My #TopTips for ensuring you are seen on Instagram

More than a billion people use Instagram daily so you need to ensure you are seen.

If you have several employees then ensure that you use your logo as your profile picture. If you are a sole trader then you may choose to use an image of yourself  – either way, people will then remember you, your brand and your posts.

In the Instagram business account you have 200 characters to tell people what you do  and why they should follow you.

Ensure that your website is a mobile-friendly website as visitors view Instagram on a mobile and when they click your website link, they will be viewing your website on their mobile.

Next you need to plan your posts to encourage engagement. Your posts need to be a mix of branded content, reactive storytelling, behind the scenes content and inspirational quotes. Also, think about showing them the person or people behind the brand.

Once you have developed a relationship with your audience, you need to ensure you build on your hashtags # and ensure you have a “Call to Action” on your Instagram images. Think about what # are relevant to the images and messages you are trying to get across
 and how you can add leverage to existing “trending” hashtags.

Instead of making the call to action in the text associated with the image, many of the big brands are adding the “Call to Action” in the image. Your message is then not lost!

Examples: 

Foodie company  - Double tap if you think you could eat this mega meal (image of huge Sunday breakfast)
A cleaning company:  Double tap if you hate cleaning at the weekends.

​Ask a question and add “double tap if you agree”.  This is a simple “Call to action” that can have great results.

Another approach to drive interaction with your connections is to ask them to “give a LIKE for this” or “comment” here.

Now you need to create your own Instagram path and visually engage with your target audience. Good luck with your Instagram marketing and if you need some help, just get in touch with me.

THE IMPORTANCE OF GOOGLE REVIEWS

#Didyouknow 63.3% of consumers are likely to check the Google reviews of a business before visiting their website — this is more than any other review site (Yelp, Facebook, etc).

While you think it might be a good idea at first, don’t send out a review request to every single customer you have after reading this blog. You want to request reviews from your ‘happy customers’ – They are the ones most satisfied with your business, and their reviews can in turn transform them into brand advocates for your business.

You don’t want to risk the chances of getting a poor review, so think carefully about the people you are sending a review request to.

When Should You Ask For a Review?
The key to getting your customers to submit good reviews is to ask them at the right time. They are more likely to submit a review when you've proved your worth to them in some way. 

Your email should thank them for their business, mention why you’re asking for a review, explain how to leave a review, and let them know roughly how long it should take.
 
Suggested wording to send to your customers:

Hello [FIRST NAME],
Thank you for your recent purchase of [TYPE OF PRODUCT] with [YOUR COMPANY NAME]! We really appreciate your business and truly value you as a customer.

Happy customers are extremely important to us, and we'd love to hear your feedback on how you feel about your product once you get to use it for yourself! If you could take a few minutes to leave us a review on Google [INCLUDE SHORT LINK] for us, we'd be so happy.

Thank you
[company name]
 
Good luck with building your Google Reviews and increasing awareness of your business brand. Look out for my next blog which will talk about the importance to your business of setting up a "Google My Business" account.