Learn How to Promote Your Digital Business on Instagram

The need to create value and customer satisfaction is at the forefront of any digital business, while still being profitable and maintaining its core value. It's been a decade since the Instagram app was launched and it continues to grow into the biggest platform it is currently. Let's learn how to promote your digital business on Instagram.

Ready for some mind-blowing statistics? About 500 million people use Instagram Stories every day, and 200 million people visit at least one business profile every day. And it doesn't seem to be decreasing.

In the US as of 2020, the site had approximately 112 million monthly users; This is a figure that is projected to rise to 120.3 million by 2023. Do you see where this is going with respect to your digital business? These figures are literally screaming "Take advantage now and boost your business!"

5 Tips To Use Instagram To Grow Your Online Business

The opportunity to connect with new and existing customers on this platform is huge. Certainly, with so many people scrolling through the app, your potential customers will need to be a part of your strategy. However, it's not as simple as creating a profile and adding "Best Digital Business in America" ​​to your bio.

Unless you're a football champion or a reality TV star with over 100 million followers, chances are those millions of people scrolling business pages haven't even appeared before you. Good news, though; We have some tips to help you promote your business on Instagram.

1. Create a Business Account

A customer should not go through random posts before reaching the parts relevant to him. You can certainly have a personal account, but creating one for your business shows how professional you are.

Plus, there are many benefits of a business account as compared to a personal account. For starters, you can connect with a diverse community of people who are interested in your business. You can also add important details about your business such as location, contact information and a link to your website. A business account lets you gain insight into how your promotions are progressing, so you can figure out what works best for your brand.

2. Connect with Your Customers

There's nothing better than going into the comments section of a business post and seeing a ton of unanswered questions and comments. It just gives a sense of distaste towards your customers.

Take the time to respond to all comments and answer their questions. Remember to use a tone that reflects the character of the business, but that sounds like a real person. A lively tone and some emoji go a long way.

3. Post Relevant Content Often

Your posts don't just end on the products you sell. For example, if your business is all about skincare, you can only post about the relevance of a particular ingredient in skincare to inform your audience. Plus, the more posts you post, the more opportunities you have to engage with your audience.

4. Create Sponsored Ads

These are the posts that are essentially used to access the user's feed. They are similar to normal posts except for the 'Sponsored' label, and the wider audience they reach. It is also relatively economical as one can choose how much they want to spend on them. Thus, your budget determines how long your ad will last. You can choose to use photo ads, video ads, slideshow ads or carousel ads. Actual cost varies depending on ad placement and format, targeting, etc.

5. Reach Influential People

This is a great way to reduce advertising costs and reach an even larger audience. These influencers already have a large number of followers and most of the people patronize the business based on their recommendations.

Some people don't even wait for a trusted influencer to advertise a product, they go ahead and ask them for their top picks in a niche… Partner with the right influencer for your brand and increase your sales. Watch the sky soar. Just give them a code that gives customers a discount and voila: you have an army of people on your site.

Take advantage of 7 Instagram features and tools

Apart from the basic tips mentioned above, there are many features on Instagram that can be used to get a business on the right track and promote it. They include the following.

1. Instagram Live

It's a little more serious than the other features because it's a live stream, so there's no over it. Still, it's an incredible way to grow content and engage with your audience. Not to mention that it shows a higher level of transparency and authenticity than just a photograph. Plus, it will remain on your stories for 24 hours after the live broadcast so that others can view the event.

However, a great way to avoid missing people is to let them know about an upcoming live live well in advance and encourage them to turn on notifications so they know when you start a live video.

2. Instagram Stories

75% of Instagram users take business actions like clicking a link to a website or buying an item after viewing IG ads. Drive more sales today by investing in an advertising strategy for your IG stories. Regardless of the number of followers you have, there are several sales-driving features you can implement here. Think stickers, hashtags and links.

3. Supports Instagram Small Business Stickers

It is no surprise that small businesses suffered during this pandemic and they are still facing real tough times. To help out, Instagram launched a feature called Support Small Business Stickers. People can mention businesses in these stickers to give their followers a preview of the account. The point is not only to help businesses reach new customers, but also to stay connected with their existing customers.

