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| Source: NurPhoto / Getty / Instagram |
Over 1 billion people use Instagram each month, sharing photos, videos, and more. For businesses, this presents a golden opportunity to reach out to potential customers. However, a staggering 93% of small businesses admit to struggling with basic social media.
Here are three of her suggestions:
1. Prioritize a specific goal
Setting a focused goal can guide your actions on the platform and help you achieve success. Your goal could be to:
- Grow your following
- Increase engagement
- Make sales and attract clients
While you can have all of these goals, selecting one to focus on can help you develop a set of specific actions to achieve it. For example, if you want to make sales, you might:
- Create pinned posts that explain your product or service
- Include calls to action in your bio that lead to free content or resources
- Create highlights that generate income, such as posts with affiliate links or product showcases
To learn more about the different actions you can take to achieve your goals, check out the video.
2. Optimize for Instagram's search engine
While SEO (search engine optimization) is often associated with platforms like Google and TikTok, Instagram also has search features you can exploit. Few businesses take advantage of this strategy, as it can take time to see results.
To optimize your profile for Instagram SEO, consider adding industry-specific keywords and phrases across your profile, including your:
- Username
- Nameplate
- Bio
- Hashtags
- Captions
- Reels (e.g. visuals and audio)
For instance, let's say you're a hypothetical event planner named Katie. To optimize your profile for Instagram SEO, you might include:
- Username: eventswithkatie
- Name: Katie | San Diego Event Planner
- Bio: "Expert event planning for all occasions. Birthday parties, holidays, and special events."
- Hashtags: #eventplanner #sandiegoeventplanner #partyplanner
- Captions: "event planning," "event planning tips," "easy party planning tips"
By using the right keywords in your profile, Instagram will categorize your account accordingly and give your content higher ranks in its algorithm. For instance, if a hypothetical user enjoys event planning content, Instagram will highlight Katie's content on their explore page.
3. Make the most of direct messaging
Instagram's algorithms prioritize interactions with other users, and direct messages are the most effective way to establish connections. Since the platform lacks a formal system for showing relationship status, direct messages provide the best way for Instagram to determine closeness.
In other words, if you want to rank higher on someone else's page, try messaging them. You can engage with their story content and use the "slide up" or "react" option to start a conversation. For example, you might say:
