How can I promote my local business on Instagram?
If you’ve found yourself asking the above question, chances are, you are a local business owner who is looking for a way to promote his/her local business online.
In this article, you’ll discover 6 effective ways to promote your local business on Instagram.
The truth is, as a local business owner you should always look for effective ways to increase their visibility.
This article reveals eleven different successfully ways you can use to promote your local business on Instagram. Before we dive into how you can use Instagram to promote your local business.
Let’s answer a very important question.
Can You Advertise Locally on Instagram?
Yes, you can. local businesses can advertise on Instagram.
For any local business owner who wants to drive more local traffic, Instagram ads are a great way to drive more traffic, leads and sales.
Instagram targeting options provide everything you need to reach your target audience.
Now that you know that you can advertise locally on Instagram.
Let’s dive into the 6 effective ways you can use to promote your local business on Instagram.
6 Effective Ways to Promote Your Local Business on Instagram
1 Participate in The Community
Like every social media platform, Instagram is a community.
In the same way that your business is a valuable part of your local community, so also you want to show that you are a reputable and valuable member of the Instagram community.
What this does is that it gives you followers who are enthusiastic about your content and want to engage with it.
Just posting images and videos is not enough.
To build your reputation as a valuable member of the Instagram community, you will need to follow influencers and other brands (including direct competitors), participate in the conversations they are initiating and interact with their content.
For you to get engagement on Instagram, you need to spend your engagement.
In addition, when your followers start a conversation in the comments section of your post, be proactive in participating in those conversations and respond to their questions, concerns, praises, and other emotions.
2 Start Reposting Local Content
To strengthen your local business reputation on the Instagram community, you can do that by regularly reposting content published by your local followers, other businesses in your area, and local celebrities.
The people you repost their content to will not only feel great that you repost their content, but other followers will also take notice of your business.
The people you repost their content may mention you on their Instagram page, and this will help you reach their followers and even more people in your local community. This is a win, win for you both.
Sharing content created by real people makes your brand look more friendly and humane and as a valuable contribution to the community.
In other words, your company begins to feel like a friendly neighbour, not just a business that is after sales and not more.
Not only is this strategy effective in creating a stronger reputation in the Instagram community
but it also saves you a lot of time and energy in creating your own original and unique content. Be sure to ask the question first before you tag the user’s Instagram account.
3 Stick to Your Brand Identity
When you get your local business on Instagram you create another extension for your brand.
Instagram is a unique platform that you can use to achieve different objectives. But you should maintain brand tone and personality on all your social media platforms
Most if not all, customers follow their brands on different social media platforms.
If your Instagram persona is different from the tone set by your website, Facebook page, or in-store employee, then you are at risk of confusing your customers.
Therefore, how you interact with your customers on Instagram and the tones you set in your post captions should match the feeling they get when they actually visit your business in person.
Otherwise, customers may step in, anticipating the cheerful and upbeat business they meet on Instagram, only to be underwhelmed.
This can cause confusion in their customers’ journeys and they may be disappointed altogether.
4 Avoid Blanket Posting
While the tone and personality behind your posts need to remain consistent across all platforms, too much similarity can have a negative impact on your brand.
You need to carefully navigate the space between being consistent and posting your own content that doesn’t feel inclusive on all platforms.
What we mean by blanket post is using exactly the same messages and content across different social media channels.
The danger of doing this is that customers who follow you on multiple social media channels will see the exact same message over and over again.
Therefore, it ceases to be engaging and begins to be destructive. Remember that all channels are different and should be treated that way.
That said, blanket posts may be accepted, such as when your business is hosting a local event or releasing a new product.
Ask as many people as possible about this news/event/product.
However, you need to make sure that you are responsible for cross-promotion.
Responsible cross-promotion is not just copying and pasting efforts from one platform to the next, but using each channel appropriately to promote the same purpose.
5 Follow The Trend
Holidays are a trending topic most of the time, and companies have long used these days to attract customers with holiday-themed messages.
But you can take advantage of other popular topics when creating compelling Instagram content.
This is a great way to get local attention, as it ensures that you are posting content that is relevant and interesting to your followers.
If you are wondering how you can find trending hashtags in your local community, all you need to do is pay attention to the news, local events, and even community-specific holidays.
Therefore, it is wise to follow ideological leaders from other businesses, local celebrities, and other communities.
You can look at their Instagram to get inspiration for the trends and local keywords you are using.
6 Use Localized Hashtags
You need to focus on localized hashtags if you want to optimize the local reach of your Instagram page.
Doing this will allow people in your local community to find your post or your business via region-specific hashtags. Use hashtags that include your location instead of the usual hashtags for outdoor photo captions.
We also recommend that you include hashtags that include your area and type of business.
If people are searching for hairstylists in Chicago on Instagram (and if you are a hairstylist in Chicago), you want your content to show in that search.
Bottom Line
Success on Instagram is becoming more and more essential for local businesses trying to compete in the digital age.
With 800 million users and 63% of them active daily, this social media hub is a treasure trove of potential sales that cannot be ignored.
While it’s easy to understand these numbers and the potential for Instagram sales, true success on this platform is achieved by highlighting the people behind these numbers.
Instagram is a community that asks you to move away from it. The more value you can create and serve followers, the greater your engagement and reach.
Click here to read how to promote your local business on Facebook