4 Instagram Branding Tips

Did you know that Instagram has beaten Twitter in the number of active users? Media outlets, like CNBC, reported Instagram surpassed the 140-character platform by recently hitting 400 million users. In this visual world, it is no surprise that we are seeing social networking take a turn toward this new, popular medium.

If you are a new Instagram user it could be easy to get overwhelmed by other brands who have had a long-time presence, which is why I am giving four marketing practices that will help you stay focused and promote your brand! 

1 | Build a Community.

There's a reason I keep mentioning this throughout blog posts on social media marketing. By building a community on social media you are creating brand ambassadors for you company. The easiest way to do this is by creating a unique hashtag your target audience can follow. Do your research to find a hashtag that relates to your company, has not been used before and add it to every Instagram post you use. Not only will potential clients use this to learn more about your company, but there is a big chance they will join in and use the hashtag too! 

2 | Promote Your Instagram Everywhere. 

Promoting your Instagram on your Twitter, Facebook, blog, etc. will drive more traffic to the account. Do this by sharing posts directly from your Instagram account to other accounts, post a direct link to your Instagram page (www.instagram.com/[insert your username]) on Facebook and add the Instagram icon to your blog and website.  


TIP: Sharing posts directly from your Instagram to your Facebook is great to promote your new account; however, do this sparingly. Your followers will become bored with your accounts if you consistently do this and you could lose them! Always publish different, fresh content on each platform as much as possible!


3 | Keep Your Feed Beautiful. 

Keeping your Instagram feed beautiful means that the editing style (i.e. filters) and sizing of your photos are consistent. Whether you decide on warmer tones or a luminous look, choose one style and stick with it! In addition, finding the perfect dimension will also keep your feed beautiful. While there are resizing apps, Instagram newest sizing feature makes it easier for everyone to size photos that will perfectly fit the regulated dimensions. 

4 | Use Diverse Content. 

By using diverse content for your Instagram feed you are not only keeping your feed beautiful, but also keeping your audience from getting bored from your content. My suggestion is to post  as much creative content as possible, but sharing is great too (don't forget to credit the original publisher!). Whether you show images of a typical work day, use quotes or tips, diverse content that aligns with your brand will keep your audience invested and interested! 

Want to learn more bout social media marketing? Contact me today!


What Every Entrepreneur Should Know About Pinterest

I think many of you would be surprised by how many businesses do not take advantage of Pinterest. Maybe it's because social media marketing is a constant challenge for small business owners who hardly have time to take a coffee break, let alone post a pin! Pinterest is very important to growing your online presence, building your customer base and driving traffic to your website and blog. However, if you are pinning images without just cause then you are wasting your precious time. 

Today, we're going to break down five steps that every entrepreneur should know when it comes to Pinterest for your business. Then, we'll review three big companies and how they have made Pinterest work for their brand and business. 

1 | WHAT TO PIN

Organic images of products, employees, workplace culture, event follow-ups, blog photos, infographics and videos are perfect for your account. Re-pin images that are relevant to your business and industry. Remember to keep your personal pins separate for your company pins, or at least create secret boards for personal use.  

2 | WHEN TO PIN 

3 | CONVERT TO PINTERST FOR BUSINESS 

In case you didn't hear, Pinterest now has a "Pinterest for Business" feature. Convert your account to a business account to get discovered by more people interested in your products and/or services. Pinterest has made an ultra-user friendly blog and website just for those of you new to this feature. Click here for more details and FAQ. 

4 | FOR YOUR WEBSITE + SOCIAL MEDIA

Be Pin Friendly! Add the "Pin It" or "Follow Me on Pinterest" buttons to each blog post and webpage to make it easier for your audience to find your Pinterest account. Also, when you add organic pins to Pinterest, build in relevant links to your website and/or blog post to increase your clickthrough rate

5 | BE ORGANIZED 

The richer and more organized your Pinterest account content is, the greater opportunity you will have to get noticed and get re-pinned. Separate you Pinterest boards by category and include a short, sweet board description for each board. This will help spread your ideas and is more appealing to your audience's eye. 


TIP: Include your company's unique hashtags and other like hashtags on the pin description to increase your pin visibility. Note that hashtags are only clickable in the pin description (not in your profile description)! 


BUZZFEED

Uses Pinterest for finding story ideas + trending topics to make their content go viral. Now, Pinterest is BuzzFeed's 2nd largest social media referrer. Read the full success story here

ETSY

Learned to showcase items for sale in its' marketplace + learned what their customers wanted by monitoring user engagement of pins, re-pins + likes on products. See the case study here

PETPLAN INSURANCE

Created a Pinterest account to visually showcase its' expertise and convey their brand personality. By pinning the best content for their company, they increased website views to 69% and 97% of those visitors spent more time on their site compared to those from Twitter and Facebook. Read the success story here

Source: https://business.pinterest.com/en/success-...