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First things first. Download the app
Here at Bindo, we’ve come up with a list of tips on how to do Instagram well.
Instagram is a social environment and with that said, the amount of follows and likes you get amount to ‘social currency.’ When followers see that you are not consistent with your posts or that your content does not fulfill their initial expectations, it’s as easy as clicking ‘Unfollow’ and you lose a potential customer forever. Have a schedule and regulate your posts to be spread out between X number of days in a week (we recommend 2-3 posts a week when you first start.) While Instagram was indeed created for immediate sharing, as a business, you can plan well ahead for posts to make sure you are always up to date. Be organized.
We particularly love the Instagram account of Outdoor Voices. Whatever they post, whether it is a product or lifestyle shot, is always kept consistent, timely and keeps with the image of the brand as a whole.
Hashtags shouldn’t be just another something you don’t understand. Hashtags help you to get discovered by people who might not necessarily be able to otherwise. That being said, do not succumb to downloading apps that help you copy & paste viral and unrelated hashtags like #follow4follow #like4like onto every photo; stick to relevant terms and words that people might actually search. For example, if you are a wine cellar with a promotion of the latest Bordeaux wines, you may want to hashtag that very term. You do not want to lose quality followers. Remember, quality followers = quality customers. Everything else said, again, be consistent.
Here is a great example of J Brand Jeans using the hashtags #LittleBlackJean #Denim and #ootd (that is, Outfit Of The Day).
While Instagram is another adopter of the immediate-gratification model on social media, your customers will still want to be able to pull up your profile and showcase your products to a friend. There is no harm in pulling high resolution photos (the same ones you would upload onto your website) and posting these on your Instagram to remind followers that you are a verifiable and accountable brand with quality products to showcase. To spice things up once in awhile, you can create “Instagram Photoshoots” in-house and set up your products against lifestyle items for a curated lifestyle shot. You want your customers to imagine the most ideal life they could live with your product included.
Everlane‘s Instagram is always a favorite. Their entire feed is curated specifically to the tastes and needs of their target customer. Here’s a shot of two products taken in a way that fits in seamlessly with all other un-branded items. Effortless chic with no obvious sell at all. If I lived in the desert, I would still want those gloves.
That being said, Instagram should also be a platform to visually showcase what goes on behind the scenes of your brand. Your customers will be delighted in getting to know you, your employees and most importantly, how much fun it is to work at your brand (who knows, you may even get a few job applicants this way.) Did you attend a conference? An appointment with a potential partner? Did you throw a Christmas party? Or was it pizza day at the office? Let your customers know! This is a way to humanize your brand and inject a little personality that wouldn’t otherwise be seen. Let your customers live vicariously through your feed.
Warby Parker wonderfully curates their feed to be personal, happy and edgy. From time to time, employees and pets will be readily featured on their Instagram feed and it delights customers to know that they are not only selling beautiful products but having fun while doing so.
What’s the point of sharing pictures if they don’t reach enough people? More than just hashtagging, you can engage your audience and also find more customers by creating promotions on Instagram. Examples such as “Share this photo and tag us in a photo of you with your favorite Longboard and win a $500 shopping spree” never hurts. This will not only get followers to be more engaged with your account but it will also help to spread awareness and visibility of your brand to their followers and so forth. On Instagram, it never hurts to be loud. Remember to follow through with your promotions and create specific Terms and Conditions that are easy to find and understand. Do not let your promotions turn into negative publicity.
Lipton‘s Instagram contest in 2013, Liptagram, helped the brand reach a broad base of customers while also sticking to some elements of their own brand personality, which centers around brightness, excitement and the uplifting effects of tea to life.
As with all social media platforms, what customers hate the most is being sold to. Instagram is about the community. People will lose interest quickly if all you do is talk about yourself. When your product engages enough followers, re-post photos of customers who share your values and most importantly, embrace your brand and products. The more you do, the more your followers will realize this and in turn be more inclined to capture moments where your products are also included*.
BarkBox is a shoe-in for one of our favorite brands who go out of their way to always include customers (aka furry friends) into their feed. I guess it’s not difficult either. Their social media manager must have the best job ever.
(*Disclaimer: Remember to always ask for permission when a photo is being re-used. I would do so in the form of a) leaving a comment and or b) asking them to e-mail you with the original photo and thereby granting access from them.)
Bloggers are here to stay, at least for the meantime. Reach out to bloggers in the community who have clout and influence in your particular industry (i.e fashion, accessories, cats, food etc.), follow them and see if you can think of clever ways to reach out to them (“Hi xx! I’ve noticed your Scottish fold is looking a little chilly these days. Mind if we pawsonally send a care package to make sure Mrs. Fluffles is kept warm during the winter season?”) This is all trial and error still; sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Test out as many ways before having to reach out to them for paid sponsorships (i.e. MAKE SURE YOUR PRODUCT SPEAKS FOR ITSELF!)
Cuyana is a fairly new leather accessories and apparel brand that has really conquered the Instagram platform. They have always found the right collaborators and online KOLs to gift and partner with to draw in a bigger yet targeted customer. Here, they collaborate with Alice Gao, a famous Instagram personality.
The one drawback of Instagram is that links are inactive and don’t work unless put in the profile description. Make sure you put your company website up there for easy access or in any other cases where you are running a promotion, change that link for the occasion and make it clear to your followers that the “link is accessible on the profile.” You want to be able to engage and also link back to your brand in accessible ways.
In their profile, Blue Bottle does not just link to their usual main website but directly to where they want their customers to go.
We’d love to hear from you! What works? What doesn’t? Do you have a cool Instagram feed? Let us know and we’ll check it out! Visit Bindo POS for more.
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