More than 70% of US businesses use the app to market their products, services, and brand. A variety of interactive features has made it essential for small businesses to use social media.

Instagram marketing for small businesses through taking product pictures at a restaurant

A marketing strategy is needed for your team to use the platform. You can read this guide to get started.

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Why Instagram Marketing Matters for Small Businesses

One of the first places people go to learn about a small business is on social media. A majority of people follow at least one business on the photo sharing site. More than one in two people use the app to find new brands, products, and services.

As a small business owner, you need to use social media to promote your business. If you don't have a strategy in place, you may find yourself struggling to grow your audience, post consistently, or generate quality engagement. You're not alone if this sounds familiar. The majority of small businesses struggle with these challenges.

If you have a small budget, limited resources, or a one-person team, there are several strategies that small businesses can use to grow their presence on the platform. Let's get started.

15 Instagram Marketing Strategies for Small Businesses

1. Start with a goal.

There is no doubt that social media is a great tool for small businesses. It's important to have a clear goal in place for what you want to achieve on the platform.

There are a few goals you could choose from.

  • Increase sales.
  • Drive website traffic.
  • Generate brand awareness.
  • Boost customer engagement.  

You can use a goal to guide the type of content you post, the people you want to reach, and the general messaging to use on your page.

2. Set up the basics of your profile.

A profile picture, business name, and business category are some of the basic elements of a business profile on the photo sharing website. If you have a physical location, contact information should be included on your page.

Customers can easily reach out to the brand with a contact email in the bio of the clothing brand.

instagram marketing for small business, the Instagram bio for small business Quince is an important element of its Instagram marketing strategy.

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It is possible to get the most out of your account by making it search-friendly. People can easily find you if you have a usernames.

New followers instantly recognize your brand's thumbnail as they scroll through your profile image, it should be similar to your logo.

3. Optimize your bio.

The first thing people will see when they visit your account is your bio.

What are the main elements or pieces of information you want visitors to take away if you only have a few seconds?

Your bio is a good way to let people know who you are and what you do. If you want people to follow you, put together a sentence or two with your company's slogan or something similar.

You can use your bio to share information. Special offers are included in Wild One's bio.

instagram marketing for small business, pet brand Wild One uses its Instagram bio to promote its small business promotions.

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4. Be intentional with your bio link.

If you want to drive more traffic to your small business website, then you should spend more time on the link section of your bio.

Links in your bio are what users will click on to learn more about your brand, shop your products, or sign up for an email list.

The link section can be used to direct people to their next destination.

Link tree or later's link in bio can be used to promote multiple pages at once. You can turn your main link into a mini website by using these tools.

Girls' Night In uses a link tool to make it easier for its followers to find links to products and articles that were mentioned in their posts.

instagram marketing for small business, the link section from Girls’ Night In Club’s Instagram profile directs followers to several links in one place.

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5. Host a giveaway

Do you want to increase your audience on social media? There is a chance to host a contest.

According to a study, giving away prizes help grow accounts on the photo sharing site.

It can be seen why. Increasing brand awareness, boosting organic engagement, and driving more people to your profile by encouraging likes, comments, and shares for a chance to win are some of the things that increase brand awareness.

If you team up with another brand, you can get even more engagement for your contest.

instagram marketing for small business, Califia Farms and Oat Haus collaborate on a giveaway as part of their Instagram marketing strategies.

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Partnering up with another brand will double the audience that will see your content or be introduced to your brand for the first time.

6. Geotag your posts.

If you have a physical location for your small business, be sure to include it in your social media postings. Users can find your small business using location data provided by ageotag.

Users can see all of the posts from that location if the posts use a certaingeotag.

When people visit your business, you can show them what you have to offer. If you have a restaurant, you can use yourgeotag to show off menu items or give people a glimpse at the atmosphere.

instagram marketing for small business, the Instagram geotag results for Austin-based food truck small business, Patrizi’s

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7. Tap into user-generated content.

It's no small feat to create content for a social media platform. There is a lot of different things that go into a single post.

User-generated content can be used in this situation.

The content that's been created and posted is called ugc. It is usually a video or image of someone using your product.

