June 9, 2015

My Two Cents: Pro Tips for a Business Instagram Account

Are you wondering whether or not you need an Instagram account? Do you have one but feel lost using it? Or do you have one and feel good about it but are still curious what other tips might be out there? If any of these ring true to you, read on! Because Instagram is leaving Facebook flailing in the dust…

Getting Your Business Account Up and Running

What you need:

An email address
A short bio
Your website
and a photo to get you started!

Creating an account is easy. Download the app to your phone, create an account, and you’re ready to go! A few beginner tips, though.

Instagram’s filters can be fun for the newbies, but experienced instagrammers won’t be caught dead using an actual instagram filter anymore. Instead, download VSCO cam, Pic-Tap-Go, or Snapseed to edit your photos with. Then upload to instagram without adding any additional filters.
If you’re posting a professional photo, the editing has presumably already been done on your computer, so just go straight to posting on your account. No need for third party editors. You may want to consider using a watermarked photo (totally personal preference).
Keep your profile public. Just like you wouldn’t have a secret business page, keep your Instagram business page easy to find and follow!
Go ahead and start following other businesses, people you admire, friends, etc. Interacting with these and other people will be a key part of maintaining a successful instagram page (think comments, likes, follow-backs, etc).

You’re Account is Established, but You’re Having a Hard Time Engaging People

Alright, time to kick things up a notch! You’ve got your account, you’ve got some content on your page, but the engagement just isn’t there. Well, that’s when it’s important to start utilizing the tools that instagram naturally provides you. So let’s begin:

#HASHTAGS

They exist for a reason, so use them! It’s important to keep in mind not only what your photo is of, but the audience you are trying to reach. So think about,

LOCATION

As a photographer based out of Chicago, I often use hashtags with locations I shoot at: #lincolnpark #chicagobotanicgarden, you get the idea. Other people visiting these areas might also use these hashtags, or lookup these hashtags to see what these places are like, so already that’s extra exposure. You can also mix other things into the location, for example: #chicagophotographer or #NYCseniorphotographer

If you go to the hashtag search area of your account and start typing a hashtag, instagram will show you how many times the hashtag has been used (and therefore how popular it is). Use this to your advantage and find the best hashtags for the reach you want.

Note: One word hashtags can be helpful, but sometimes extremely over-saturated. If it’s a word that is being used so much that your photo will immediately get lost amongst the rest, maybe it’s not going to be that helpful to you.

TYPE OF PHOTO

In addition to the location of the photograph, there’s the photograph itself. What is it of? What feeling does it evoke? Use this to create hashtags that will put it among similar photos, and attract people with similar aesthetics. So look at it, what do you see? For me an example might be #naturallightphotography. If it’s an engagement shoot, then I’d probably do some like #shesaidyes #bridetobe and #happilyeverafter.

VENDORS

Is your bride wearing a Claire Pettibone wedding dress? Or a veil from BHLDN? Not only should you tag them (we’ll talk about this later) but you should hashtag the vendors as well. This will get you extended reach and some of these vendors might even repost your photo to their fans which = huge *free* brand exposure for you.

Here’s an example of my planner that Minted later reposted to their account:

YOUR BUSINESS

Don’t forget to start a hashtag for your business name! That way when someone searches or clicks on that hashtag, they get to see all your work 🙂 I hashtag all my professional photos with #eizaphotography of course! Also hashtag the kind of photographer you are (or other business owner). For example: #familyphotographer (or #familyphotography), #newbornphotographer, you get the idea.

GEO TAGGING AND TAGGING

When you can, use the feature that let’s you name the location the photo was taken. Your photo will automatically show up alongside anyone else that named that location and gets you exposure without even using a hashtag. (Although, still be sure to hashtag the name of the location, too — when relevant).

When you post, you can tag anyone in the photo (or vendors’ products that are in the photo). You can write their instagram handle in the post description so that they’re visible that way, as well. It’s nice to give credit to others and to their work, so tagging and commenting with tags can be a friendly way of spreading the business cheer! A simple photo description like, “Thanks @dancinginkcalligraphy for the cute cards!” will not only show your appreciation, but also encourage followers to click on the name and check them out. Spread the love to others, because it *will* come back 🙂

GIVEAWAYS

These are a fun and easy way to engage your followers and potential followers. There are all sorts of ways to run a giveaway, but in general most people require a few things: follow my account, like my giveaway photo, and often but not always: tag a friend. You can also do giveaways with other people to benefit you both and make the prize doubly awesome. Just keep in mind that giveaways work best once you already have a bit of a following… otherwise it will be hard to get much engagement.

How Often Should I Post and What Types of Photos Are Best?

I’m sure there are about a million opinions out there on this, but here’s my best answer:

Post once (maybe twice) a day, but no more. Five posts a week is good. Post relevant, beautiful photos. If you’re a photographer, post your professional work the most often. People are following you because your a photographer, not because they want to see the new bowls you got on sale at Target. When posting personal photos, try to keep it mostly business oriented. This is a great time for behind-the-scenes photos of you in action. Also show parts of your business we don’t see on a regular basis. This might be your packaging, or your new branding, or a preview of a *secret project* your working on. And when you post a photo, don’t just give a boring description with a million hashtags. Give some emotion, a story, an insight, or something useful in your post.

The more you engage your followers, the more interest your page and posts will receive.

Great! Is There Anything Else I Should Know?

Yes, one more thing! Well, probably lots of other things, but let’s wrap things up with this one. Do you have an Iconosquare account? If not, GET ONE! This will give you analytics for your instagram account. It will show you new followers, lost followers, most popular photos, and all sorts of other info. It’s a nice help to tracking your business page and seeing how people are responding to you.