 Are you a service-based business looking to use social media to promote what you do? Instagram is a platform that helps you to create connections by delivering your brand story and providing value. What is even more awesome about Instagram is that you can easily find your audience. The one who will trust you and relate to you and of course do business with you. As a service-based business, it does take creativity to relay your message to your ideal client. Here are some tips to help you connect with your audience on Instagram: Content Mix To provide value, share your brand story and promote your service, you want to have good mix of content. This allows you to develop a good relationship with your followers and allows them to get to know you. It creates trust rather than pushing your services at them.  Example: @drlaurabelus shares health and wellness and shares empowering quotes Inspirational Quotes When a potential client comes to your business with a need, it is usually linked to a fear or a dream. For instance, I have a a great interest in physical fitness. I love to follow accounts that share empowering quotes about fitness. Take @drlaruabelus a naturopathic doctor who shares her business on Instagram. She talks health and wellness information and shares quotes that inspire. Her quotes take me to a place where I can envision what life would be like if I were healthier. I love them and I do follow accounts that consistently post this type of content. Tell Stories As a service-based business this is your opportunity to give people insights about what you bring to the table. Not just your services but your personality, behind the scenes and business ethics. Be honest, open and conversational. Write your captions as though you were writing to just one person a way that draws them to you and the services you provide. Invite your audience to engage, interact, and do business with you. Share Posts That Educate Share easy tips that help your ideal clients with their problems. When giving away helpful tips, you establish yourself as an authority as an expert in your field. When your followers need a service like yours, you will be the obvious choice. And do not be afraid that you are giving away too much information. Those who require your services will reach out to you for more context and how your service can help them directly. Be Humorous This can be very effective for businesses that might be considered boring and may not have an obvious visual element to them. Plan Posts That Sell Your Service Remember though that Instagram is a platform to showcase your brand. So especially for service-based businesses, you want to to develop a relationship before going in for the sell. Include Call To Actions Call to actions or small asks persuade your followers to interact with you (which leads them to take action on your bigger calls to action). Call to action range from double tap if you agree, to click to join the newsletter. By setting up a good content mix, great visual content, and writing captions that connect and convert, service-based businesses can reap the benefits of a strong presence on Instagram. Do you market your service-based business on Instagram with these tactics? What tips can you share? 
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Instagram Insights! Woo Hoo! Do you have an Instagram for Business​ account? Then you'll want to watch this video! I explain all the exciting information that you can obtain on your posts and your account. Find out if your Instagram is being viewed by your target audience!
Click the video to watch. What do you love most about Instagram For Business Insights? 
 Are you feeling frustrated as you try to grow your Instagram following? The best way to grow your Instagram Followers is to ensure you are following a reasonable amount of accounts as well. Here is your guideline on who and how to follow on Instagram sprinkled with a don't. Follow Brands In Your Industry • Find and follow companies or brands in your industry that use Instagram well. Observe how well they engage with their Instagram community. You also want to be aware of the methods you may or not want to incorporate in your account. Follow Your Customers • Sometimes that is. If your customers are truly devoted fans who engage with you and share your content, then it is definitely worth it. However, if the content they post is not similar to what you post or is inappropriate then there is no reason to follow them back. Affiliation • If you are connected to or partnered with a business or organization then following them is a great way to show solidarity and support. Follow Accounts That Interest You • And it's ok. Even though you have a brand or business Instagram account it is YOUR account. If there are accounts that share content you love then follow them. Use your account to follow family and friends too. Follow Your Target Audience - Yes It Is Possible • Are you looking for dentists in Toronto? Type in #torontodentist in the search area of Instagram and search the 3062 posts for potential clients. Or how about real estate agents in Mississauga? Type #mississaugarealestate and pull up 6887 posts. Take note that as you type in keywords in the Instagram search bar, other examples come up as well. Follow Tip • When you follow your niche from your phone a drop down of who they are following appears. Most likely it may be the same audience you are searching for. You can quickly verify by checking those accounts. Who You Shouldn't Follow • Be careful and aware when it comes to following others. Their accounts should have a complete bio, relevant or real photos, a month old and engagement. Follow everyone and you may find your account open to spam. Also you will find yourself following accounts that followed you to inflate their own followers only to unfollow you after (so not cool). Don't follow when others ask you to engage in the "follow for follow plan". Most likely those accounts will not engage with your brand and will bring no value to your account. And Do Not... follow then unfollow. It's just not nice and it's so uncouth. A large following is fabulous but if they don't engage with you, share your content or support your brand... is it really worth it? Use Instagram to build relationships. That being said... It may come up that you may want to unfollow someone at a later point because of a change in direction with their posts. Admittedly, I have followed people only to unfollow them at some later date. Their content changed and evolved in a different way that I didn’t love. Did you find this post helpful? Do you have additional tips? Share in the comments below.  |
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