit of time to develop the perfect posting schedule.
5. Call to Action
When creating posts for your Instagram make sure to include a call to action or CTA. Your call to action is something that will tell your followers exactly what you want them to do. If you want your followers to download something, like, comment, or even buy your products, then tell them to do that in your post.
The difficult thing about Instagram marketing is that they only allow one link on your own personal Instagram feed and that's in your bio. Many people will make a post telling followers to click the link in their bio. Another great way to link more items on Instagram is to post a story that can include a 'swipe up' link.
6. Attention-Grabbing Bio
If you're a small event planning business just starting out, then you will want to make sure that your bio explains what you do but is also unique. An attention-grabbing bio is a great way to get people to stick around and view more of your content.
Millennials like when brands and companies are witty. So if you're target audience is millennials, then you may want to come up with something amusing that will catch their interest.
7. Hashtags
Hashtags are a huge part of Instagram especially when you're trying to find new clients. Hashtags are the easiest way for you to organize your content but make sure that you don't overdo it.
When creating hashtags for your post make sure they are relevant and limit yourself to about five hashtags. You also don't want your hashtags to be too broad as they will get lost and not seen by many people.
8. Instagram Theme
Your Instagram theme is decided by you and the content you create. Overall, your theme is how all of your pictures look together on your profile. Most people like an aesthetically pleasing theme.
Creating a good Instagram theme means that you're editing your pictures in the same style. You don't want two photos next to each other that would look awkward in your overall profile view.
9. Utilize the Stories Feature
Just like Snapchat, Instagram also has stories feature where your content will disappear after 24 hours. This gives you more time to be creative. Your stories don't have to be overly edited and produced but can rather help you be yourself.
Stories are also a great marketing strategy because you can add links. This is a great way to show your audience exactly what you want them to see.
10. Interact with Other Users
Another great way to get your business and brand out in the world is to interact with other users who live in your area. When people geotag their location on an Instagram post you can follow them.
Following people near you will help you to branch out and find new potential customers. It is an awesome way to introduce yourself and your brands.
How to Be Successful on Instagram
When it comes to learning how to be successful on Instagram there will be a lot of trial and error. Success doesn't happen overnight but the more quality content and followers you gain the better you will be.
If you're an event planner, then check out our Event Planner Expo in 2020 which is the best place to network, learn new tips, and gain industry insight.
