While it’s true that social media marketing takes place online, this doesn’t imply it doesn’t have a significant impact for offline businesses. We started with Facebook and are now going to move on to Instagram.
When Instagram originally launched in 2010 (with a picture of a cute puppy), it quickly became a favourite way to keep in touch with friends and family while also showing off one’s photographic talents. Instagram is 10 years old, but it seems much younger. Over 70% of the 1 billion monthly active users are younger than 35.
Using Instagram, you may build relationships with your audience online and encourage them to visit your store. You can promote your brand extensively with this very graphic medium.
Here are eight ways to promote your offline store on Instagram.
Eight Instagram Marketing Ideas
Finding your audience and building your brand on Instagram can take some time, but once you’ve found your groove, you’ll see an uptick in fan engagement and store traffic.
If you want to gain a head start on the competition, implement these best practises and your business will stand out from the crowd.
Spend Money on Professional-Grade Images
Instagram is unparalleled in terms of its focus on visual content. Even while status updates with photographs do better than those with text on Facebook, Instagram only allows you to upload photos. Due to the channel’s emphasis on visual content, it’s imperative that you use high-quality images. Your brand’s social media presence may suffer if you use stock photos or low-quality images as your profile pictures.
Hire a graphic designer to make branded content, or a photographer to get high-quality images, or both.
Prioritise both the quantity and quality of your photographs
Having a big quantity of high-quality images at your disposal is just as important as having high-quality images themselves when it comes to creating a successful campaign for a physical store.
If you just ever post one set of images to your fan page, they will notice. While it’s fine to sometimes share a viral photo, showing people the same image over and over again is annoying. When planning what to share, give thought to the breadth of your photographs.
Find Out More About That Hashtag
Hashtags, which are not widely used on Facebook and are only occasionally used on Twitter, are the lifeblood of Instagram. The more than a dozen hashtags you use, the more people are likely to interact with your posts.
Finding relevant hashtags is essential for effective Instagram use. Include trending hashtags that will also reach your target demographic. You need to find folks in the area who share your brand’s interest. Find local businesses and competitors who are successfully using Instagram, and learn from their example. You might try utilising hashtags in a similar fashion to see if it helps your business.
Make a contest out of it
When you have enough followers, you may start running promotions on Instagram. Encourage your audience to post and tag their favourite brand-related images. Then, choose the photograph that best represents the theme.
You could also host a scavenger hunt in your shop where customers have to locate hidden prizes. Playing these games and accepting these challenges will help spread the word about your company and attract new fans.
Consider Your Brand in Context
Instagram is mostly a visual platform, thus there is limited room to promote your business there. People will form opinions about your physical store based on the pictures you post online. Therefore, it is crucial to consider your brand as a whole and ensure that the images you post represent it accurately.
Take a peek at the profiles of some of your rivals and pay attention to their branding to see how they’ve combined various images into a cohesive whole.
Put Several Instagram Stories to the Test
Instagram provides multiple avenues for advertising a business, including permanent profile pictures and time-limited stories. You may try out both strategies and evaluate which one helps your brand the most.
Instagram stories have the potential to be less rigid and more casual. You can use them to promote a new menu item or give a tour of your establishment. The amount of views and the percentage of people who react and comment on your posts are two measures of how successful they are.
Aside from the main photo stream, Instagram Stories are a fantastic method to get your content seen. Users may rapidly browse through hundreds of tales, and yours could be one of the ones they land on.
Come up with ideas for collaborative cross-posting
Look for vendors you work with or comparable businesses to cross-post with if you want to increase your exposure in your area or niche. A cross-post is when one company promotes another’s business in a high-quality post and vice versa.
They gain visibility for their brand through your audience, and you gain exposure for their brand through your audience. Make a list of companies you could cross-post with, such as suppliers, competitors, and groups you support in your local area.
Place a premium on the in-store experience
Using social media to boost online and offline foot traffic is a top priority for many businesses. Although Instagram marketing is effective at generating traffic to establishments, the emphasis here is on generating clicks on deals and on-site merchandise.
Increasing interest is essential. Promote in-store-only products or discounts only available physically at the business. To get them to buy now, you can offer limited-time discounts. Get the word out that customers are missing out if they don’t stop by your shop.