If you recently opened your business, or if you want to expand your already existing business, opening a social media account is the way to go!
Social Media accounts are a low-cost and efficient way to get more customers and promote your business. Besides, many people already have the skills necessary to use social media since this is a big part of our lives nowadays.
If you feel like you don’t understand well enough how to manage your small business's social media, or if you want to improve your page, count on us to help you!
1. Create a business account
Instagram makes it easy for you to create a business account. You should start by creating a personal account, and then switch to a business account (if you want to learn more, click here https://business.instagram.com/getting-started ).
After you create your account, focus on choosing your profile picture (it could be the logo of your small business, a picture of your product/service, or anything that makes it easy for the public to identify your business).
Also choose a bio description that talks about your product/services, and in a few words, explain what your business does. Don’t forget to add your physical address (if you have one) and your email (and/or cellphone) so that possible customers can reach you easily.
2. Decide on a strategy
Having a social media account is much more than only creating one. You should decide how your business is going to approach the public online. That includes defining your audience (what kind of people will be interested in your product) how often you are going to post (every day? or every week?), and what kind of posts you will post (stories? Videos? regular posts? Carousels?). If that seems overwhelming, you can start by looking at other businesses’ Instagram pages. Check their posts and try to understand their strategy. You can either use a similar approach or come up with your own. What matters is trying to understand what your audience wants to see from your page.
3. Track your performance metrics
Knowing how well (or poorly) your business page is doing is important so you can adjust your Instagram approach. For beginners, I would suggest that you pay attention to 3 main metrics:
- Impressions: Number of people who see your post
- Engagement: Number of people who react to your post (like, share, comment, etc.)
- Engagement Rate: Engagement/Impressions
If any of your metrics is not as good as you think it should be, you must adapt your strategy to it. Don’t forget to compare your metrics to the metrics of the industry. Also, notice what posts tend to perform better on Instagram, and post more of those!
Tracking your metrics is like getting a response from your followers; it says a lot about the quality of your posts and your product/service.
4. Engage with your followers
Don’t forget that social media is made to be a way of communicating with people. Don’t let your page be a one-way conversation (only your business posting). Ask and take feedback, respond to customer comments and questions, and like posts too! The more you interact on your Instagram, the more your business will show up on people’s pages. Interacting with the public on Instagram is also a way of showing that you care about what they think and that your business is willing to adapt to your customers' needs.
5. Next steps
Instagram is supposed to be fun! Let your business grow and adapt to the changes in social media and your followers. If you have any questions, or if you need any help with your Instagram page, please contact us at duqsbdc@duq.edu.
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