Instagram Guide for Local Business Owners for Better Traffic and ROI!
Instagram is an effective platform for local businesses. However, most local business owners are still not sure on how to connect and reach out to their targeted audience. This post will guide local businesses on how to optimize their business profiles effectively!
What do local business owners think about Instagram?
If you are the owner of a local business, you may think that Instagram is not the best place for a business like yours. There is a common misconception that Instagram is only for large companies that have a strong brand presence in the market or a company that has over one million followers in the market. This is wrong. You do not have to be a large e-commerce company or a business with operations in every nation to be on Instagram. You can be on Instagram and get success in the market like the rest if you are aware of how to use it properly for your business!
What do the experts say?
Instagram is not just for bigger brands. Experts say that there are over one billion active users every month, and the interesting part is many users are right in your area passing by your business establishment daily. When you promote your business daily, you can connect to a targeted audience who is searching for you. You can increase foot traffic to your business and reach out to a whole new targeted audience provided you do the Instagram marketing right!
Now, the question is- how do you use Instagram correctly for promoting your local business?
The following are the key steps for you to follow when it comes to promoting your local business on Instagram-
- Word-of-mouth marketing
Local and traditional businesses like your bank on word-of-mouth marketing for their business. For example, if you are a small local business that sells hand-crafted furniture for homes, you target local customers who buy products from you. If they are happy, they share their satisfaction with their friends and family. In this way, you will get new customers. Instagram works similarly to your local business. When a customer buys a product from your store, he or she might post a photo on their Instagram profile tagging your business page. In this way, their page followers are able to see the post and get to know about your local business. This, in turn, opens up a new audience base for you, and it goes beyond the local audience in your area. Technically, these photos that are tagged by your users are known as user-generated content, and they exist as social proof for your business. Instagram guide for businessexperts say that social media users look out for user-generated content before they decide to purchase from local businesses. In order to use more user-generated content for your business, you need to ask your happy customers for it. If your customers are satisfied, they willingly share this content with you, and you can post it for other users on your Instagram business page. Make sure that you show your customers some love by sharing their posts on your profile.
- Participating with community members
If you are a small business, it is crucial for you to be part of the community and actively attend and participate in local functions and events. If you wish to promote your local business on your Instagram business, ensure that you participate with the Instagram community in your business niche online. When you build an online community for your local business so that your audience feels like they are an integral part of something. You need to actively participate with the community to establish strong and positive relationships with consumers within the community.
Online experts in Instagram marketing state that when you post on Instagram, you begin a conversation with the audience. For example, if you are the owner of an ice cream store, ask your followers to leave a comment on your profile with their favorite ice cream flavor. Note that you should not just ask them, but you should interact with them by liking and replying to their comments. The secret to the success of your local business is to engage your customers more and more.
Besides interacting with customers in the community interact with the other business owners in the community as they might be your direct competition, but you can share good relations with them as well. Ensure that you join in local conversations with the other local business owners so that you are able to introduce your establishment to their users as well.
Add a personal touch to your business
People do not merely trust businesses; they are likely to trust a business that has a face. Your visual content is the face of your business, so focus on posting good quality content. In this way, you are able to trust your local business and know that your brand is reliable. You should post pictures of yourself and your employees so that people can open up to trust your business. You do not have to be attractive in order to invoke the trust and confidence of the targeted audience. Smile and be confident, your face to your business will indeed go the extra mile for gaining the trust and credibility you deserve for your local small business unit.
Therefore, if you are a small local business and wish to increase your Instagram targeted audience base, keep the above points in mind. They will help you gain a competitive edge in the market and invoke confidence in the present and future customers with success. Post regularly and always use good quality visual content with the right hashtags and call to action captions for increasing traffic and profits for your local small business with success!