Ways to increase sales with Instagram

With the growing buzz of social media, one cannot ignore the role of Instagram. Facebook was the first digital media platform, and it is quite sometime after that Instagram had laid its foot in the industry. Instagram was initially only about pictures with a tag line. It was Instagram that brought it the wave of hashtags. Without videos and long posts, Instagram still managed to have a stronghold over the platform among the people.

Currently with IGTV and hashtags and followers, one also needs to focus on building sales using the features it offers. With numerous brands in the market, it is easy to get swept with the number of followers ignoring the main purpose of starting a business. Instagram is a strong platform that gives businesses. In such a case, you will come across real as well as authentic followers. One can buy followers or send spam messages to present a decent page but it will not generate good sales.

Instead of focusing on spam messages and generating followers one should focus on influencing genuine followers who would yield a good number of sales. One can follow some basic tips that would work on the same line.

Set up a business account

Yes, the Instagram handle can be a personal account as well as a business account. One of the reasons you might not be generating enough sales is due to the mixing up of the above two accounts. If the page seems personal with your private pictures or travel images, customers would get disinterested. Focus on sticking to purely professional accounts and share images and quotes relating to it. If you have already created one, you can easily switch profiles and add a link to DM that would lead customers to make a purchase.

Once you have set your business page, welcome the followers using the bio section and include information that would lead them to action. Phone number, address, online shopping link or any incentive you are willing to provide can all be added in the bio.

Highlight albums are another feature that you could use for new products, sale products and more. With engaging covers, you can attract more future customers. This section is strategically placed on the top to attract Instagrammers. They get to see the latest addition once they land on the page.

Focus on the photos

Instagram is all about pictures. Select a theme and post pictures that your products are related to. Irrelevant images will get the customers disinterested in the page. Also simultaneously learn how to click and post images. As this media is all about visuals, a social media marketing company can teach you ways to become presentable and photograph your products so that they look attractive.

Show off your brands culture

Create a brand culture by building a storyboard using some lifestyle shots. This will show people why your company is trustworthy and appealing. In this way, they will feel connected to the brand and will be able to spend freely. Another way to illustrate the brand culture is to make them feel needed for the product of your offer. Adding branded elements to the profile will represent the company. Shake Shack is one such example that posts images that narrate a story.

Incorporate hashtags

Instagram was the one that started up with hashtags that help multiply your message by reaching a larger audience. When a particular brand hashtag is used by the audience, the images pop up relating to the brand. This neglects the generalized hashtags that can be used by other competitive brands. The long-tail or combined hashtag is a good idea in such a case. You can gauge the popularity of your brand by creating few such hashtags.

Run contests

Digital Marketing services in Hyderabad highly recommend contests to generate sales on Instagram. When you run a contest, you are generating loyal customers who would buy from you shortly. Once you give away prizes to the winners, it will generate a loyal image.  Brand recognition, engagement is all possible when you run contests online. You can create different types of contests.

Like to Win- the most common type wherein you share the image and tag a few of your friends.

Email- in this you send in your email and the selected one wins the contest.

Hashtag- submit your photo using the hashtag provided below.

The last one is the most favored as followers get to become innovative. They show off their unique style and your product gets promoted at the same time.

Respond to customers

Though you have numerous followers and would be generating multiple queries throughout the day. But if your followers are having any queries, it is your sole responsibility to answer them within a bar of 24 hours. This will show your promptness towards the brand and the value you have towards your future customers.

Commenting is another section that Instagram offers. Taking advantage of this will keep the customers engaged. Sending them DM on social media will also give you a one on one interaction opportunity. Your follower who in turn also have a good amount of followers can be your prospects. Contacting them to share your business page will help you get more eyes.

Instagram started as a social media platform to share images. Cutting off the long stories and writing, it came as visual relief. It is been a decade since it started and ever since it has been rising with the number of Instagrammers. With over 500 million active users, it is now a gold mine of potential customers. One of the reasons being, online sales. People willing to do business online found this as a viable platform to share and post images.

When used in the right way, Instagram can offer prospects. The long list of users and followers list when trimmed down, it will generate a genuine list of customers which will be easy to focus on. marketers will also get to focus on people who are genuinely interested in their brand. Users, on the other hand, get to see products or profile that they are interested in. the focus will be to buy from those profiles only.