Estimated reading time: 4 mins
When it comes to connecting with your customers these days, it’s so important to have a strong online presence. And with the new year coming around, it’s time to make some new year’s resolutions so that you can improve your interactions online with all your customers. One of the best ways to do this is by upping your engagement on Instagram. This platform, which has always been popular among younger users such as millennials and Gen Zers, is now becoming popular among all age ranges. It’s getting almost as much attention as Facebook now from businesses, which is why it’s a great platform to focus on.
And along with all the usual Instagram strategies, there are also tools that will make a huge difference to your Instagram success. To learn more, read on.
1. Business for Instagram
Before we even talk about external tools for your business’s Instagram, let’s talk about one that’s offered by the company itself: Business for Instagram profiles. This feature automatically gets you more visibility and connects your Instagram to your Facebook page. Additionally, you can add information such as your business category, contact options (including email, phone, and address for brick-and-mortar stores). Additionally, Business for Instagram comes with Insights, a tool that gets you information about your most successful posts and statistics on your followers such as age, gender, and location. 71 percent of US businesses use Instagram, and you can bet that a large number of these have a Business for Instagram account.
2. Boomerang
These days, videos are super-important on all social media platforms. After all, how often have you come across an informative video on how to make a Thanksgiving dish or a moving story about seeing-eye dogs, and stopped what you’re doing to watch? There’s a reason why it works, and it’s because people are so visual. So by using an app like Boomerang, which facilitates creating cute, fun, short videos for Instagram, you’ll get way more engagement than you would otherwise. This app has a 4.4-star rating at the Google Play store, so if you haven’t started using it yet, it’s time to start.
3. SocialSteeze
Sometimes, you need a little extra help getting followers. Even if you’ve mastered your social media strategies, come up with great content, and you’re using all the right hashtags, that isn’t always enough. Especially if you’re running a new business, it can take months for your following to take off–even if you’re commenting back to each commenting and following back. That’s why a tool like SocialSteeze is so useful. They can buy 1,000 real Instagram followers for you (as opposed to fake ones, which many services do) based on location, hashtags, and competitors they are already following. Considering that 60 percent of Instagram users have said that they’ve learned about a product or service on Instagram, using the right tools to get followers will make a huge difference to your success.
4. VSCO
If you want your images and photographs to stand out on Instagram, even more than they already are, use the VSCO tool. According to Shopify, “Part photo editing platform and part social media network, VSCO should be at the heart of every Instagram strategy…VSCO has an in-depth editing suite and a slew of high-quality default filters that can take your smartphone photos to a completely new level. There’s also a huge library of filters available for purchase, giving you endless potential for customizing your photos and setting them apart from the pack.”
By using this tool, you can get an even better aesthetic than you’ve ever dreamed of. If you’re re-branding or starting a new business, this is especially useful. Considering that brand follower growth increases from 6 to 8 percent month-over-month on Instagram, using this tool will make a huge difference.
5. FameBit
One of the best ways to get more traction on Instagram is by connecting with influencers. Especially if you’re marketing to a younger crowd, this can significantly help your business. But sometimes, it’s a challenge to find the right influencers–and once you have, to agree on rates and on what kind of content they’ll be working on for you. That’s why FameBit is so useful. This tool will connect you with the right influencers in no time, at the rates you prefer. 94 percent of marketers who use influencer marketing find it effective, so using FameBit will be quite helpful to you.
These are some of the best tools you can use to improve your Instagram strategy.What other tools have you found useful when it comes to connecting with your customers?
