Marketing Your Startup

by Simona Covel

  Even more powerful is the ability to easily find and target the events that are most relevant to your company. Getting started is as easy as logging into ads.twitter.com and selecting Events Calendar from the Tools menu.

  Can I DIY?

  Yes. Just know that the deeper you delve into paid advertising, the more complex the calculus becomes. If you plan to run continual paid campaigns, a marketing expert can help make sure you’re taking advantage of the ever-evolving suite of targeting tools and analytics, as well as help you iterate and evolve as your results come in.

  INSTAGRAM

  Instagram, the popular photo- and video-sharing app, counts 700 million monthly active users—and growing. Instagram users practically expect to interact with brands on the channel: More than 80 percent of those users follow a business on the app, making it an ideal platform for small business owners to reach potential customers.

  Instagram is good for more than just posting selfies, brunches, and fur babies, as cute as they may be. And while it’s known for being heavy on millennial and Gen Z women, they’re not the only ones using the platform. At a time when visual content is critical for any brand to execute on a successful marketing strategy, Instagram presents a unique opportunity to position your brand creatively and showcase its personality. Plus, it’s a place where your consumers can see your curated content every single day without feeling overwhelmed by emails and notifications. In fact, half of the platform’s users check their feed multiple times a day.

  Many small business owners say they simply don’t know how to use Instagram. Don’t be intimidated. Instagram is easy to use.

  Start by creating the right kind of account. After you create a basic Instagram profile (or if you have one already), you’ll want to upgrade it to an Instagram for Business account. This will give you access to features that personal users don’t have. With an Instagram for Business account you can access more in-depth analytics and promote your posts, among other benefits.

  When it comes to content, you probably want to keep the personal photos you share with family and friends separate from the business posts you share with customers. You can manage up to five Instagram accounts from one app, making it easy to switch between business and personal accounts, or multiple business accounts if you have several locations or product lines.

  Can I DIY?

  You’ll probably want to, at least as first. Managing your own Instagram—just like with Twitter—will help you come across as unfiltered and authentic. But don’t just start throwing things on your page. Take the time to craft a strategy.

  Your strategy starts with a goal. What do you want to do on Instagram? What are you hoping to get out of it?

  You might decide that you want to use Instagram as a great way to build brand-name awareness. Or you might be thinking that Instagram is a great way to share pictures of your products because it’s image focused.

  Maybe you’re just looking to land some direct sales from the link on your profile page. Whatever your goal, make sure you approach Instagram marketing with an eye toward fulfilling it. Then start looking for ways to gather your audience. Take it from John Lincoln, co-founder and CEO of digital marketing company Ignite Visibility. In fifty weeks, he says, he went from zero to more than 14,000 followers, and today, he gets about fifteen to thirty leads a month from Instagram for digital marketing services. His strategy involved a laser focus on an audience, followed by a concerted, consistent, and diligent publishing pattern.

  Your audience might fall into one of two demographics: partners or customers. Partners are people in the same industry or in an industry related to your niche. They’re not necessarily competitors, though. For example, if you’re a web developer, then people who design WordPress themes might be among your partners. They complement, rather than compete, with your business. They can also help you promote your business.

  How? By commenting on and liking your updates. They help give your Instagram account the appearance of authority. Then, there are Instagram followers who are in your target market. Those are the people whom you want to become customers.

  Once you’ve identified partners and people in your target market, it’s time to start gathering information about them, Lincoln says. What are their typical qualities? Where do they spend their time online? And, importantly: Who do they follow on Instagram? Once you know that, you can inspire your target to follow you by imitating other accounts that they already follow.

  Find between two and five Instagram accounts that your distributors and potential customers follow, Lincoln suggests, and analyze them. What kind of content do they post online? Who follows them? Also take a look at their bio. How do they describe their business? What does the profile photo look like?

  Go through their posts and look at the hashtags they use. Make a note of the most popular hashtags. You’ll probably want to use those in your own posts. It’s important, though, to make sure that the post corresponds to the hashtag you use. Otherwise, you’ll be branded a spammer.

  Finally, take a look at their most popular posts. Make a note about the types of photos used in those posts and the topics they cover.

  Start a Conversation

  Yes, Instagram is primarily a visual platform, but you can also use copy to connect with customers. When you share a post, include a question in the photo caption and prompt your customers to respond in the comments section. When they post a comment, make sure you reply. Make it a conversation.

  Create unique posts and engage users in a personal way that affects people on an emotional level. Know why you’re posting what you’re posting. And don’t forget to participate in the conversation! It’s invaluable to show your followers that you care.

  You might be thinking, Okay, so I’m doing all of that. Those are the basics. If you still don’t feel like you’re getting the traction you want, here are a few tips:

  • Show your personality. Define your point of view and be consistent. Are you funny? Inspirational? Heartfelt? Sarcastic? What are you trying to say and to whom are you trying to say it?

