With Instagram crossing more than 500 million daily active users, it is a social media network that no business can afford to ignore. According to statistics, 90% of people on Instagram follow a business, and 2 in 3 people surveyed say Instagram enables interaction with brands. These can be comments, DMs, poll votes, and likes. All these forms of engagement promote your profile within the platform with no budget. All you need are just quality unique content, a dedicated follower base, and an active profile with the buzz of likes and comments.
However, some businesses seem to be consistently succeeding in leveraging the power of Instagram while many others seem to be clueless as to why they are not getting a decent ROI. The difference could be some common mistakes that they need to be aware of and avoid.
Instagram Not a Good Fit For Every Business
Not every marketing channel is necessarily a good fit for your business and so it is important to examine whether Instagram is something that your business can take advantage. A visually-oriented social media network, Instagram is particularly suited to consumer and lifestyle products. It may not be suited to B2B businesses dealing with industrial items or SaaS businesses at the enterprise level. Even if you were to use Instagram, it may be wiser to drive brand awareness on it rather than expecting sales.
Buying Fake Engagement
Building a follower base of a decent size can be an arduous process for most businesses and it can be very easy to succumb to the temptation of buying followers. Even though the agency may well deliver 10,000 new followers for a pittance, you will not get any meaningful engagement from them, as they are fake accounts. There is no merit in a business spending money on something that will not do its brand or bottom-line any good. If you do want to build on the number of real Instagram likes, it is better to engage agencies that have access to real Instagram users who will follow and genuinely interact with you.
Involving Too Many Steps to Convert
Even when you have set up your Instagram account with great content and have engaged followers, you may still see conversion being below par simply because you have put in too many steps for the user to complete before he can make a transaction. You need to appreciate that the Internet and social media are notoriously impatient and every extra hoop that you make them pass through results in potential customers dropping off. Keeping the checkout process simple is even more important for mobile users who are struggling to transact on the go and a far smaller screen.
Focusing Only On Sales
You must never forget that Instagram users want to be entertained, inspired, or even educated through beautiful images and videos. If you are constantly urging them to buy something or the other, it can irritate them and lead them to reject you. Rather, you should focus on getting under their skin with great content that they will find useful and entertaining without being very pushy about your products and services. According to https://www.sendible.com, offering a glimpse of behind-the-scenes activities of your business is great for making audiences feel special.
Conclusion
Using Instagram to woo customers can be radically different from the tactics used on conventional media. Businesses must focus on targeting the right audiences and then engage with them with content that appeals to them. Forcing the issue by buying followers, including complicated steps to conversion or being too pushy can serve to drive potential customers away.
