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Instagram is the social media spot for business growth, no matter the industry. It's rapidly become the platform to grow a loyal audience and produce sales for businesses of all sizes. Small businesses especially have been able to build a customer base by creating entertaining and informational content.
As of late, there have been frequent updates and changes to assist business owners with increasing both their audience and sales. The unfortunate part is there are so many changes leaving most business owners confused or unsure of how to utilize Instagram to grow.
In this blog post, we will cover new Instagram updates and features and how to put them to use to boost your engagement and sales.
So, what's new on Instagram?
1. Instagram Reels
This feature has been around for more than a year or so but there are still businesses not taking advantage of the power that reels hold. Instagram reels is a short form video similar to Tik Tok, but it's not just that's, its the #1 form of content Instagram is pushing the most across its platform. The best part of Instagram reels is you have more of an opportunity to reach well beyond your audience.
How do you use Instagram Reels For Business?
Use reels to promote your products or services
Provide information to show your knowledge of your industry/niche
Show how you make a product
Show how you package you products
Show how to use a product or do a thing
How can you get an Instagram Reel to go viral?
While there isn't a definite formula to get a reel to go viral, there are specific techniques you can use to reach a wider audience like:
Using trending sounds in your reels, you will know if a sound is trending if it has an upward arrow next to the audio
Use hashtags! IG recently announced (as of September 2021) that you should only use 3-5 hashtags on your posts and reels.
Using transitions! People love to be entertained and the cool thing is that you don't have to be a pro to use transitions. Instagram provides you with transitions and effects that you can use to take your reel to the next level.
How to make sales using Instagram Reels
Always use a call to action within your reel and within your caption. Whether you're trying to gain followers, get viewers to shop or book, tell your audience the next step to take in the journey.
Tag a product in your reels so that viewers can easily shop your product within Instagram
Show your knowledge and make it simple to understand. It's no secret that people love quick information they can take along with them. By showing you're knowledge you can convert a viewer into a follower or a client.
Should You film 60 second Instagram reels?
No! The attention span of viewers today is very short which means creating quick an entertaining content is the way to go.
2. Instagram Stories
Instagram stories is one of Instagram's oldest features but there are several new updates that you can use to boost sales and engagement for your business. By now everyone knows that using engagement stickers such as the poll or question sticker gets your audience to interact with your story content. Now, there are new stickers to make your Instagram story more interactive and will also help you sell.
The link sticker: Instagram recently introduced the link sticker that any business can make use of. Previously only accounts with 10k or more had access to the swipe up feature to send their audience from IG to their website, but now accounts of any size can send a viewer from their story to their website with a single tap. Add the link sticker to your Instagram stories to sell to your audience.
The Shopping Sticker: If your business sells physical products and you've set up your Instagram shop then you'll have access to the shopping sticker on stories. With the shopping sticker you can promote your Instagram shop or a specific product for your story viewers to shop directly within Instagram.
3. Instagram Shop
An easy customer experience should be your business's #1 priority. It's important for your customers to be able to recognize what your business's purpose is, what you sell and how they can buy it. Instagram shop assists you with securing sales. When you create your shop page for your products you can tag them in your stories, your Instagram reels, and even your feed posts. With a click of a button someone viewing a piece of your content can turn into a sale.
4. Instagram Guide
If there is one thing you should know about Instagram, its that they will never introduce a pointless feature. Unfortunately, Instagram guides isn't talked about or used enough.
What do you do with Instagram guides and how do they benefit your business?
Group content to provide information on a topic within your niche
Use IG guides to show step-by-step on how to use products you sell
If you're a clothing brand, you can use Instagram guides to put together a lookbook for specific seasons or occasions
Instagram guides are beneficial to someone scrolling your page looking for answers about specific topics that your content covers. You can also include content from other people within your industry or create a guide for products and places you recommend.
Now that you're up to date with the newer Instagram features and how you can take advantage of them for your business growth and success, it's time to put these things you learned into action.
Instagram may be a social media platform but it's proven itself to be a place for your business to increase in every aspect.
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