With one billion monthly users and 81% of users turning to Instagram to help research products and services, there’s no doubt the platform should have a place in your marketing strategy. 

But, if you have a small or non-existent marketing team, it can be hard to give your Instagram account the time and strategy it needs to be successful. Here, we offer you seven ways to use Instagram efficiently to market your business.

Utilize Instagram stories 

Did you know? Five-hundred million people use Instagram Stories every day, with 1/3 of the most-viewed stories coming from businesses, according to HootSuite. Let that sink in for a minute.

The great thing about stories is that they can be simple and fun, and get you in front of your audience frequently. Instagram stories are also an easy way to share quick and improvised moments that you don’t want to live forever on your profile—and aren’t overly time-consuming to create. And, they provide a fun way to show your personality, which you may keep more subdued in your regular posts.

And once you build up your repertoire of stories, take advantage of story highlights! Highlights are permanently displayed on your profile page and are a good way to show off any products or services you may offer, a more in-depth bio about yourself than the profile offers, and so much more.

Cross-post 

You can share both posts and stories you create on Instagram to Facebook. This provides you with the potential to increase engagement with less effort…a huge win if you’re short on time. However, it is important to keep in mind each platform’s best practices and adjust your message accordingly for the most successful outcome.

Stay organized

Think about the last time you had to look through a mess to find something. How long did it take? A staggering 87% of workers say that something as simple as a cluttered workspace negatively affects their productivity. The same applies to your technical workspace. Employees without a digital asset management system spend five times longer looking for assets. Utilize an asset library to keep your content for social platforms and the web organized to save time and money.

Use Hashtags and Tag Your Location

Ah, the hashtag. While it may be the center of many jokes and even a bit of controversy, the fact is, if you’re not using hashtags in your Instagram posts, you are missing out on capturing the attention of a larger audience. Research hashtags that are relevant in and specific to your industry and use them! This makes your posts searchable by tag-followers and allows other users to find your content more easily.

And, don’t forget to tag your location. Posts with a tagged location result in 79% higher engagement than posts without a tagged location. This is an easy way to reach more users with little effort. 

Know the Best Times to Post

You can share incredibly creative posts on a daily basis, but if no one sees them, your efforts will be in vain. For the best return on your time investment, it is important to know when users are online and engaging with Instagram posts. To start with, be sure to look at your particular industry since followers of different markets have different patterns. Then once your account has a large enough following, keep an eye on your insights to determine the best days and times to post. 

Run a contest or giveaway

Here’s some food for thought: businesses that run contests grow their followings 70% faster than those that don’t. Instagram contests and giveaways are not only easy to run, but they’re a very cost- and time-effective way to extend your social reach and increase engagement in all of your posts. In fact, contest-related posts garner 64 times more comments and 3.5 times more likes when compared to an “average” post. Just be sure you follow Instagram’s guidelines.

Consider running a paid campaign

Last but not least, don’t overlook the potential that a paid ad on Instagram has for your business! The truth is, social media has and will continue to become increasingly pay-to-play. But, regardless of the size of your budget, using the ad services can bring in results. According to HootSuite, 75% of Instagram users take action on an Instagram ad and 130 million users to tap on shopping posts every month. With stats like that, it is well worth allocating some funds and analyzing how they perform.

If you’re not sure where to start with Instagram, you’re not alone. But, if you follow these guidelines we’ve laid out for you, you will save time while implementing your Instagram marketing strategy with success. Want more advice on where to focus your marketing efforts? Schedule your free consultation today.