Instagram as a Business Tool
Instagram has since established itself as a powerful tool for both small and enterprise businesses. Not only is it the fourth most downloaded app, but it also has 800 million monthly active users – making it the third most popular social network today.
To say that Instagram is invaluable to the world of marketing and business is an understatement. According to this report, 72% of IG users said they purchased a product they saw on the app. As a result, the app’s conversion rate is impressively high at 1.08%.
Interestingly enough, statistics show that a person will spend 8 months on Instagram within their lifetime, averaging about an hour a day. (I know this is a lot of stats, but bear with me on this one because that’s an insane amount of time!) Most businesses have taken advantage of this screen time by investing in quality Instagram engagement.
Instagram Engagement and its Importance
So how exactly do you get from a basic Instagram user to a successful business account turning followers into customers?
Instagram Engagement are the tasks that you accomplish to increase your engagement rates. Unlike counting the number of followers or comments you have on a post, an engagement rate is a much more reliable source of data if your IG account is actually earning you money.
It’s possible for an account to have many followers but none of those actually buy anything. An account can also have hundreds of comments on their posts, but they could just be generic smiley faces that don’t amount to any real engagement.
Having consistent and quality Instagram engagement is the key to turning prospects into customers and keeping current clients happy.
So what do I do?
The no-brainer answer is to actually engage! The first step to IG engagement is to keep a consistent content schedule, and then engaging with your audience within each post.
Instagram offers a lot of ways for you to publish content. You have photos, IG stories, IGTV for longer videos, etc. Each time someone responds to any of your posts, respond! Acknowledge their presence and the time they spent to comment something nice on your post goes a long way. You can also comment on your followers’ stories, tag them in posts, or ask them to tag you in theirs.
Instagram is a powerful business tool, and new features are being introduced every day for businesses. Like a “See More” option in Stories that takes viewers to your products. There are also Instagram ads for targeted and custom audiences which can really help you reach the people where your products matter. At this point, the only downside we can think of is, well, eye strain (just kidding, you don’t have to strain your eyes)!
Overall, building engagement on IG takes a lot of time and effort. If you’re a one-man/woman show, take it as a performance for your business! Treat the app as your actual place of work.
On a plus note, Digital Offsider offers Instagram Active, a service that helps business owners like you engage with your Instagram audience. If you’ve found yourself needing help engaging with an increasing audience, why not give us a quick chat below? We’re only a tap away!