Best Instagram Marketing Tips for Startups

With the spread of the Covid-19, both businesses and people have turned more toward the digital world. Businesses find online platforms more convenient for selling their products because people search through them instead of doing physical shopping. In addition, new startups have emerged to make great use of current conditions.

As a result, there has been a competitive atmosphere since at least the beginning of 2021. Therefore, as a startup, you should use the necessary tools for startups and learn the best marketing tips to make your business stand out among others and find your way to success.

Why Sell on Instagram?

Well, give us a reason why should you not! There are millions of monthly active users on Instagram which means that you can get a huge lot of customers for your startup. It is already an advantage for your business if you compare it with the opportunities of traditional businesses.

Another reason can be the fact that selling on Instagram needs less budget than many other methods. You do not have to pay in order to get your products sold unless you choose to advertise on Instagram. Advertising on Instagram can be either through Instagram ads or influencers. Either way, it is you who decide on the budget. Therefore, Instagram is not only cost-efficient but also profitable for your startup.

Best Instagram Marketing Tips for Startups

In this article, you will learn the ways you can establish your startup brand on Instagram. Remember that each strategy is important to get you closer to your goals.

1. Post Regularly

First of all, you should always be there on your followers’ feed. This tip necessitates you to have a bunch of creative content all the time so that you can post them once or twice a day. Posting regularly increases your engagement because the frequency of encountering your posts gets higher in number. However, posting regularly should not force you to post whatever content. Rather, you should spend time and think of creative ideas, trends, etc. to post on your feed.

2. Interact with Your Followers

As mentioned, your constant presence on Instagram increases your followers’ engagement. By posting the content that your followers like, you can build up strong relationships with them. But how to know what they like? It is easy. You should check the analytics of each post in your Instagram analytics. Then, you can realize which of your posts have been more welcomed.

Another way to interact with your followers is to ask about their opinion or encourage them to leave a comment for your post. Therefore, they will start a conversation and you will get a lot of comments regarding the number of your followers. If you do not have a large follower base for your account yet, you can get organic followers using Instagram follower apps.

Here is an example of engaging caption by @travellingthroughthew:

3. Inspire Followers and Create Trust

Posting only about your products or services can be frustrating to your followers. It is much better if you can include other types of posts so that you add value to your followers. Think of strong quotations, life stories, health improvement tips, etc. based on the facts and nature of your startup business. Try to find a way to influence their personal lives and mentalities. Inspiring them can result in their trust in you.

4. Add a Bio-Link

When a newcomer visits your profile, the first thing they encounter is your bio and feed. Your feed should be so attractive that makes them want to tap the ‘Follow’ button. The attractiveness of your profile comes from both the content and the theme color of your feed. If you have a logo, you can choose its color for the dominant color of your posts.

When it comes to your Instagram bio, you should be concise and to-the-point. You should describe your business in a few words and say how you can help others with your products or services. In addition, Instagram allows you to add one link to your bio. Therefore, you can add your website link to your bio if you have already developed one. However, there are some AI tools that allow you to add more than one link to your Instagram bio if you want to add the links to your other social media.

Here is an example of an Instagram profile and a bio link by @nutella:

There’s a lot more that you can do with your Instagram profile beyond adding a compelling link.

For readers who want to go the extra mile, do some research on Instagram bio ideas to see what other brands are doing to liven up their social media presence.

5. Run Contests/Giveaways

Modern people like taking part in competition especially if there is a reward in the end. Therefore, you can affiliate your business to the behavioral characteristics of your audience and organize contests or giveaways on your Instagram account. Remember to keep them easy to participate in and easy to understand. As for the prize, you can either offer a promo code, one of your products, a free trial for your service, etc. or ask another brand to sponsor the prize.

Contests and giveaways are more or less the same with respect to the function. They both encourage competition and give a prize away in the end. Moreover, you can make great use of the User-Generated Content (UGC) that follows the course of your plan.

Here is an example of Instagram giveaway by @fabletics:

6. Organize Limited Offers and Promotions

One way to attract more audience to your startup business or increase your customer base is to offer promo codes and discounts for a limited time. People find offers tempting and many of them cannot resist them. This is why Black Friday is so popular in all countries.

When you organize an offering plan, it can get so popular with your followers and there is a chance that they share your offer with many of their friends. Accordingly, your post will be viewed many times. So, you will sell a lot and your Instagram account is likely to get many new followers. What is better than high sales and great engagement for a startup business?

7. Collaborate with Influencers

As mentioned at the beginning of this article, you can advertise your brand and products or services through partnerships with Instagram influencers. Regarding your budget, you can choose a micro or macro-influencer for promoting your startup business.

They have strong ties with their followers and know how to influence them to do something, i. e. buy a product. Therefore, it is a big mistake to limit an influencer and dictate them to say exactly what you want. Leave them free to promote the way they think is better and wait for the results.

Here is an example of influencer marketing by @sephora with @patrickstarrr:

8. Use Shoppable Posts

Shoppable posts are available to accounts with approved Instagram Shopping. It is a feature that allows you to add clickable posts. The procedure is easy. First, you choose a photo of your product and tag your products on it. Then, you share it and your followers can see the name and price of each product that is in the photo. If they tap on one of the tags, they will be directed to your products page on Instagram and can directly complete their purchase there.

Remember that shoppable posts are only available to accounts with more than 10k followers. Here is an example of Instagram Shopping by @wetnwilditalia:

Conclusion

Advancements in technology and the changes in people’s lives due to the Covid-19 pandemic have caused the sudden emergence of startups and the change in the previous methods of other businesses. Accordingly, there are many businesses now in the digital market which are looking to have more sales to compensate for the destructive effects of the virus. Therefore, it takes a lot of effort for you as a startup owner to get yourself known in the digital world using startup tools.

Instagram is a fertile land where you can invest time and energy and wait for the results. Keeping up with the Instagram marketing tips above can help you to be successful on Instagram and grow your business. Wish you the best of luck!