Fashion
Retail businesses often don’t know where to start when it comes to getting an Instagram account set up for their sites. However, there are a number of great things you can do to ensure you start off on the right foot.
So you wish to gain more followers for your Instagram account? These tips are here to help
Make a Brand Story to Connect with People
Instagram was created to help users connect with others things they are interested in. Keep in mind that the brand is not just the object that it is meant to sell and Instagram is one of the best places to bring that out. One of the ways to take advantage of Instagram is to share photos that embody the brand lifestyle. Do not limit yourself to sharing photos of only your products.
These photos showing the lifestyle represented by your brand will help in enhancing the appeal of your brand to potential customers who may not necessarily have looked at the photo of your products and help them show how your brand fit in their lives.
This is not the only benefit of sharing photos other than your products. Do not forget that Instagram personalizes their users’ feed. The new update of the app has also made it more difficult for brands to show the users things they don’t like by updating the timeline style to the best comes first from chronological. In other words, it also means that your photos will have the potential to get more likes and appear in the feeds of more followers in case you are successful in showing what your brand represents.
Instagram Was Created to Connect with Others
Share with others the inside photo of your shops and how the products are being made. Instagram service Vibbi advises that you share pictures of your CEO working. Help your customers connect with you. Your customers are also interested in knowing the people behind the company. Sharing their efforts through high-quality images can be used for showing what your company stands for. For instance, if your company likes to do good deeds or donate, these should be shared on your Instagram.
Young consumers these days also find it important to give back. Take the example of Toms. While this tip may seem similar to the tip given above, the major difference is that the above mentioned tip is focused on showing what your brand represents whereas this tip is more about giving a human face to your company and brand.
Take Advantage of the Events
One of the best ways to take advantage of Instagram is to take advantage of the big events such as the World Cup or Fashion Week. Share some images which tie your brand to these events. For instance, a hat shop can certainly take advantage of the Kentucky Derby Day by sharing photo of their employees wearing different types of hats to #DerbyDay. In simple terms, the end goal is to connect with the audience on the platform and clearly showing your followers your place in their world.
Use the Existing Foundation to Grow Your Fan Base
Use your existing fans to grow the number of followers. Ask them to post photos with items they have already bought from you. This will lead to their friends seeing your brand in their feed and they will be curious to know what’s up and if they find your feed interesting, they may also follow you. In other words, it will boost your brand’s credibility as the reviews are very important.
Another way to use your existing fans is to organize promotional contests on Instagram. Ask your existing customers to share photos of the products they have bought from your store with a certain hashtag and also to tag your store. Give an awesome prize to the chosen winner.
Location Tags and Hashtags Are a Must
You will get many more views on your feed if you regularly use location tags and hashtags, especially if they are relevant. Do search for hashtags with around 500 to 1000 posts. It should have enough posts which means people are looking at the feed with this hashtag but the posts should be limited as overwhelming number of posts may lead to your post being lost in the sea of all the other posts.
Hashtags are also great because it makes everyone searching for that hashtag a potential customer and not just the people who are already aware of your brand. For instance, a user from India who has never known me or known someone who knows me can also find me by searching for a specific hashtag feed that also includes my post.
Instagram for Retail
Have fun with hashtags and break them down. For instance, break up #bohostyle in to #style and #boho. It’s fine even if it looks repetitive. Also, mix specific hashtags with generic hashtags. As a clothing retailer, using generic hashtags such as #style in your posts will help you get maximum views but using specific hashtags such as #beachdress will also get you views from people who are interested in that particular hashtag.
Location tags are extremely important for brick and mortar stores. With the help of location tags, people near your store (who are currently looking at their location feed which includes all the posts from places near that user) will also be able to find you. Location tags may inspire a customer who is sipping coffee next door to drop in to your store and by that thing they just looked at. Using location tags also puts your location in the customers’ heads.
Your Profile Should Be Consistent and Close to the Store Name
By having a consistent profile, you will make it easy for fans to find you on Instagram. Also, once they have located you on Instagram, it will be easier for them to find your brand on Facebook, Twitter and other places in case you use the same bio, photo and username.
