3 Ways to Grow your Customer Base Through Instagram

Hi, my name is Jas and I am an Instagram addict.

Not only do I use it for business but I also am an avid Instagrammer. I find myself unconsciously checking the feed and thumbing through dozens of pictures. Sometimes someone I follow will mention a brand and if it has anything to do with obscure yoga clothes, I’m on it.

With 300 million monthly active users and 70 million photos posted a day, Instagram is definitely the best social media channel to spend your valuable time on in 2015. You’re probably thinking, but Facebook has the population of a couple of countries combined!

Yes….but Instagram actually gets more engagement (without paying for it), up to 50x more than Twitter!

So how can you rock it on Instagram? Here are 3 tips:

1. Hashtag, Hashtag, Hashtag!

Beyond just getting mentioned, the best way to get attention is through hashtagging up to 30 words related to your product/service on every post. Many people on Instagram follow various hashtags, like #foodie, #wedding or #menswear. This in turn, will get more exposure, likes, followers and potential customers for your product/service. The best way to figure out what hashtags to use is to look at the top Instagram accounts in your vertical and see what they are using.

Here is a sample hashtag collection you may want to use if your product/service is related to food:

#foodie #toronto #yummy  #toptorontorestaurants #yum #instagood #instayum #yum #eeeeeats #wheretoeatto #foodart #foodporn #instafood #toeats #foodgasm #foodgram #foodhunt #foodieshare #eater #eatuptoronto #nycdining #todining #tofoodie #instalike #dinner #lunch #breakfast

Here is a collection if you’re in the wedding industry:

#weddings #bridal #bride #corporate #business #events #parties #decor #rental #linens #linenrentals #details #design #linenrentals #susanmurray #susanmurraydesigns #runners #eventstylist #style #instalove #love #wedding

2. Consistency

As with anything, a consistent posting schedule will make all the difference in gaining followers and potential customers. Since you want to keep your followers continually engaged, posting daily or every other day should be your minimum commitment. This means that you need to keep your visual content funnel full and scheduled ahead of time. I use Latergramme to help with scheduling posts on Instagram.

3. Collect Data Points

To optimize your Instagram account, try to post at different times of the day and on everyday of the week with different filters and various hashtag collections. Then, after 3 to 4 weeks of consistent posting, use Iconosquare to gather insight on your account. Although it doesn’t give you actionable advice, it does give you detailed data points that will help you identify the best hashtags to use, best days, times and filters to use. The chart below is from Iconosquare. It shows that the community interactions were quite large in the morning, therefore this is something that should be taken into account in the future posting schedule.

Do you have other tips on Instagram or think your account is totally killing it? Leave a comment with your account, I would love to hear from you.