Instagram Strategy for Local Business: 8 Tips to Get you Started
So you’ve amassed 10k followers on Instagram (and have earned the much requited “swipe up feature") but you can’t quite figure out why these 10k followers aren’t jumping at the chance to try your locally owned eatery or gym.
Or perhaps you’re just starting out and you’re looking for your tribe - preferably beyond your consummate supporters of friends and family who aren’t exactly paying the bills.
If you have a business account and haven’t been paying close attention to the demographics of your followers, you may find that a very low percentage of them are qualified leads for you business.
A restaurant in Midland, Texas that does not predominately showcase followers In Midland, Texas does not make for a successful social media strategy, regardless of the number of followers you have.
Here are a few things to keep in mind when building a following that counts on Instagram:
Hashtags Matter
Is there a secret strategy for using hashtags to gain a following? Not necessarily. There is, however, a way to miss the boat entirely and waste time pandering to followers who aren’t your ideal demographic. For example, you have a gelateria (i.e. you sell gelato, for the laymen folk) with LOTS of followers but few in your locality with no plans to venture to your city anytime soon.
Think Local
Keeping the above in mind, finding and regularly using localized hashtags will be key to finding local followers that are likely to engage with your brand and may be even interested in trying your product or service.
Bonus tip- seek out and engage with other users who are also using these localized hashtags
Tag Your Location
Locals and visitors alike are looking for photos that showcase things they might be interested in around town. Don’t miss the opportunity to show them you’re there, too!
Tag Other Accounts
Tag them and they will likely return the favor in some way. Also, the photo will show up in the tagged account’s “tagged posts.”
Utilize Instagram Stories
There are likely a lot of day-to-day activities that define your brand or make your business possible. Build a community around what you have to offer and telling your unique story.
Collaborate Locally
Are there other local businesses that share your ideal customer? Your values? Your objectives? Seek them out (in real life) and see what you can come up with.
Engage With Your Audience
Where does your ideal customer hang out? What are they into? Find them. They’re hiding in plain view. They’re tagging their location and interests.
Be Responsive
If you spend all of your time talking and don’t respond in a timely manner to people who are showing their interest in what you have to say, you’re losing buy-in and trust with each missed connection or delayed reply.
Don’t Wait For Perfect
Your goal is to be authentic and for you to trust that the look and feel of your social media (and brand for that matter) will evolve over time. Don’t overthink now and impend yourself from trudging forwards towards finding that place.
Check out our post in the best free tools that you can use to step up your social media.
Using Instagram strategically to grow your local business will not only set you apart up from your competitors and improve your online visibility, it will also help you deliver consistent value to achieve organic growth on Instagram.
Need help defining the parameters for your strategy? Feel free to contact us today.
Also, check our posts on what to post if you are in real estate and what to post if you in the restaurant business.
