Member Article

5 Ways You Can Use Instagram to Build Your Brand Without Over-Advertising Your Business

If you want a great business tool that can raise awareness for your company, build your brand, market and advertise, grow your customer base, and enable you to share photos and information quickly with the masses, then Instagram is it. Additionally, with tools like Magic Social and Social Rocketer, you can easily grow your audience to achieve incredible results and growth. As great of a business tool as Instagram can be, though, it’s still a social media platform–which means not all things your business does should be strictly about promoting the business.

According to consumer surveys, 91 percent of people feel that ads are more invasive than they were just a couple of years ago. Although they may have worked and may still work from time to time, ads that are in-your-face and salesy are becoming less effective than ever before. People don’t want to be pitched all the time. So, only promoting your business and posting ads on Instagram could stunt your growth more than help it.

Instagram is a platform that you can use to build your brand and establish a reputation and authority in your niche, and while you can do that with ads and promotions, there are plenty of ways that you can build your brand without overwhelming your followers with ads.

Pick a Signature Filter

Your brand is made up of a number of different elements including visual elements such as your logo. On Instagram, choosing a signature filter to use on all of your photos can help you further establish your brand. When you use a signature filter, you give your posts, and therefore your company, a cohesive look that your followers will come to recognize at a glance. Whether you like Gingham, Lark, Juno, or Perpetua, choosing one and sticking with it will make your brand more easily recognized on Instagram.

Ask Questions

Asking questions and encouraging engagement does two things for your company. First, it gets the conversation going and can help build your brand by establishing a reputation as a company that is interested in what its customers have to say. Second, it helps you build your brand by giving you insight into what your customers want and what they like and don’t like so that you can provide them better customer service and establish a stronger, more positive reputation.

Be a Source of Information/Offer Guidance

Offering information and guidance is another great way that you can build your brand without blatantly promoting your business. Whether you create a guide to the use of your products, offer information such as answers to questions about your industry, or educate followers on misconceptions about your niche, being a source of information and guidance will help you establish a reputation as a trustworthy and knowledgeable resource for the info that they need. This will help you build your brand as a company that does more than just sell, and you can even use it as a way to still promote your business, just in a less obvious way.

Run a Contest

Instagram contests are popular and fun, and since it doesn’t take much for people to enter, they’re generally happy to do the few steps required in exchange for a chance to win. Whether you offer free products or services or want to go all out and offer a special prize—such as an all-expense paid getaway—running a contest is a great way to build your brand. Not only will it get people more engaged with your business, but it will also help you reach a wider audience and connect with more potential consumers.

Know Your Hashtags

While images are the main focus on Instagram, hashtags play an important role as well. Using the right hashtags on the right posts can help you get more visibility and even grow your audience. Hashtags may not seem like the most obvious way to build your brand, but when you use them properly, they can be very effective and help you build your brand by expanding your reach.

In Conclusion

Instagram can be used to build your business in so many different ways, and while advertising is one of them, it’s one that seems to be overdone too often. As effective as advertising may be, there are still plenty of other ways you can use Instagram to build your brand and grow your business. By running contests, asking questions, and using the right hashtags, you can see the business growth you want to see without getting to ad-happy.

How else are you building your brand on Instagram?

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Deborah Belford .