  • Engage your users. Sure, Instagram is a bit self-involved, so use that to your advantage. Users love to see themselves re-grammed by brands that they love. Reusing content is also free. Run contests and giveaways to source user generated content (UGC) and build your audience.

  • Show your fans who you are behind the scenes. Be authentic and do away with the veneer.

  • Use hashtags both to increase impressions and to generate UGC. Want inspiration in that vein? Search #Starbucks and you’ll see an example.

  • Promote your ads. Yes, you need to put money where your posts are if you want to see results.

  • Know your goals, engagement versus conversion, and how to optimize posts for each. How do you know? A/B testing is the only way to really know for sure, since the mix up is different for every brand.

  Don’t Try to Be Perfect

  Much has been made of the move toward perfectly curated imagery on Instagram. Food is styled like a magazine cover, products are shot in perfect light, outfits are labored over. (The same holds true for other social channels, too, but Instagram has been held up as the prime example of the trend.)

  While that kind of high-intensity styling stood out in Instagram’s early days, today it’s starting to feel a bit tired—and a bit inauthentic, which is anathema to the intended mission of social channels. Plus, everyone’s feeds start to look alike: No one stands out when everyone is producing the same hyper-polished imagery. So rather than trying to keep up with the beauty arms race, bow out.

  You don’t need flawless, perfectly lit shots of your products, your store, or your people. To recapture attention, you need to go back to basics. Channel the less-curated, more spontaneous vibe of Instagram’s early days. Make a play for genuineness. Better yet, let people into your imperfection, with candid shots and notes on what goes on when no one is watching. It may help you stand out—and connect—more than hiring a specialized photographer ev
er will.

  Use the Right Hashtags

  Hashtags—words or phrases preceded by the “#” symbol—are everywhere. Using the right hashtags will help new followers find your business. For instance, if a potential customer taps the #OutdoorKitchen hashtag on another landscape designer’s post, they would see a list of all posts with that hashtag, including yours.

  Small business owners should use common hashtags related to their business:

  Your industry or field, like #Plumbing, #Remodeling or #LandscapeDesign

  Your products, like #Cabinets, #SwimmingPools or #Furniture

  Special features or qualities, like #MadeInAmerica, #Handmade or #ShopLocal

  While you can create any hashtag you want, it won’t do any good if others don’t know to use or search for your hashtag. So, if you create a unique hashtag for your business, make sure you promote it on your website, email newsletters, or with in-store displays.

  Great content, says Vaynerchuk, can be incredibly effective when it’s amplified with hashtags. Hashtags create discoverability and organic amplification for your content.

  Add Your Location

  When you share a photo or video on Instagram, you can tag the image with the location where it was taken. Posts tagged with your company location will display your name and address just above the image. Instagram users can then tap on your location name and see:

  Your location on a map

  Other photos and videos you’ve tagged along with your business information

  Photos and videos your customers have tagged along with your business information

  It’s easy to add a location to your posts. Look for the “Add Location” option when you’re getting ready to share a new photo or video. A list of suggested locations will appear beneath this prompt; if your business is listed, tap to add it to your image. If your company doesn’t automatically show up, tap “Search” or “Add Location” for a longer list of suggested locations.

  Create an Editorial Calendar

  If you want to move ahead of your competition on social media, you may want to create an editorial calendar. A schedule of your upcoming posts, telling you what you’ll post and when you’ll post it, will keep you honest and make sure your posting frequency stays as you intend it.

  A calendar, though, can be intimidating when you see all those posting dates stretching out in front of you. If you’re struggling to maintain volume and come up with new ideas, when you’re planning your content, copy the type of content that others have used successfully and use it yourself. If they’re posting popular new products or photos from events, try the same approach. Imitation isn’t just the sincerest form of flattery. It’s also a great way to promote your brand.

  Clearly that doesn’t mean running afoul of copyright laws, so don’t take anything verbatim or lift images. You can, however, post content that’s related to the successful posts of others. There’s nothing wrong with that.

  Once you’ve got your editorial calendar in place, it’s time to start following it—but don’t post and disappear. Engage with other Instagram users. Follow accounts in your niche and accounts related to your niche. Like and comment on posts you appreciate.

  If you’re viewed as an active member of the Instagram community, you’ll come across as a genuine user and not somebody who’s just trying to sell something. Plus, you’ll often get a follow back from the people you follow. That’s especially true if they’re interested in your business.

  Another thing to do: Look at the top profiles in your niche. Then, go through some of their posts. Follow people who are commenting on those posts. These are the most engaged people, so there is a chance they will engage with you also.

  All of this will help your posts show up in Instagram search, which can send more people to your profile and business.

