By TE Cunningham & Sofia Thompson

Social media can seem overwhelming to the small business owner just starting out. If you don’t have a marketing employee to take the reins for you, here are some brief guidelines to get you started.

Create your Instagram profile and fill out every possible field. Choose all tabs that make sense for your business to have the most robust page possible.

Make sure all graphics, especially your Instagram profile pic, are consistent in your branding. We recommend a logo bug for the profile pic; make sure your entire logo shows in the box if you choose to do that instead.

Turn on Instagram Insights. This tool provides data on follower actions and demographics and measures campaigns and the performance of individual posts.

Audience at a Glance:

Who is using it in the US?

116 Million Users

18-24-year old’s account for 30% of all users, and 25-34-year old’s account for 35% of all users. Currently, 51% of users are female, and 49% are male, making the user gender almost equal. 33% of users have a high school education or less, and 43% have a college degree or more. Also, 43% of users live in rural areas while 33% live in urban areas (Source: socialmediadata.com).

Now you are ready to start posting; here are some quick tips:

Number of Posts Per Week:  3-4 Times per Week

Although it is recommended to post on your Instagram feed 2-3 times per week, stories can be published more frequently. Also, do not post more than 1x per day.

Best Posting Times:

The best time to post on your Instagram account is between 10 AM & 3 PM. However, the day of the week you post can also affect your engagement. Typically, before work, during lunch and after work are good rules of thumb.

Best Posting Days:

Consider posting to your Instagram on Tuesdays because users stay active & engage with content for almost 13 hours (8 AM to 9 PM), and Sunday is the lowest-performing day.

Types of Content:

It’s all about photos, compelling graphics and video. Sharing content featuring your products engagingly will help promote your business and drive sales on Instagram.

When photographing products for your feed, you want to avoid making them look like ads. Ideally, you’re showcasing your products in an aspirational yet relatable setting that your audience can picture themselves in.

Consider implementing videos into your social media to help your platforms stand out. In general, many brands lack the use of video on their social media, especially Instagram. The content you decide to create is up to you, and some potential video examples include customer testimonials, brand storytelling, product videos, Q&As and more.

Carousel posts are a feature that allows users to upload multiple videos or images into a single post so that followers can scroll through each slide and see different media.

There are multiple ways to play around with this feature, including:

  • Displaying numerous variations and ways to use a product
  • Offering various related products, each with its product tag
  • Showing up to 10 pictures taken during an event
  • Communicating a step-by-step tutorial on a product

Special Features:

  • Convert customers with product tags – Instagram stickers and tags are a great way to encourage users to purchase directly through Instagram posts or stories. For example, users can click on product tags to gain more information about a particular product, including its price or name. A second click on this tag will take them directly to the site to purchase the item.
  • Another popular tactic used on Instagram is to encourage followers to tag a friend in the post’s comment section. This approach is usually used for contests or giveaways and will encourage followers to tag friends who might relate to the content on your page or like the product you are promoting.
  • If you are looking to gain some attention or extra credibility for your brand quickly, try partnering with influencers. It’s often more realistic to start small, even if they only have tens of thousands of followers. These influencers will be trusted by their audiences and more likely to collaborate with small businesses.

Hopefully, this will get you on the road to your business’s social media success. If you feel overwhelmed by content creations, posting schedules and most of all, time commitments, we can help! Contact us at tlcmarketingconsultants.com today!