As a business owner, you can also reach out to influencers and work with them on this angle. Imagine an influencer whose 100,000 followers mention your business in support of small business stickers…that is smart marketing.

4. Instagram Hashtags

It is a slightly slippery slope. Hashtags are a great way to build a community of like-minded individuals online or join an already created community. They are a great way to get your brand out there. You can use up to 30 hashtags on a regular post and 10 hashtags on a story. Although increasing it may be a bit much. Stop somewhere between 5 and 10.

Now, here's why hashtags can be a little troublesome. Someone with Bieber fever who types #JustinBieber doesn't want to see your wallpaper business pop up with #justinBieber, #baby, and more. It gives an impression of unprofessionalism. And while it can get your business to a larger audience, it does so by using the right amount of wrong.

What's worse? Instagram is cracking down on criminals and imposing shadow bans and other penalties for hashtag misuse.

5. Instagram Shopping

Instagram is set to conquer the eCommerce industry with its social media management services. This is good news for all types of online businesses. An Instagram shop allows you to build your product catalog and your IG profile into one unified platform. With this feature, the user can visit a commercial shop without ever leaving the Instagram app or opening any other browser.

A business can also tag the store (with the cutest shopping bag icon) the same way a person would be tagged on a photo. Hence, with just one click on the icon, the potential customers will see all the necessary details on the products. Ultimately, this small shop brings products to the customers and makes shopping easier for them.

6. IG TV

Do you want to post long videos detailing a product or service on Instagram? You can use IG TV. It is a mobile-friendly video maker that allows for longer videos as well as being easily searchable through organized channels.

With IG TV, one can create a specific audience with specific content and make it reach far and wide. Plus, there's more engagement with customers here through Q&A or even featuring success stories on the channel.

7. IG Reels

This is one of the newest features of Instagram added to the app. It is similar to IG TV in many ways. However, it is meant to be used more often for shorter, portrait mode videos. This feature is definitely for more than just dance videos. Businesses can take advantage of this to create quick, step-by-step tutorials and other videos of their products/services.

And 7 great Instagram tools to use to promote a digital business!

No matter how much effort the Instagram team puts into providing amazing tools for business, a business still has to put some effort and make sure that their content and strategy is top-notch.

How should a business use Instagram to increase its chances of success?

According to Instagram Business Tips, a content creator has to provide content around three themes: Engage, Educate and Excite.

Here's how to achieve it:

• Use catchy captions on the post. You can use sentences, but don't be frivolous.
• Post some really cool pictures and videos about your business.
• Consider getting a creative team to keep the process running smoothly.
• Write short but highly targeted articles on your niche.
• Create a website with a blog section so that your customers can connect with you on that platform as well. Don't be too serious about your content. Sometimes, brighten up your followers' timelines with some cute kitten videos - everyone likes them.
• Cheap Time! Yes, give back to your loyal customers from time to time. And be smart about it. There must be certain requirements to qualify such as being a follower, shoutouts, or even a repost.

How else can Instagram be used to build and promote a digital business?

It's safe to say that creating quality content isn't enough to sustain your business or build a functional community. Compartmentalization won't get you very far. It's best to integrate your business plans, courses, social media services and more into one powerful brand.

Also, make it easy to use and reachable on target. You'd be hard-pressed to find someone who uses Instagram on their desktop. It is primarily a mobile app that gives you the convenience and interests of the app in the palm of your hands. Let your business fit into that model as well.

Another idea is to set up online webinars, conferences and even private consultations with the platform. It certainly makes it easy to distribute paid content without any technical headaches.

Need some more time? Create videos or host webinars on YouTube all directly linked to your Instagram.

Create themed chats for like-minded individuals and build an engaged community through them. Enable email newsletters and push notifications to market your business and increase sales. The starting rate of push notifications is 90% (twice that of email marketing), but still, email marketing has a lot of potential. Heck, 81% of businesses say they promote customer acquisition via email. With the right strategy, this can be your case.

Final Thoughts

At this point in time, Instagram is no longer just a social media app for you. It is a trading tool with lots of free but great features. Take advantage of them. Analytics tools are not just for professionals. See the demographics of your audience and find out how to better cater to them.

Plus, use a great hosting platform to build a mobile-friendly website. Combining this with a solid Instagram marketing strategy will take your brand to the next level.