Small businesses often overlook the importance of Instagram. But you shouldn’t dismiss it, because an Instagram profile can offer many advertising benefits for your business.
You can directly target a specific audience and also collaborate with influencers. On this platform, visual images can get your point across quickly and effectively.
To get started, you’ll have to figure out how to ensure that people see your content.
You need followers. To grow your following, you can provide links to other social media content and blog posts. That way, interested prospects can interact with you and engage with your content.
Unfortunately, Instagram allows only one link in your bio, but you can get around this limitation.
We’ll show you how to turn the social media photo-sharing app into a revenue driver that can be effective regardless of your business type.
Instagram Personal Account: How to Manage Links
If you plan to use Instagram for business, you’ll want to have a business account and not just a personal account.
Of course, you could start simple at first to get yourself familiar with how it works, but you will eventually want to change to a business account.
Not only is this better for engaging your target audience, but it’s a requirement if you want to run paid ads on Instagram.
Regardless which type of account you choose, you will still be limited to only one link in your bio. The link can be changed over time, perhaps if you want to add a Call-To-Action (CTA) or promote content on your website.
Unfortunately, new followers who are browsing older posts may see only one link to something completely irrelevant to what they are viewing. So it can lead to a disconnect if you use the bio link this way.
Alternatively, you can use your single link to direct people to your website or Facebook profile, and leave it in place.
For marketers who want Instagram to focus on promotions or specials, perhaps that single static link points at your promotion page. Or maybe your home page if the promotion is highlighted there.
You’ll also want links from your own website back to your social profiles on Instagram and Facebook. This way visitors to your domain can easily find and follow you. With two way links, you should see a good boost in your traffic flow on all properties.
If you really want to have more links for Instagram, consider a free service called Linktree. Linktree is essentially a mini-website for your Instagram that hosts your links and provides some free analytics. Depending on your specific business needs, both of these features may be appealing to you.
After signing up for Linktree with your Instagram account, place that link in your bio. Since you can add any new links on Linktree, you won’t need to change your bio link any more.
You can also link your posts to other Instagram users by tagging them. If they reciprocate, you could instantly gain followers by the network this creates.
None of these options are perfect, but a well-managed Instagram account still benefits your business. Consider using all of these linking approaches in tandem. This will position you to generate a lot of interest for your Instagram presence.
Instagram Business Account: Know Your Linking Options
An Instagram business account remains the best option for marketing. If you have a personal account, you can easily convert it to a business account in your account settings.
The business account does not cost you anything, and it offers a chance to keep your branding front and center.
You will need to have a business Facebook page to use the Instagram business tools. If you don’t already have one, you can create it before making your push on Instagram. Instagram will ask you to link the Facebook page to your business account.
With an Instagram business account linked to your Facebook page, you’re ready to add links directly to your posts. Although this is a paid service, there is a potential for a decent return on investment if you play your cards right.
Post an image and click the blue promote icon. You’ll be redirected to Facebook, where you add your link and submit the payment directly on the platform.
Advertising / promoting represents one of the many ways the platform has monetized its own operations. If you manage it well, you should be able to derive financial benefit from it, too.
You can boost a post for around $1.00. All boosted posts, even with small budgets, will provide analytics for you to review whether it worked or not.
Unfortunately, the only way to add a link directly to an Instagram post is to pay for it. You simply cannot do it without paying, and there’s no free workaround available.
Boosted posts receive much more visibility, and can be targeted with a great deal of precision. You’ll be able to generate far more engagement with your content than you can achieve organically. Think of it as fertilizer for your Instagram posts.
From the reader’s point of view, your boost will appear as a sponsored post in their feed. Depending on your business needs and company types, you can use a wide range of options to determine what feeds your boosted post will appear in.
Take time to get this part right. If you get the targeting wrong, you’ll waste money. And users will be confused if they see content that they can’t relate to at all, so you’ll struggle to justify the spend if this happens.
Tips For Getting The Most Out Of Your Instagram Business Account
Once you get your Instagram business account set up, you’ll want to make sure you’re using it to its full potential.
Here are a few bonus tips to help you out:
- Use your business email and Facebook account so your customers can find you easily.
- Place links to your Instagram account on your business contact page and any other social media pages that promote your company.
- Have a clear marketing strategy for Instagram and stick to a winning formula.
- Make sure all of your Instagram posts are relevant to your business and overall marketing strategy.
- Research trending hashtags and include them in your posts, but keep the hashtags to a maximum of three per post to avoid spamming your customers.
- Use an Instagram scheduler to easily upload posts to all your social media accounts for better efficiency.
Conclusion
Although Instagram allows only one link on your profile, you can find ways around it.
Manage your profile correctly. Use other social media platforms and your website to promote your Instagram profile.
Have a policy for what can and cannot be shared on your business profile. Stay focused and on point. You never want to be seen as a “fly-by-night” operation, so keep yourself inside the lines.
If you have both a business and a personal profile, keep them as separate as possible to avoid being seen as unprofessional . After all, social media is all about impressions, when you really think about it.
Feature Image Credit: CC0, via Pixabay
Disclaimer: The views and opinions stated in this post are that of the author, and Return On Now may or may not agree with any or all of the commentary.
This guest post brought to you courtesy of Return On Now, Professional Austin SEO and PPC Services Company.
Miley Dowing
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