Social Media ‘Must do’s’ for your business on Instagram.

You might be just starting out with a brand new business venture or just looking for some ways to create a great feed and grow your following, these ‘Social Media Must Do’s’ are perfect starting points to ensure you’re using Instagram the best way you can for your business.

KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE 〰️

Understanding your audience should be seen as the foundations of your content and something you should have in the back of your mind when you’re planning what to post. Who are you aiming your content at? Why do they follow you? What are their interests/hobbies? What are their pain points? At first it may take some serious thinking when creating content, but it will become second nature and eventually you’ll know exactly what your audience want to see.

USE A CONTENT CALENDAR AND PLAN AHEAD 〰️

Although it may seem like a big task at first, you’ll thank yourself for it in the long run (trust me). Create a content calendar where you can keep track of important dates in the year (national and business) so you stay relevant with what you’re posting. I like to use Google Sheets so that it’s easy to edit and I never have to worry about losing it as it’s automatically saved online (life saver).

Once you have your dates in the calendar with ideas of new content for the next month, schedule images in advance using a scheduling app. My favourites are Later and Planoly, both of which you can get as an app on your phone… so no excuses hehe.

CONSISTENCY IS KEY 〰️

I am not one to talk when it comes to posting consistently each week. Well… I do for my clients but I slack when it comes to my own Instagram. Find your level of ‘consistent’ whether that be 3, 4 or 7 times a week and stick to it (as best you can). Not only for your audience and growing your following but to keep the IG algorithm happy with your account. It’s important to show up on IG every day whether that be on your feed, stories, DM’s or just engaging with your followers, it will only help you in the long run to make sure your content is getting out to as many people as possible.

WRITE QUALITY CAPTIONS 〰️

Ok, so maybe not every caption can be paragraphs of valuable words… BUT keep the one liner captions to a minimum and give your followers content they will value. Don’t forget to end each caption with a call to action – This can be a question, a link to your website or maybe you’re asking them to slide into your DM’s (not judging).

USE ALL THE TAGS 〰️

Are you utilising all 3 types of ‘tags’ on your posts? Tagging relevant accounts, geo-tagging and not forgetting hashtagging. I won’t go on a huge spiel about why you should be doing all 3 as I have an Instagram post explaining more about it.
But, if you can just do one today…

You have a 30 hashtag limit on each photo, USE IT! You can post them in the comments section so you don’t have them cluttering up your caption. Hashtags are a great way to improve your reach.

MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A COHESIVE FEED 〰️

There is no such thing as perfect, but you can try and get pretty damn close. The best way to stay cohesive is to stick to your brand colours and fonts, use similar edits on your images to keep an overall aesthetic and plan ahead! Put your images into a scheduling app so you can mix up the order and make sure you’re happy with the overall look before it goes live.

ENGAGE ENGAGE ENGAGE 〰️

Build a connection with your followers and engage with their content. Reply to comments, ask more questions, get to know them a little more. It will help you understand what your followers want to see from you as well as improving your engagement rate for future posts. Establish that connection and they will feel like they can comment on future posts and have a good conversation by doing so.
Not forgetting to engage with those who you follow as well, it’s a great way to get new people to find your account and to support those who inspire you daily.

It takes (a lot of) time to grow your audience and a platform people come back to. So keep it up and stay inspired.
Creating a detailed strategy for your business’ social media platforms can be time-consuming to say the least, so if you’re looking for some extra help so you can concentrate on other areas of your business… drop me an email at hello@psocialstudio.co.uk.