Instagram is more than just a place for your cutest selfies and pictures of that smoothie bowl you ate last week. It’s for business owners! Instagram is a platform that, when used properly, can generate new customers and traffic directly resulting in increases of revenue. Here’s how to use Instagram to make money without a ton of overhead expense. Because honestly, who has extra money to spend? I know I don’t and with Instagram, you don’t always have to. Stay tuned for my secrets to Instagram success.
How is Instagram used for profit?
Instagram is used for profit in a number of ways:
- It sends traffic from your bio to your store or specific listings
- When you become an influencer, you can get paid for advertising and promotions
- Instagram creates opportunities for lead generation
- Influencer status can lead to collaborations with companies that are profitable
How to make money on Instagram
Instagram is one of many social media tools that can be used to drive traffic to your store or business services website. Here’s how Instagram is used for some small businesses that profit off of their savvy and strategic Instagram presence:
Know your audience
Your audience is your ideal customer. Or at least it should be! Does your Instagram display content that’s geared toward your ideal shopper? If not, you have a branding crisis, my friend. If you’re suffering from a branding crisis you need to rebuild your Instagram presence from scratch, starting with gaining insights on your target market.
Consider these things:
- What does your product or service do?
- Who is it made for?
- Who benefits the most from your product or service?
- What customers are being targeted by your competitors?
- Why do people want to buy your product?
- What emotional appeal does your product or service have?
When you ask yourself important questions about your product and what it does, you get to the heart of the question: What is my target market. After carefully analyzing these questions, and more, and taking great notes you should be able to come up with a customer persona that makes sense for you to hinge your brand on. From this point on, all content decisions should be geared to your audience. It’s never too late to start.
Create great content
Next, the ball is in your court to create great content. What does that mean for Instagram?
Well, Instagram content has two main parts, the image and the caption. The image could be a beautiful or otherwise engaging photo that matches your brand (and I might know a great photographer to help you out with that!) or an info-graphic or photo with text.
The caption should position your brand as a thought leader, include a call to action that encourages your customer base to interact and should use appropriate hashtags to help you get new traffic
When you figure out the right combination or aesthetic, information and hashtags you create new opportunities for engagement and business.
For great Instagram content that matches your brand, contact me today. At Kristina Maness Photography, I offer half-day and full-day shoots. I just love working with other creative entrepreneurs to bring your brand, blog and Instagram profile to life. Let’s schedule a coffee date, online or in person, to talk more about your brand.