5 Ways You Can Use Instagram For Your B2B Business

Dec 17

Why should your business be using Instagram?

If you are a B2B business owner, then you may be struggling to see the value in using Instagram for your business. If you are, then you are not alone. Many people feel that Instagram is only for keeping up with their friends and family or for following their favorite celebrities’ profiles. You may feel that LinkedIn is the only platform you should be using as a B2B business. However, by ignoring the value of Instagram as a tool for your business, you are missing out on a huge opportunity to grow your brand, engage with prospective clients, and build connections and community.

Ok, now that we have figured out why you should be using Instagram for your B2B business, we need to talk about some specifics.

What should you do?

When setting up your account, you must make sure that you create it as a business profile. This way, you can have access to the insights feature. Why are analytics so important? They allow you to see the demographics of the audience you’re reaching, the times they are most active, and what types of posts they like the most.

You may be wondering, though, how you can stand out on such a saturated platform. With roughly 1 billion users, it’s easy to get lost in a sea of other business profiles. Thankfully, your goal as a business owner is most likely not to reach as many people as possible, but to reach as many potential future clients as possible. So, let’s talk about how you can use Instagram to benefit your business.

How can you and your business stand out on Instagram?

1.) Niche down

Imagine trying to sell something to your grandma, your nephew, your mailman and your best friend. Your marketing would be all over the place and you’d never have a clear direction. You can’t market to anyone and everyone and expect to get results. It is imperative that you do research into your target market and carefully curate content to appeal to them.

2.) Provide real value

Whether you sell products or services, it’s important for you to produce valuable content that can actually help your ideal client. By doing this, your followers will be able to see that you really know what you’re talking about.

3.) Prove that you have knowledge and authority

You build credibility if you talk about the things you’ve learned while in business. Share the knowledge!

4.) Create unique and original content

Use this as an opportunity to show the unique culture of your business. If you are being honest and original in your content, then people will want to follow along with your journey.

5.) Keep it FUN and interesting!

Your following will grow and you will retain more followers if you keep your content fresh and interesting. Talk about upcoming deals and news within your business. Feature your employees or client reviews/testimonials in your posts. The most important thing is to keep it fresh!

Stay on top of it!

Remember, if you want to continue growing your following and engagement, you must stay on top of it! Instagram algorithms are always changing. Right now, Reels are a fantastic way to grow your brand awareness and tell stories about your business. In 6 months to a year, however, they may become less popular. This is why it’s so crucial to remain flexible and to continue to adapt to the current algorithm.

It’s also important to research what hashtags are trending and relevant to your niche. For example, #business is too broad, your post is very unlikely to stand out if you only use that hashtag. On the other end, you don’t want to niche your hashtags down too much. If you used a hashtag that only has been used on 100 other posts, then it’s unlikely your post will be found. A good model to go off of is to use a cocktail of a few popular hashtags, and a few more niched hashtags. This way, you can get in front of multiple audiences of various sizes.

In order to stay top of mind, it’s important to get in front of your audience as much as possible. A great way to do this without having to create a full on post every single day is to post stories 5-7 times a week or at least on the days you aren’t posting to your feed. This way, you are still active every day.

What not to do.

Avoid selling. No I don’t mean to avoid selling ALL TOGETHER. I mean, if you don’t sell, how will people know what they can buy from you? They won’t! If you are constantly trying to sell to other businesses on your instagram, however, your followers will sooner or later get bored of constantly being sold to. No one likes a pushy salesman. Instead, try to give your followers some free information and education to show them that you truly want to help them. By doing this, you will generate their interest in you and your business and you will gain their trust. Then, once you have done this, you can direct them to your offers through CTA’s (call to actions).