You may be satisfied with the way your local business has been running all these years. You may have a loyal set of customers and you probably do enough business to stay afloat during these times. However, have you challenged yourself enough to get out there into the real world and really see where your business stands among its competitors?
We live in an age where the simplest of things like daily toiletries, stationary, and homeware are bought online at the click of a button, rather than from the store down the road. And if your business hasn’t gotten with the times yet, it is missing out on market share. Getting on to social media is the first step to venturing out into the virtual world. Facebook and Instagram are the most commonly used social media sites in Goa and these are platforms that, if done right, could get your business increased awareness, traction, branding, and even sales.
There are several ways a local brand can use Instagram effectively. As a growth-focused digital marketing agency in Goa, here are our tips on where to start:
1) Start using all the key surfaces that Instagram provides:
Instagram has become far more than just the photo-sharing app it was a few years ago. From sharing Instagram stories that last 24 hours to Instagram Lives to engage with followers in real-time, and from Reels that allow you to post fun Tik-Tok style videos on your feed to an Instagram shop wherein you can shop for products without leaving the app, the platform is evolving to suit businesses more with time. The more Instagram surfaces you use, the better growth you will see.
2) Engage with your followers!
Instagram is all about building a community online. Just like you interact with customers and clients at your store, your business needs to do the same online. This in turn helps you gain more followers who you can engage with, allowing you to build better brand recall. Posting photos and videos isn’t enough – you have to establish yourself in the IG community and speak to people who are starting to interact with the content you are producing. Answering queries that they have online will show that you are actively involved in your business prospects.
3) Use Influencer Marketing
A great way to build up your fan base on Instagram is through Influencer Marketing. You can connect with people who have an established fan following and get exposed to their audience. Many years ago, businesses required huge budgets to get actors and other celebrities to endorse their products. But with people connecting and relating more with popular youth icons in various niches, influencer marketing allows businesses to connect with prospective local customers through them in a very cost-effective way.
4) Keeping your brand identity consistent.
Remember, your social media profiles, just like your website, are extensions of your brand. Though you can use Instagram to achieve different objectives, there should be consistency across all aspects when you advertise, especially in terms of aesthetics, tone of voice, and online persona. A mix of these can make a brand appear classy and high-end, quirky, elegant, youthful, eco-conscious….
5) Get familiar with hashtags.
Using hashtags is the most powerful way to tap into local communities, gain followers, and build your visibility on Instagram. To get the maximum benefit, remember to use a mix of hashtags that are relevant to your business, your locality or state, your industry, and appropriate trending topics. A post with one hashtag gets 12.6% more engagement than one that doesn’t have one – but at the same time, hashtag spam is real! So maintain a good balance, keep switching up your hashtags, and figure out what works for your business.
6) Too much similarity can be damaging.
Though the tone and personality behind your posts need to remain consistent across posts and channels, you should avoid blanket posting. Blanket posting is basically posting very similar messaging time after time, across social media networks. No one likes seeing posts for the same products shared in the same format over and over again. Even if yours is a brand that merely sells 1-2 products, find fresh ways to position it, unique ways to present it, and get creative with quotes, memes, testimonials, and more.
7) Showcase your product or service in use
Whether you sell groceries or furniture, hotel stays, or dining experiences, it is important to showcase people using and enjoying your products. Happy families at resorts, a testimonial from a family who dined at your restaurant, a picture of your furniture in your client’s living room, and your fresh groceries in a tantalizing dish make all the difference when it comes to giving your local brand an edge over bigger, better-known competitors.
8) Host an Instagram Contest.
Who doesn’t like winning something? Instagram contests are a great way to increase your fan following. Remember to plan your contest well in advance and collaborate with influencers or other brands to maximize the reach of your contest. A great hashtag, and clear rules that encourage sharing, commenting, and tagging paired with a great prize go a long way in making an Instagram contest successful. Ensure the prize is attractive – a free meal at a restaurant, an Amazon voucher, or perhaps a goodie basket of some of your brand offerings.
9) Follow Instagram trends
Whether you post something on a national holiday, or festival, to capitalize on a current affair, or to ride on a trend that’s going viral, staying on top of it all helps a brand get a lot more eyeballs. When done right, brands that hop on to trends have posts that are widely shared, resulting in them garnering praise for their creativity, getting a boost in visibility and it sometimes even raking in tremendous sales. Zomto, Durex, Amul, and Swiggy are a few brands that ace at posting excellent content based on trends very frequently.
10) Get ready to press ‘record’!
Instagram increasingly favours videos over static posts. Videos are given higher real-estate on the ‘Explore’ page of Instagram and get higher reach. Whether you’re showing the behind-the-scenes look at a cake being decorated at your bakery, a beautiful wedding set up done by your events company in Goa, or a quick showroom walkthrough, all you require is your phone and a bit of brainstorming to record fantastic 30-second videos. No professional expertise or equipment is required.
We hope this helped you learn how to use Instagram for your small business in Goa and Mumbai. If you’ve got any more questions, comment below, drop us an email, or give us a call!
