Community Manager Specialist

With over 500 million active monthly users, Instagram is a gold mine of potential customers.

Can you believe the app has only been around since 2010? In less than seven years, it's become one of the most used apps. I daresay Instagram even changed the way people use their phone in their daily lives.

The biggest reason to use Instagram for business? The Instagram engagement rate not only the other social media channels but also nearly every other traffic source, period!

It’s not all unicorns and butterflies, though. Since a typical Instagram user misses 70% of the posts from the accounts they follow, you can’t simply rely on pumping out more images.

Don’t worry. In this post, I’ll be discussing how to increase your sales from Instagram with 10 rock-star tips that help you cut through the clutter. Let’s jump right in!

#1: Craft Better Images

Of course, Instagram is all about images. It’s literally what the platform is built on. If you’re not putting out high-quality images, that’s the first thing you need to change.

You don’t need an amazing camera to take great photos, either. Most smartphones now have cameras with more than enough quality.

Huffington Post shared 29 Instagram hacks to take better photos. Some of the most important are:

• Pick a theme for your feed and stick to it.
• Post consistently.
• Take a lot of pictures. Practice makes perfect!
• That said, don’t post them all. Aim for quality over quantity.
• Keep your edits simple.

Shoot from different angles and take advantage of good lighting.

Beyond simply shooting the photos, you can also enhance them with the right tools.

#2: Run Contests

Contests are probably the best way to increase sales on Instagram. At the very least, they can help build your followers, brand recognition, and engagement.

There are three main types of contests:

“Like to win” (They just have to like your photo)

“Email gated” (Send in your email to win)

Hashtag UGC (Submit a photo with a hashtag)

The best I’ve seen is hashtag UGC. People tend to enjoy it the most, and since they’re looking for ideas to add to their feed anyway, you give them another reason to add an image.

One cool contest example is Franwork’s Movember contest. They made mustache coasters for their restaurant and asked their followers to upload photos of themselves with the coasters in front of their face. So cool!

#3: Leverage Videos and Stories

With the recent release of Instagram Stories, you can now take Snapchat-style video to send out to your followers. Of course, you’ve always been able to upload videos to your feed, but are you taking advantage of it?

According to April 2015 research by Locowise, only 10.81% of Instagram posts are in video format. Yet, they get 17.51% of all comments!

To make the most out of your Instagram videos, try these tips:

Just like with images, shoot video in great lighting.

Get a tripod to keep your camera or smartphone steady as you record.

Shoot behind-the-scenes footage to make your followers feel special.

Capture your products in action — especially if you get a customer using it.

Show what you see through your eyes. Try to capture your brand’s life.

#4: Give Your Followers Exclusive Info

Part of the appeal of following a brand on Instagram is the idea that we’re somehow “insiders.” In fact, it’s in our psychology that being part of a group motivates us to take action.

Why not capitalize on this finding?

Exclusive info doesn’t have to just be exclusive discounts or coupons. You can also offer things like:

• Free trials or products
• Instagram-only contests
• Behind-the-scenes pictures and videos

For example, Intel frequently shares images and videos of their employees’ adventures at tech shows and their customer’s dreams and ambitions.

#5: Always Respond to Comments

If your followers are commenting, you should be taking full advantage! Comments show that people like your posts and want to engage with your brand.

It’s also important to respond fairly quickly. Usually no longer than 24 hours. If you take too long to answer, people will feel they’re not a priority or that you didn’t read their comment. That said, even if it takes longer, still make an effort to answer. You can even use tip #10 in your comments!

Pro tip: If you get so many comments that you simply can’t keep up (good on you!), you can always consider hiring a virtual assistant to take care of the comments for you. Some can be found at very reasonable rates and do a great job.

Source: SearchEngineJournal

About LaraNet: We are a web design firm focused to help you to grow your business and communicate with your customers and prospects using two simple but powerful tools: 1) Interactive Website and 2) Internet Marketing Strategy on social networks like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc… Whether you want to work with just a web page, or launch or improve your presence on Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn or communicate with your customers through newsletters, or improve the location of your business in the search engines through Search Engine Optimization, or start marketing your products or services online, in LaraNet we can help you.

Community Manager Specialist.

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