wait! Stop! Don’t post your dog’s photo on your Instagram!
Maybe I’m exaggerating a bit (it’s not like the internet can’t use some dogs). But you should know that countless small business owners make simple mistakes when using Instagram to promote themselves and their businesses.
Instagram is currently my favorite of all social media networks. It actually reminds me a lot of Facebook before Facebook became “Facebook!”
It’s a place where you can enjoy the content of your friends and followers. No spammy games, random news articles and other types of unwanted content. Instead, you follow people and businesses, and their content goes up. Simple and easy!
However, if you use Instagram for your business, there are some things you should never do! These Instagram “don’ts” can negatively impact engagement, alienate potential followers, and hurt your channel’s growth.
However, if you follow this simple advice, you can make your Instagram a place your followers will love to visit! Here are my 10 things not to do on Instagram!
#1: Don’t Skimp on Listeners (Instead, Add Another Instagram Hashtag)
The whole purpose of all social media profiles is to connect with your target audience. You want to connect with them with great content! This can be challenging if you’re not using one of your most valuable social media weapons: hashtags!
Unlike Twitter, which has a strict character limit, you want to use the full 30 hashtags allowed by Instagram. Hashtags help organize photos and videos on Instagram and help filter your content by topic, making it easier for your people to find you. You want to choose a selection of low, medium and high density hashtags that are relevant to your business.
pay attention; You want your hashtags to be related to the topic of the post and your business.
#2: Don’t Spam Your Followers (Give Value Instead)
I’ve seen small businesses post up to five times a day. Frankly, I think it’s overkill.
Your customers want to hear from you, but not without pause! If you pop up in their feed several times a day, they might get annoyed with how often you post and decide to leave.
Moreover, posting five times a day requires you to write a huge amount of social media content. It takes a lot of time! Even if you use a virtual assistant to write all of your social media, it’s not an efficient use of resources.
In my opinion, posting once a day is enough. This will keep you top of mind, minimize the time you need to spend on social media writing, and give you time to focus on quality, not quantity.
#3: Don’t post ugly photos (instead, upgrade your photos)
Speaking of quality, the quality of your posts tends to get the most traction.
Instagram is primarily a visual social media network with an emphasis on images and video rather than text. This means the quality of your graphics will be the first thing people see. If you post unattractive photos, people will quickly unfollow you!
But what if you have no graphic design chops at all? What do you post on Instagram, in that case? Well, you have a few options.
You can always hire a virtual assistant experienced in social media and graphic design to create your Instagram posts for you. This way you will get professional quality photos that will represent your business in a wonderful way.
#4: Don’t make it all about you! (Instead, think about your audience)
Most people have two social media profiles: professional accounts and personal accounts. You should not confuse the two!
Constantly posting information about your personal life on your small business social media account is a big mistake. Remember, you are not in business for yourself; You are in business for your customers! Your focus should always be on them.
So, when you create content and posts for Instagram, ask yourself what they would like. Your posts should always offer them some value. This is how you will increase your followers on Instagram! And customers too!
#5: Don’t post the same stuff over and over again (instead, give it some variety – enjoy)
Ok, that said…
It’s not like you can’t occasionally post personal posts on your professional social media account. After all, your followers want to see your personality and know you’re real.
However, it will help if you are selective about the types of things you post. Try to avoid hot topics like politics or religion. Your business page should be controversy free!
Take mine, for example. I love sharing useful content! My audience is interested in growing their email list, hosting webinars, starting a podcast, creating an online course, or engaging their social media audience. I share content that will help them reach their goals with actionable tips!
#6: Don’t post without a call to action (instead, make your CTA clear)
Let’s say you’re advertising about a brand new product. You are super excited about it as it will offer your customers a fantastic service. But after you post it, you notice you’re not getting a ton of engagement. It’s like your followers are not interested in the product! What happened?
Chances are you forgot to include a great call to action in your post. Even if your followers are intrigued by your new product, they won’t know what to do with that information if you don’t provide them with the next step.
A CTA can direct them to a landing page, your online store, or a link directly to your website. Keep in mind that links you insert into Instagram posts will not be live URLs. If you want them to click, be sure to post the most important URL in your profile description and tell them in the description that the link is in your bio.
#7: Don’t Ignore Engagement (Instead, Be Social on Social Media)
So it turns out that the key word in social media is “social”. Who knew?
It’s amazing how many small business owners post daily but never check their followers’ comments. If you want your Instagram to make the maximum impact possible, you actually need to engage with those who engage with you!
Remember that you not only need to communicate with those who engage with you, but you need to actively seek out your target audience and start a conversation with them on their profiles as well. Remember, I like to think of social media as a cocktail party. You need to mingle, start conversations, ask questions and be genuine and “social”.
#8: Don’t post at random times (instead, post when your audience is most active)
When you’re a busy small business owner, you do things when you have time. For many, this means they post to their social media when they have a few spare minutes between other tasks.
In terms of involvement, this is a big mistake. You should post when your audience is most active. To determine the best times to post your content, check your Instagram analytics tools to determine when your followers are most active. This is when you want to publish!
If you are too busy at this time of day to post, you should automate your posting schedule. A virtual assistant can take care of it for you, doing everything from writing the post to making sure it comes up when your followers are looking for it!
#9: Don’t ignore new features (instead, stay on top of trends)
A significant challenge for digital marketers is that things are constantly changing. An effective virtual assistant specializing in digital marketing needs to keep up to date with every new feature that comes out. And as a small business owner with an interest in social media, you too! for example, Instagram launched a brand new feature in November 2020 called Guides, which focuses on mental health.
Another example would be Instagram Stories. I highly recommend you adopt them as a way to communicate with your audience. Yes, each story only lasts 24 hours, but that limited nature drives engagement. It’s a “catch them while you can” mentality. Furthermore, these stories are super easy to create! You just need to shoot a short video of yourself on your phone talking about a product or service, put some graphics on top, and voila, you’ve published your first story!
And of course, reels – reels are like a live advertisement for your business! They are definitely worth the investment of your time!
#10: Don’t take it so seriously (instead, remember it’s supposed to be fun)
Sometimes it can be easy to forget that social media is supposed to be… fun!
The whole reason people check their social media is to engage, watch videos, click attractive photos, and generally blow off some steam. Even if you run a business social media account, it’s important to remember this!
After all, if you’re having fun with your social media, it will show in the quality of your posts. If you only ever post out of obligation, your content may be missing that spark of fun that drives engagement in the first place!
So what did we learn?
Let’s review what we learned:
- Always use the full 30 hashtags allowed on Instagram.
- Post once a day, max.
- Always use professional quality graphics in your posts.
- Target your content at your audience – value, value, value.
- Don’t be afraid to share something about yourself every now and then.
- Always include a great call to action.
- involved in every comment. And start conversations!
- Advertise at the highest engagement times.
- Always check for new features!
- Have fun!
If managing your social media is taking up too much of your time as a small business owner, you may want to outsource those tasks to a virtual assistant. This is a much better decision than quitting altogether, because an experienced virtual assistant knows how to create content that will get you brand new followers and drive engagement! If you would like to learn how a virtual assistant can help, check out my free guide Making the Most of Social Media: A Workbook.
I’m a huge fan of Instagram for my business (check out my account). If you would like me to help you reach similar levels of engagement, please contact me here for a free consultation. It’s time to boost your brand through social media!
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