You can look at posts that you are tagged in, or look at content that uses yourgeotag.

Customer photos are frequently re-posted by the self-care brand.

instagram marketing for small business, user-generated content is a part of Chillhouse’s Instagram marketing strategy for their small business.

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It's a time saver when it comes to creating content, but it also helps build social proof and brand credibility by showing followers authentic content from real people.

8. Offer exclusive promotions.

You can give people a reason to follow you on social media.

If you share a discount code with your followers, they will be able to mention it when shopping online or in person. Stories can be used to share discount codes. If followers don't act on stories quickly, they might feel like they're missing out on something.

It helps build brand loyalty for your small business if you have promotions that give your followers a reason to stay engaged.

9.  Take advantage of hashtags.

It is important for your small business's marketing strategy to have a good use of hashtags. It is possible to join in on a conversation that is relevant to your brand with the use of hashtags. They help categorize your content on the photo sharing site. Your posts may be seen by users when they search or browse for a certain phrase.

It's not only a way to discover new brands and content on the platform, but it's also a way to build brand awareness and recognition for your small business.

Encourage your followers to use a branded # when posting about your brand. This encourages people to share their work.

In order to encourage followers to share their game-day outfits using the #TecovasTailgate, the brand created a branded social media account.

instagram marketing for small business, an Instagram post from boot brand Tecovas demonstrates how branded hashtags can be effective for Instagram marketing strategy for a small business.

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10. Engage with influencers.

Every industry has an influential person. In order to connect with an audience and build trust with your followers, you need to be an influential person. 42% of consumers trust social mediainfluencers over brands

If you have more space in your marketing budget, consider partnering with an influential person.

Micro-influencers with less than 10,000 followers may be a good fit for a partnership with a small business. Micro-influencers tend to get more engagement than those with hundreds of thousands of followers.

11. Make your posts shoppable.

130 million people use the photo sharing website to shop. If you operate an e-commerce business and want to reach a fraction of the engaged shoppers, take advantage of the commerce tools on the photo sharing website.

It's easy for your followers to browse and buy products through the app. Product tags can be added to your posts after you set up your shop on your profile.

instagram marketing for small business, a shoppable Instagram post from small business Kammok.

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12. Talk to your followers.

Being social is one of the foundations of the platform and it can be easy to overlook it.

You can engage with your audience wherever and whenever you please. If you connect with your audience on a personal level, you will be able to build strong customer relationships.

Asking for follower input is the way to begin the conversation. You can use the interactive features on Stories to get feedback from your audience.

Another way to connect is by encouraging participation. People will feel part of your community when they follow you.

13. Experiment with Reels.

Stories, Lives, and now Reels are some of the new features that have been rolled out on the photo sharing website.

A reel is a short video that can be edited to tell a story.

There are a few ideas for the reels.

  • Show a day in the life of a small business owner.
  • Share a behind-the-scenes look at your process.
  • Tell the story behind the brand.
  • Introduce team members.
  • Give a tour of your space (office, storefront, restaurant, etc.).

Small businesses can use Reels to show how-to videos. P.F. Candle Co shows how to relight a candle.

instagram marketing for small business, an Instagram Reels from P.F. Candle Co. features a candle and text overlay that says “we’re going to show you how to safely relight your candle.”

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14. Get creative with your captions.

Adding personality to your business's brand can be accomplished by using your caption on the social media platform.

You can use your caption to spark conversations with your audience, encourage engagement, or show off the human side of your business if you choose to. Waterloo Sparkling Water has a good tone and is fun to read about.

instagram marketing for small business, an Instagram post from Waterloo Sparkling Water that uses a creative caption to humanize its small business as part of its Instagram marketing strategy.

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15. Analyze your metrics.

Track and measure your metrics if you want to understand how well your marketing strategy is working.

Make sure you have a way to evaluate their success.

It's important that the metrics you measure tie back to your goals. If your goal is to drive more people to your website, then you should track your link clicks to see how they correlate to your traffic.

Getting Started

Small businesses are able to grow their brand through the use of social media platforms. Small businesses can reach new customers, increase sales, and build long-term customer relationships with a strong marketing strategy in place.

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