Social Media is all about making connections. What better and faster way to tell someone about your business than through beautiful and engaging photos? As they say, a picture is worth 1,000 words so share pictures of your products on the social media photo-sharing platform Instagram to communicate and make new connections.
With 400 million users, Instagram is one of the leading photo-sharing platforms. It's founded on the idea of free photo uploads and storage, with built-in filters to make any picture look better, and the ability to easily share these photos across several other platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Flickr. Although it originated, as many social networks have, for personal use Instagram's appeal for businesses to visually share a product or service has grown. Today, as a subsidiary of Facebook, Instagram even has advertising services for businesses to help you engage with a growing base of photo followers.
Small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) without the marketing staffs of their enterprise-level big brothers may need to decide which social platforms make the most sense for their business before they invest the time. If your business would benefit from visual representation, however, Instagram is the place to be. Think about Landscape Designers, Retail Stores, Restaurants and Bakers, Construction, and a number of other businesses where a picture of your product or service could engage a new customer, or at least for now a follower.
As we've done in our previous posts on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook, we will offer a snapshot of business tips for establishing and using Instagram. We'll also share tips on how to take and post the best pictures possible with your iPhone or Android.
Setting up your profile is a snap. You'll want to set up your account through the mobile app rather than on your PC or Mac—it’s much easier. Like with other social accounts, there's room for a short bio/business write up, link to your website and your phone number. Your profile photo will be small, so make sure your logo is optimized for that or create another image that suits your business.
Capture photos. Start with a straight forward photos that will engage people. A rule of thumb is one great photo per day, two at most, and avoid posting successive pictures such as from an all-day tradeshow; those would be better grouped on a Facebook post.
Expand your spectrum. Add some followers by finding people you may already know and are connected with on other social media platforms. Instagram will start making some suggestions as well. Once you start actively posting, you can be easily found through hashtag streams and gain new followers organically.
Plan and curate your style. Don't approach this social photo-sharing platform haphazardly. When a follower pulls up your Instagram, they will see a curated gallery that should reflect your brand. Make sure your photos are reflecting your image and have a cohesive look and feel. Check out our tips for creating visually appealing images below.
Develop meaningful and relevant hashtags. Similar to Twitter, a set of hashtags that are relevant for your business photos will attract the right followers who could become customers. Best results come from 1 to 3 hashtags (#) in a post.
Take a shot at advertising. You can now advertise with Instagram using your photos, video or set up carousel ads—all with a short text comment and call to action button so you can capture a ready buyer.
Figure 1 - Courtesy of Instagram
Subject: Your subjects are of course your products and services. Think fun shots that highlight how your products or services are used. Adding photos of yourself, your team, or business helps personalize your company: a picture of your office or store front, a staff photo doing something fun, or people at work building, designing or creating.
Composition: Even those who are not experts can follow the rule of thirds to take balanced and interesting photos. If you can't imagine the grid on your phone, you can turn on a grid. You want to make sure your photos are visually appealing, sharp, reflect your brand and with an eye to highlight your subject.
Lighting: Natural light is best. Open windows, let the light shine in. Or, if you need to use inside lighting, be careful of the background and shadows. Move around until you have a good shot, trying angles with flash on and off.
White space: White space can be your friend. Not only will it draw attention to your subject, but it can amplify a feeling or leave space for a message.
Tools: Instagram photos default to a square format, but you can choose to show your full photo rather than cropping to square if you prefer. You can also combine several pictures into one Instagram post with the collage feature. Select the collage format that you want and choose the pictures for each section. This is better than posting several pictures in a row.
Fine tune: Don't just click and post! Be sure your one or two photos per day are really well done. Adjust color, brightness, shadow and maybe add a filter (both your phone and Instagram have built-in filters). You might find one you like and use it consistently for a branded look and feel.
Now you're ready to start sharing your carefully composed and filtered pictures with almost 28 percent of the US. Next up, we'll explore the opportunities that writing blogs can provide for your business.
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Ascentium Capital offers a wide variety of business financing programs including equipment leasing and short-term business loans for anything from new computers or software to equipment that can help you with your move to social.
Contact us today to learn more about how we help businesses like yours.