  Tell Your Story

  Instagram Stories is a feature that allows users to create slideshows using photos, video, text, and graphics. Stories are displayed at the very top of a user’s feed—a prominent place to get your followers’ attention.

  Each Story disappears after twenty-four hours, making it a good showcase for visual content that’s both immediate and temporary, such as:

  Behind-the-scenes tours of your business

  Introductions of new team members

  Demos of new products or services

  Timely news, such as a grand opening, sale, or event

  To create a Story, tap the “Your Story” button at the top left of your Instagram home screen. From here you can record a video, or if you swipe down you can select from photos you’ve taken recently. You can add text, draw on top of your photos or videos with the paint tool, or add fun graphical stickers.

  One big advantage of Stories: Unlike with regular posts, you can see how many people view your story along with their names, so you’ll know exactly which customers you’re reaching on Instagram.

  CASE STUDY

  Huckberry Masters Composition and Color

  A FEW COMPANIES HAVE figured out how to quickly amass huge Instagram followings—and turn followers into customers.

  Men’s outdoor gear company Huckberry is one. The San Francisco company launched its Instagram campaign in earnest in September 2014. By January 2016, it had 154,000 followers and counting, wooing them with a combination of beautiful photography and careful strategy.

  While the return on investment is tough to track, Huckberry’s managing editor at the time, Zach Pina, estimated that one like this could bring in $10,000 in sales—in this case, much of it from Huckberry’s stock of fall watches, leather boots, and heavy-duty “duck canvas” shirts and pants.

  Composition and color are essential to create posts that stand out as users scroll through their feeds. Your selfie game might be strong, but leave the photo-taking to a professional if you can. This doesn’t mean you need to break the bank. While Huckberry has paid photographers, it generally gets its Instagram art from partners (Huckberry sells other clothing companies’ products, for example) or employees with photography backgrounds. The most important thing: Be sure the subject matter is in line with what your followers expect from your brand.

  Create a posting calendar, and exercise restraint—you don’t want to oversaturate your audience. An occasional strategy: Try drumming up interest for a sale with a preview post. Huckberry once teased a sale on vintage Rolex watches with an ambiguous macro shot, and then followed it up thirty-six hours later with the big reveal. The watches moved quickly—$85,000 in sales in one week.

  Huckberry’s playful language appeals to the whiskey lovers in its outdoorsy demographic. Captions that are relatable, funny, or highly informative—even about something other than your products—make users that much more likely to like your posts (some of Huckberry’s rack up more than 6,000 such endorsements) or to tag their friends. Pina writes the posts himself: “People want to see who you really are,” he says. “Find your voice, hone it, and then stay super consistent.”

  CASE STUDY

  LaCroix Features Followers

  THOUGH LACROIX IS NOT the only fizzy water on the market, it’s emerging as the brand of choice. Sales more than doubled from 2014 to 2016, to $225.5 million, The Wall Street Journal reported.3 A key part of its marketing plan: a rock-solid Instagram strategy that’s targeted toward millennials.

  You probably haven’t seen LaCroix commercials on TV. Instead, you’ll find them across social media. “We strived for 100 percent consumer involvement by acknowledging all comments about LaCroix and responding to our fans on a daily basis,” writes former digital LaCroix strategist Alma Pantaloukas on LinkedIn.

  The company encourages its followers to use branded hashtags like #LaCroixlove and #LiveLaCroix for a chance to be featured on their profile. And, they use trending hashtags to align their brand with what’s hot. An example: LaCroix is reposting user photos with the hashtag #Whole30approved. Whole30 is a month-long “eating healthy” program that eschews processed foods, sugar, dairy, and grai
ns. As you can imagine, a lot of foods aren’t permitted on the program. But LaCroix is.

  These tactics not only attract new users to their social-media circle, but also show LaCroix as a social-media savvy brand that “gets” its target audience.

  How Much Does It Cost?

  Just posting on Instagram is free. If you’re reliant on professional photography, you may pay a few hundred dollars for each shoot—but you can also try to find a student or part-time photographer to keep costs down.

  If you elect to promote posts, you can promote a single image, a carousel of images, or a video. Plus, an ad allows you the opportunity to add a link. You decide how long the ad will run and set the budget—Instagram advertising works much the same way as its corporate parent, Facebook. As of 2017, the average cost per click was heading toward the $1 mark, according to one study from AdEspresso.4

  How Measurable Is It?

  Very. After a few months of Instagram marketing, take some time to review what’s working best for you.

  Go over your analytics. Make a note of the types of posts that receive the most engagement. Be sure to publish posts with similar themes in the future. Make a note of what types of posts are receiving the least engagement. Scratch those kinds of posts off your editorial calendar if there any more like them coming up. Replace them with the kinds of posts that are more successful.

  PINTEREST