If you’re a business that markets direct to consumers, there’s not much doubt as to whether you should be on Instagram. Of course you should. There’s over 700 million people on there. A billion photos are being shared each day. It’s difficult to be heard in that melée, but if you’re not being seen in all that, then you’re not trying hard enough.
That’s the theory, anyway. And, for many companies, that need to be seen results in a frenzied attempt to mimic the over-styled, sun-drenched aesthetic of the big influencers on that platform. Every day has a gorgeous sunset, a cute puppy and a blue swimming pool in it, rather than a half-eaten sausage roll and raindrops chasing each other down the window.
As Instagram is such a visual format, you’ll find plenty of advice out there on getting the aesthetics right, developing guidelines for others to follow, editing images and using filters, colour coding your images to match your brand identity…
Now there is some merit in that. Having a brand where the photography is in line with the corporate aesthetic makes sense. Making your photographs look nice makes sense. Making it all look like it comes from the same people makes sense. And if you are offering tourist activities, then by all means make the destinations look fabulous. You are encouraging purchase after all. The problem is that when your competitors are also trying to match that same Insta aesthetic you end up in a generic place of perfect competition where one cool blue, faux-nostalgic shot of the Big Ben looks the same everywhere. The missing element? Reality.
Remember that to succeed, your brand has to be sincere and authentic. Trying to create a vision of something you aren’t will, in the end, backfire. And that’s especially true if your brand is an experiential one. Whatever you post needs to bear some reality to what tourists, students or visitors will get when they come to you. By all means, tidy up. By all means, show yourself at your best… but show yourself, not a version that is so doctored from reality as to be either unrecognisable or generic.
And that will make you distinctive. There is only one company quite like yours, only one set of people quite like the ones you work with. They are all part of the things that make you distinctive. Adopting the Instagram obsession with perfection just irons out all those differences and makes it nigh on impossible to stand out. That’s the trouble with perfection on this platform - there’s always someone more perfect than you.
So forget the dopamine hits of people doing lifestyle likes and build an Instagram account that has followers who will actually engage with you and who are relevant to the services you offer. They are actually potential customers, rather than people envying a lifestyle. And here are a few additional tips:
Make sure you have a username which is shared by your business - if that’s a long name, then shorten it a little, but keep it obviously you. If there’s a clash with other businesses, then try and work out a way to make it work, by adding your service or town, for example. Try hard not to add numbers or letters to make yourself unique - if people are searching for you, then having an account name that matches the business is key. And make sure the profile image is recognisably you too.
Have a link in your bio to landing pages on your website - driving traffic through Instagram is hard enough without maximising that link. It’s worth setting up a landing page especially, rather than just sending everyone to the homepage, which may be a bit too corporate. If your Instagram page tends to be about certain aspects of your services, then create a page that matches that, or matches the demographic profile of your followers (they tend to be younger than Facebook followers, for example, but that’s changing).
Never forget to use captions on your photos and videos. Don’t ‘let the picture speak for itself’. Because, quite often, it doesn’t, if you don’t provide context.
Keep that content consistent. Set a few rules - post regularly (but not obsessively), maybe twice a day (using scheduling tools if it's easier), and try and post to a manageable range of topics, which are about what you do and who you are - keep it to products, services and people. If you have an office dog, then use him by all means, but don’t post pictures of the boss’ partner’s budgie. Just stick to the things you do and how you do them. Keep it relevant - make sure people remember why they followed you in the first place.
Measure what works in terms of the time of day that generates engagement and especially the content - but remember the purpose too. That office dog may generate the most likes, but if you’re not a pet shop, it might not be much use. Don’t thirst for RTs - there’s a balance between what’s engaging and what’s relevant to your core business.
Connect with other (relevant) users. Use their Instagram handles in captions and comment and respond to them when they comment. Use hashtags which are used by your audience and industry. It’ll help keep you in front of the right people.
In the end, this is a lot of words to simply say - be interesting, be honest and be connected. If you can manage that, you’ll keep your feed in front of the right people, and make them interested in what you do.
And don’t fake it.
Give us a shout if your social media needs a quick audit. We'll tell you what's hot and what's not, where you could best invest your limited time to get more engagement out.
