If your business includes aspects like…
- special events
- behind the scenes moments
- prominent people
- attractive or practical merchandise
- travel landmarks or beautiful places
- nature
- employees who are good at what they do
- animals
- anything that looks good on camera
…then it might be a good idea to use Instagram for business purposes and show it all off!
Instagram is the easiest way to show people what you’re about, and how good you really are at not only your job, but relating to the world, and consequently THEM.
If people enjoy your pictures, subconscious logic tells them that they’re going to like you and that you’re an above-board sort of person because you live life in the open.
Isn’t psychology a beautiful thing?
Here’s how to make Instagram for business a part of your everyday.
- Download the Instagram app from your cell phone’s app store
- Visit this page on your computer for some quick tips to get started
- Click ‘register with email’ – registering with Facebook will link it to your personal account, and you probably want to keep your personal and business page posts separate.
- Fill in your work email, company name as username, and password fields, bypassing the stuff underneath it. Hit the big blue checkmark.
- Click yes when it asks you to find your Facebook friends, you need a base audience after all! Follow all the people you like, and then hit the blue arrow again.
- You may either search for more contacts now or choose ‘not now’ to skip this step. You can always do it later.
- It will now show you suggested people to follow, based on absolutely nothing! This is a completely random list. Click ‘DONE’ unless you see some people that interest you.
- Click the people icon on the far right, and edit your profile to include a photo, a URL and a 150 character description of your business. Copy it from Twitter or Facebook for easy set-up.
And you’re up! To make your first post Instagram post:
- Click the centre square – the camera icon.
- Hit the big blue button to take your first picture and scroll through the various filters to enhance the picture, and then hit the blue arrow.
- If you want to post the picture to your public stream, do nothing. If you want to send it privately, choose ‘Direct’.
- Enter a quick caption, and hit the blue arrow to make your first post!
Now, it’s always best for Facebook algorithm’s purposes to post original posts instead of importing posts from a third party. This means if you’re using Instagram for business, you probably want your pictures reaching as far as possible, so it’s ideal to just go to your gallery, click on the photo, and share it on Facebook instead.
However, if you still want to post your company’s Instagram feed to Facebook or Twitter:
- From the main bar along the bottom, click the people icon. Your profile will show up, and now you can see the three dots along the top. Click those.
- Choose ‘Linked Accounts’. Click ‘Facebook’ and authorize it. The process is the same for Twitter.
Remember, people love a good inside scoop. Whether it’s you accountant running payroll or a new product launch, if you let people in just a little, it’ll break your business wide open.
What to read next: LinkedIn: 5 Little Steps to Free Lead Generation and/or Eternal Glory!
Success always
Deborah x
