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Instagram: 16 Best Practices for BtoB Publishers
March 23, 2015
Is Instagram for BtoB Publishers?
You bet it is. That is, if you are willing to go all in—like with any social platform. Because Instagram is such visually focused platform, some BtoB publishers have a hard time believing it can benefit their business.
But think about it this way: Instagram now boasts over 300 million users. That’s more than Twitter, and statistics show that it is growing at a more rapid rate than Twitter, as well. That’s a lot of potential. Of course, it’s important to keep the true nature of that potential in mind: Instagram is not a tool for building traffic. It’s a tool for building awareness of your brand and grooming future customers.
In this post and the next, we’ll see how Instagram can work for you.
- Determine and Convey Your Culture: Before you ever open your account on Instagram (or if you are trying to step up your efforts) have a team discussion about your brand and how you can convey it effectively through Instagram. This platform is about your company culture. What’s the best way to convey that visually? Sure, in most cases, it's not as straightforward as displaying flags or cultural attire. But, are there certain tweaks that you can make to your photos on Instagram that are better suited to your brand than others? Set some standards with the team members who will be posting on the platform, so that you can ensure brand consistency and truly bring your culture and working atmosphere to life.
- Target Your Content: Right. This is not a new idea. But, look at who your audience or potential audience is on Instagram and design your content for that audience on that platform. Make sure it resonates with them. What works on Facebook or LinkedIn won’t necessarily work here.
- Vary Your Links: When you provide a link with a snapshot, don’t always send it to one place on your website. Send the audience to the most relevant place—the place that gives context to the shot and provides useful information.
- Use Hashtags: Hashtags are a great way to draw an audience into your post. Develop some of your own for a specific series of posts or around a theme, and certainly look to trending hashtags to help boost visibility. Just don’t overdo it! 3-5 max per post.
- Post Frequently: It shouldn’t be a surprise to see that most companies on Instagram post 1-5 times per day. It is certainly a daily activity—but that should not intimidate you. You have multiple team members, posting once per day should be quite manageable for one person—and in fact, some of your staff may really love posting more frequently.
Now that we’ve covered some of the basics of using Instagram, we’ll give you time to think about them and continue our best practices in the next post.
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