One of the most popular social media platforms is Instagram with over 1 billion users engaging with it through photos, videos and captions. Due to this huge user base, businesses have taken notice because of its potential use as a marketing tool for products and services that have an aesthetic aspect to them. With great opportunity comes great responsibility. While there is so much that can be done right, there are also a lot of things that businesses can do wrong that chase away the same customers they hope to reach through Instagram.
No business wants to suffer from ignorance of not knowing what they could have avoided for better Instagram success. In this post, we will let you in on what you should not do or avoid in your journey to Instagram success.
Overuse hashtags
Hashtags are a popular tool that can spread the word about a brand far and wide across Instagram but this can become a poison if poorly used. There are several hashtags that businesses can use but not all are expedient. You may have 30 hashtags at your disposal but you may not need to use all of them. There are better ways to go about using hashtags. 7-10 hashtags are a great start with a mix of a few popular, medium popular and specific hashtags. If you struggle with generating hashtags, you could use a hashtag generator like Task Ant, which provides you with the most popular and effective offerings for each of your posts. This will effectively push the brand message on the platform without overwhelming users with too many hashtags that often create confusion about the brand. Too many cooks spoil the broth?
Don’t have a private profile
Social media was created for one major purpose… to connect. A private account makes it difficult for people looking to connect with you to find you. Unless the account is et up for personal reasons, it is in the best interest of the business account to be open to public viewing. That way, followers can easily browse through the account where they will find information that will help them get to know what your business is about. If they find something interesting to them, they may even follow your account and engage it. who knows where that will lead? Business maybe?
Having a bad profile picture
Aesthetics is the name of the game on Instagram. All the photos and videos posted have one motive and that is to look as appealing as possible to the target audience in order to reel them in. A bad profile picture can sabotage an Instagram account. Instagram pictures become poor for a number of reasons including having too many people in the photo and shrinking that happens to photos when formatted poorly on Instagram. Users can avoid this issue by using images with great resolution, clear object of focus and a basic background. The busier the image, the more likely it is to turn out poorly.
Only talking abut yourself
It is easy for brands to get caught up in themselves considering the main reason they got onto the platform was to market their product or service. Who can blame them? Business is really competitive but that is not how things work on Instagram. Humans want to connect with the human aspect of businesses in order to build trust and familiarity before dedicating their time and finances to the brand. It is helpful for businesses to create content that is compelling, visually attractive and engaging to catch the attention of the users they are targeting. Such content can include thoughtful quotes, body positivity and inclusivity o all races and tribes to create a harmonious atmosphere for all types of users.
Not using stories
Instagram offers videos in form of stories that users can use to post relevant content. 500 million users use stories everyday so businesses need to be aware about how to use them to their advantage, and to generate more Instagram followers. content for stories is expected to grow so it s a great opportunity for brands that want to increase their following with those that enjoy stories.
Conclusion
The don’ts of Instagram will keep businesses from suffering unnecessary punishment for misusing Instagram. Avoiding the pitfalls that come with the above factors will help businesses create an Instagram account that will be both relevant to users, draw them in, introduce them to the brand and its offering and hopefully, convert them into customers.
