Instagram has evolved to become one of the best social media marketing tools for businesses seeking to reach new customers and grow their brands. As a black entrepreneur, you must know how to use Instagram for your business to reach a larger audience and raise brand awareness. In this post, we’ll define Instagram marketing, discuss the advantages of using Instagram for black owned businesses, and show you how to set up and grow your Instagram business account.
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What exactly is Instagram Marketing?
Instagram marketing is the process of reaching out to prospective customers and growing your brand through the Instagram platform. Create a business account, regularly post quality content, engage with your followers, and use hashtags to reach a larger audience.
Benefits of Instagram Marketing for Black Owned Businesses
- Broad Reach: With over 1 billion active monthly users, Instagram is an excellent social media site for reaching a large and diverse audience.
- Targeted Audience: Black owned businesses can reach the ideal audience by demographic, interest, and behavior using Instagram’s advanced targeting options.
- Visual Storytelling: The visual format of Instagram is ideal for storytelling and displaying products and services. The platform’s ability to display images and videos enables black entrepreneurs to communicate their brand’s unique story.
- Brand Awareness: Black-owned businesses can boost their brand presence and reach a broader audience by consistently posting quality content and leveraging hashtags.
- Cost-Effective: Instagram marketing, unlike traditional forms of advertising, is a cost-effective way for small black businesses to reach their intended audience. Businesses can use the platform to market their brand, products, and services for free or with a small investment.
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How to Create a Business Account on Instagram
Instagram business account creation is simple and takes only a few steps:
Step 1: Download the Instagram app
If you don’t already have Instagram, you can get it for free from the App Store or Google Play. You can also create it on your personal computer without downloading the app.
Step 2: Set up a personal account
Create a personal profile by entering your email address and password, or connect your Facebook account.
Step 3: Change your account to a Business account
You can change your personal account to a business account in the settings. This grants you access to Instagram’s business tools, including insights and the ability to promote posts.
Read also: Let’s Talk About Black Overrepresentation in Advertising
Best Instagram Marketing Strategies to Grow Your Account
It’s time to start growing your business account now that you have one. Here are some Instagram marketing strategies to help you grow your Instagram account:
Create a Content Strategy
It is critical to have a content strategy in place before you begin posting. This should include the type of content you intend to post, the frequency with which you intend to post, and the topics in which your target audience is interested. Don’t stick to one form of posting.
Try carousel, image, collection, and video formats to better understand what works for you. Posting consistently is undoubtedly one of the best strategies to grow your Instagram account. When you first start building your online presence, it is best to post every day. Be selective in choosing the topics you post. Make sure they meet your target audience’s needs. For instance, you can take advantage of occasions and post content in relation to them. As this month marks Black History Month, you can strategize and create content around it for your audience.
Optimize Your Instagram Profile
Optimizing your Instagram profile is the first thing to do after creating your strategy. It helps make your account stand out and attract followers. Make sure that your Instagram profile is optimized for your intended audience. Using a clear profile image, writing an appealing bio, and including keyword phrases are all examples of this.
Share Instagram Content Created by Your Followers
Sharing content created by your target audience, otherwise known as “user-generated content,” is an excellent way to boost engagement and reach a larger audience. You can accomplish this by reposting or retweeting user-generated content or sharing posts from other accounts.
Always look for the content of your fans and repost it to show them some love. Instagram marketing shouldn’t be about your content alone. It’s about you and your followers. Retweeting and reposting your followers’ posts is an excellent strategy to build loyalty. A lot of businesses don’t know or use this low-hanging fruit strategy to win followers’ hearts. Don’t be one of them. Now that you know, go use them and thank yourself later.
Go Live
Another strategy to grow your Instagram account is to go live. Going live on Instagram allows you to interact with your followers in real-time. Once you go live, your followers will be notified and will be able to tune in to watch you.
Your followers and customers are human beings just like you. So they want to interact with humans, not always robots or machines. Going live means you will have the opportunity to interact with your followers and increase engagement with your posts.
Share Instagram Stories
Instagram Stories are a fun and engaging way to interact with your followers. Stories, unlike regular posts, are deleted after 24 hours. This encourages users to check them frequently because they don’t want to miss out on anything.
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Swipe right from your main screen to open the camera to create an Instagram story. You can add filters, text, or other elements to a photo or video to make your story stand out.
