How Small Businesses Can Use Instagram to Build Their Branding

Instagram is an important marketing tool for small businesses in the United States, with 71% of companies using the platform to reach its over one billion users. Instagram is especially valuable for small businesses because it allows them to connect with and engage potential customers. Approximately 90% of people follow at least one business on Instagram, and 50% use the app to discover new products and services. However, small businesses may face challenges such as building their audience, consistently posting content, and generating engagement. Fortunately, there are several strategies that small businesses with limited budgets and resources can use to succeed on Instagram.

Set a goal

To maximize the effectiveness of your Instagram marketing, it is essential to have a specific objective in mind. Some potential goals for your Instagram strategy could include increasing sales, directing traffic to your website, increasing brand awareness, or enhancing customer engagement. Setting a goal will help you determine the type of content to post, the target audience, and the overall messaging for your page.

Optimize your bio

When visitors land on your Instagram profile, the first thing they will see is your bio. It's important to make a good impression and provide key information about your business in a short amount of time. To optimize your bio, make sure to include your company's tagline or a brief summary of the type of content that followers can expect to see. You can also use your bio to share announcements, promotions, or product launches, like the pet brand Wild One does with special offers. Make sure to clearly communicate who you are and what you do to new followers in your bio. Company bio examples:

1. Nike - The sportswear giant's Instagram bio is concise yet powerful: "If you have a body, you are an athlete." This simple message speaks to Nike's brand mission and resonates with their target audience.

2. Glossier - This beauty brand's Instagram bio highlights their clean, minimalist aesthetic and their focus on inclusivity: "Beauty inspired by real life. For a Glossier take on beauty, visit us at @glossier."

3. Ben & Jerry's - The popular ice cream company uses their Instagram bio to promote their values and social mission, while also showcasing their products: "Peace, Love & Ice Cream. Link in bio to take action with us!"

4. Away - The travel brand uses their Instagram bio to highlight their unique selling proposition (USP) and to showcase their products: "First class luggage at a coach price. Designed to make travel seamless."

5. Lululemon - The activewear brand uses their Instagram bio to promote their brand values and to encourage followers to join their community: "Our purpose is to elevate the world by unleashing the full potential within every one of us. Let's get there together."

Host a giveaway

One effective way to grow your audience on Instagram is to host a giveaway. Giveaways can increase brand awareness, organic engagement, and drive more people to your profile by encouraging likes, comments, and shares. In fact, one study found that giveaways help Instagram accounts grow 70% faster in just three months. To maximize the engagement for your giveaway, consider partnering with another brand to offer a joint prize, as Oat Haus and Califia Farms did in the example provided.

Use geotags

If you have a physical location for your small business, it's a good idea to use geotags in your Instagram posts to provide location data and help users find your business. Instagram also organizes posts with a particular geotag under a searchable tab, allowing users to see all the posts from that location. By contributing to the geotag, you can give people an idea of what to expect when they visit your business. For example, if you own a restaurant, you can use your geotag to showcase menu items or give a sense of the dining atmosphere.

Tap into user-generated content

Content creation is a central part of Instagram marketing, but it can be challenging to generate ideas, take photos or videos, and post consistently. One solution is to use user-generated content (UGC), which is content created and posted by Instagram users, often in the form of an image or video featuring your product or business. To find UGC, you can search through posts that you are tagged in or look for content using your geotag. Many brands, like self-care brand Chillhouse, repost customer photos that align with their overall Instagram content. Using UGC can help you save time and resources while also engaging with your audience.

Run Instagram promotions

To encourage people to follow your business on Instagram, consider offering exclusive promotions for followers. These could include discount codes that can be used in-person or online when shopping. To make the promotion feel even more exclusive, you can share the code in your Instagram Stories, which disappear after 24 hours. Offering promotions gives followers a reason to stay engaged and look forward to your future posts, which helps build brand loyalty. Additionally, exclusive promotions can be a powerful way to incentivize people to follow your business on Instagram.

Engage with influencers

Influencers can be highly effective at building trust with their followers and promoting products or services. In fact, 37% of consumers trust social media influencers more than brands. If you have room in your marketing budget, you may want to consider partnering with an influencer for sponsored content. As a small business, it may be best to work with micro-influencers, who have around 10,000 followers or fewer. They are often more relatable to your audience and can generate more engagement than influencers with hundreds of thousands of followers. Collaborating with influencers can be a valuable way to reach a new audience and promote your business on Instagram.

Make your posts shopable

If you have an e-commerce business, Instagram's shopping features can be a valuable tool for reaching engaged shoppers. Each month, 130 million people use Instagram's shopping features, so it's worth taking advantage of these commerce tools to reach even a portion of this audience. Instagram Shopping allows you to set up a shop on your profile and add product tags to your posts, making it easy for followers to browse and purchase products directly through the app. Brands like outdoor brand Kammok use this feature to showcase their products on Instagram. By making your posts shoppable, you can make it easy for followers to purchase your products and drive sales through the platform.

Experiment with reels

Instagram has introduced a number of new features in recent years, including Stories, Lives, and Reels. Reels are short videos that can be creatively edited and compiled to tell a story. Here are a few ideas for using Instagram 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 your brand

• Introduce team members

• Give a tour of your physical space (office, storefront, restaurant, etc.)

Experimenting with Reels can be a fun and effective way to engage your audience and showcase your business on Instagram.

Track your metrics

To understand the effectiveness of your Instagram marketing strategy, it's important to track and measure your metrics. You can use Instagram's native insights or a variety of free and paid analytics tools to do this. Make sure you have a set of metrics that you want to track and a plan to evaluate their success. The metrics you choose should be tied to your goals. For example, if your goal is to drive more traffic to your website, you might want to track your Instagram link clicks to see how they compare to your site traffic. Analyzing your metrics can help you understand how well your Instagram marketing strategy is performing and make informed decisions about how to optimize it.