At KWSM, we always stress the importance of telling the story of your business, whether it’s offline or through online platforms like social media channels. And, what better way to tell the story of your business than through a series of beautiful photos? Instagram has been climbing the ranks of social media channels lately, with its integration into Facebook and addition of video recording, and there’s no better time than now to harness all of its features to tell the story of your business. Here are three tips to help you get started with Instagram:
Keep it business: If you’re representing your company, make sure that you don’t post your personal photos on the Instagram account (unless it really is business-related, of course). Your business’ Instagram should be representative of everyone and the company as a whole, so try to take a lot of pictures of what’s going on in and around the office and of other employees too. If this is too much work for you, try to get other people involved by having them send snapshots to you so you can upload their photos through Instagram. Or, try encouraging everyone to take some time out of their day to log onto the company Instagram account and take a photo every couple of days.
Remember to tell your story: Random photos of your breakfast? Snapshots of your shoes? That’s great, but are these really contributing to the story of your business? Unless you can turn an ordinary object into something interesting, funny, beautiful or compelling using good photography skills and Instagram filters, skip it. Excellent things to take Instagram photos would be company events, product launches or daily behind-the-scenes company action. Remember that good stories always contain people, so incorporate more of your co-workers and employees into your Instagram photos!
Use hashtags and geotags: Hashtags are a word or phrase with a “#” prefix that allows images to be more searchable. They are a powerful way for your photos–and your company–to be found on Instagram. Use plenty of relevant hashtags for your photos. And don’t use too many hashtags, or else your photos will start looking spammy. Geotagging your photos lets you tag your photo’s location and share with everyone where you are. Once you tag your location, your photo will be linked to the location and other Instagram users can find you when they search for that location. For example, if you attend a conference, you can geotag the venue and other attendees will be able to find your photo and connect with you.
Are you using Instagram for your business? Follow our Instagram here!