Consider the Caption Length
When writing your captions, remember that the first few lines are the most important. To reach a bigger audience, make sure your captions are simple and concise and include relevant hashtags. Do you want to learn more about hashtags and how they can help you achieve your online presence goal? Read on.
Engage with your followers regularly
One of the most important things to keep in mind when it comes to Instagram marketing is the need to engage with your followers on a regular basis. Engaging with your followers helps foster a sense of community, which can in turn lead to increased brand loyalty. It also builds a stronger connection between your business and your target audience.
Some ways to engage with your followers include responding to comments and messages. It also includes sharing user-generated content and hosting Instagram Stories Q&A sessions. You can also use Instagram Live to interact with your followers in real time and answer any questions they may have about your business or products.
Running Instagram contests is another way to interact with your followers. Contests are an excellent way to boost engagement and build your brand. Contests can help you raise brand awareness and gain new followers. It also helps to promote your products and services. Simply choose a prize that is relevant to your target audience and establish clear contest guidelines so that everyone knows what to expect.
Finally, use Instagram’s direct messaging feature to interact with your followers one-on-one. Direct messages allow you to connect on a personal level with your followers. It helps build relationships and provide customer service.
Now let’s learn more about how hashtags can help you reach an even larger audience and their best practices.
How Hashtags Contribute to Growth
Hashtags are an important part of Instagram marketing because they help your posts gain visibility and reach a larger audience. When used correctly, hashtags can help to increase brand awareness, drive engagement, and attract new followers.
When selecting hashtags to include in your posts, consider your target market and the keywords they may be searching for. You should also think about the volume and relevance of the hashtags you use. While a hashtag such as #love may have a lot of posts, it may not be relevant to your audience or your business. A more specific hashtag, such as #blackownedbusiness, may have fewer posts, but it will be more relevant to your target audience.
5 Best Practices for Using Hashtags on Instagram
In terms of hashtagging principles, you should aim to use a combination of broad and specific tags in each post. This will allow you to reach a larger audience while also focusing on the right people. You should also avoid using hashtags excessively, as this can appear spammy and reduce the visibility of your content. A good rule of thumb is to use 7 to 11 hashtags per post
- Research the right hashtags:
Before using hashtags, do some research on the most relevant hashtags for your business, such as niche hashtags and trending hashtags. One tool that can help achieve this is “Keyword Everywhere.” It also allows you to know the volume of the hashtags. Better still, you can search for hashtags on the Instagram platform.
- Use a combination of broad and specific hashtags:
Using a combination of general hashtags with a large following and niche hashtags specific to your industry will help you reach and target your intended audience.
- Reduce the number of hashtags you use:
While Instagram allows up to 30 hashtags per post, using too many hashtags can appear spammy and reduce engagement. It is recommended that you use 10–15 hashtags per post.
- Put hashtags in strategic places:
Using hashtags in the caption or comment instead of the post description can help potential followers find your posts.
- Create and use branded hashtags:
Creating a branded hashtag for your business and using it regularly in your posts can help increase brand awareness and engagement from your followers.
Finally, Instagram marketing can help black entrepreneurs reach their target audience, raise brand awareness, and drive sales. There are numerous strategies that can help you grow your business on Instagram, from creating a business account to optimizing your profile, engaging with your followers, and using hashtags. By adhering to the best practices outlined in this post, you can establish a strong online presence, connect with your target audience, and ultimately succeed as a black owned business on this popular social media platform. It takes consistent effort, creative content, and engaging with your audience to succeed on Instagram.
Instagram Marketing FAQ
Begin by creating a business profile, optimizing your account, and creating a content marketing strategy for Instagram. From there, you can reach your target audience by combining posts, Instagram Stories, and live videos. You can also interact with your followers and develop relationships with them by using hashtags and Instagram’s private messaging feature.
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How do I start Instagram marketing?
- Install Instagram and set up a personal account.
- Change your personal account to a business account.
- Use a clear profile picture, write a bio that reflects your brand and includes relevant keywords, and include links to your site to optimize your profile.
- Create a content marketing strategy that is representative of your target audience and brand.
- Begin posting quality and relevant content to your target audience, such as posts, Instagram Stories, and live videos.
- Respond to comments and messages, share user-generated content, and host Q&A sessions to interact with your followers.
- Use relevant hashtags to reach your target audience.
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