Are you on Instagram? For me personally, Instagram is my go-to social media platform. I check it before any other account and I do so multiple times a day.
The reason I love Instagram (and millions of others too) is it’s extremely easy to use with minimal features. Being that it’s a photo and video mobile application, I find myself more drawn to the content because I’m such a visual person; I think most of us are.
But there’s great advantages for marketers too. Instagram is one of the best platforms for reaching a younger audience (18-34) and allows you to connect through pictures and videos, showcasing your store and products in a more personal way, which consumers typically respond to and engage with.
If you’re using Instagram to market, below are three post types that will create action and grab your follower’s attention. If you’re new to Instagram, or looking to really leverage this platform, check out this month’s course in Social Edge featuring 8 training videos on this topic.
1. One-of-a-kinds and limited quantities. Want to have a customer call or come into your store today….like right now? Creating urgency is a known marketing tactic, but doing so on a platform like Instagram gets someone off their phone and into your store to buy. This is the best way to reach someone because Instagram is a mobile application, meaning someone who is looking at your post is on their phone and they can easily call or stop in, especially if they’re running errands near by.
Just post a picture (or video) of the item, list how many you have left, a product description and the price. Include your phone number in the caption and encourage people to come in or call before they’re gone. I suggest doing this if you have three or less items available.
2. New items. Customers want to know what’s new, period. You’re doing yourself and your customers a disservice by not sharing this information as soon as it happens to as many channels as you use to market.
Use a tool like Diptic to feature several new items in one picture and add text on top of the photo calling out these are new times You could also do a video, taking 1-second video of each new items and upload the full 15-second video, which will feature several new times quickly. Check out this example from the Gap.
3. Behind-the-scenes. One of the reasons social media works so well for businesses is because it’s a more humanized marketing approach. It allows us to show pictures of ourselves, our staff and talk directly to customers by having a conversation, which we can’t do in a print ad.
This style of marketing is much more relatable and helps us create trust in the company through conversations that lead to relationships. And we all know we buy from people we know, like and trust.
Try posting a picture of your staff taking new items out of boxes when you get in new shipments. Post a funny photo of the staff exhausted after a busy holiday sale or try posting pictures of the staff setting up for an event, pictures/video during the event and a picture of the entire staff cheers-ing to a successful event.
Including photos of your local area helps build the relationship, too. Show your favorite coffee place or lunch spot you suggest followers to try. If you’re traveling, let’s say to a wholesale market, take pictures asking your network if they like the items you’re picking out for them. Take a picture of the city you’re in and ask followers if they’ve ever been there before.
With behind-the-scenes photos, it’s about getting to know you and the history of the store and shouldn’t be all about products and sales. People will respond to these type of posts, as they’re typically the most engaged with photos on social platforms, especially on Instagram.
If you’re looking to really understand how to use Instagram to market your store, consider joining Social Edge to work through this month’s training course: Instagram for Retailers. Learn more here.
Lock in the current low rate of $47/month or $470/year. Starting on April 14th the prices will be $95/month or $995/year.
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