The 4-Point Business and Blogger Checklist for Beefing Up Your Instagram Presence

Recently passing the billion-user mark, Instagram is absolutely buzzing right now for the public at large.

And given the sheer amount of activity and money being spent on the platform, it’s no secret that businesses and marketers alike see a massive window of opportunity. From ecommerce brands and influencers to small, brick-and-mortar businesses and beyond, there’s a reason why so many businesses are laser-focused on Instagram.

Here’s the deal, though: Instagram is a totally different beast versus any other social network in terms of its best practices and quirks. Also, it has the added bonus of not having its organic reach throttled like Facebook.

And although the platform does have a relatively low learning curve, there are some special elements to pay attention to if you want a thriving presence that attracts followers and business.

Regardless of your goals or industry, the following tips are totally fair game for stepping up your Instagram presence. The best part about these tips is that they mostly require an investment of your time as opposed to cash.

Make Sure Your Company Logo Shines

First impressions matter and there’s perhaps no more important piece of imagery on Instagram than your business’ logo. After all, selfies don’t exactly signal professionalism, do they? On the flip side, a sleek Instagram icon highlights that you mean business.

In addition to being eye-popping and easy to read, there are some addition to considerations to make for your Instagram icon. According to the experts at Flashmarks, the ideal mobile logo resolution should be 300 DPI. This is critical considering that there’s almost all of your Instagram traffic will be coming from small screens.

Use Apps to Make Your Photos Pop

Although Instagram’s built-in editing features are indeed robust, you may want to look into some additional apps to make your photos stand out from the ordinary.

For example, industry staples such as VSCO offer a wide array of filters and effects that mimic that of a professional photo studio. Meanwhile, apps like Canva allow you to craft text overlay photos and image macros in a matter of minutes. Having a suite of apps on deck allows you to inject some much-needed style into your content without being a creative genius.

Experiment with New Types of Content

On a related note, switching up the type of content in your feed is a smart move for both entertaining your current followers and encouraging new ones.

Below is a quick outline of the different types of content you can post on a day-to-day basis to keep your feed fresh.

• Behind-the-scenes photos from the office
• Customer photos and user-generated content
• Inspirational quotes and photos
• Memes
• Selfies of your team “in the wild”
• Previews of your latest promotion or blog post
• Product photos or sale announcements

The beauty of Instagram is that there’s so much to experiment with.

And speaking of experimentation, also be sure to include hashtags as part of your content strategy as posts with hashtags receive more engagement than those without them. Tags make your posts searchable and therefore expose you to new followers.

Let Your Bio Be Your Call-to-Action

Your Instagram bio is incredibly valuable real estate, although many businesses overlook just how important it is. Considering that you can’t post links via content, your bio link is pretty much your sole shot for driving traffic to your site or latest promo via Instagram.

As a result of thumb, here are three must-haves for your bio to ensure a better ROI from the platform:

• A branded hashtag for followers to use to engage with your content
• A quote or tagline that reinforces your brand
• An invitation to check out your site or a new promotion

As a side note, taking advantage of URL shorteners such Bitly is a good idea for your Instagram bio so you can better track your links. Stylized, shortened URLs also look more clean and inviting versus generic ones, anyhow.

Instagram may be one-of-a-kind in terms of social networks, but what it takes to beef up your presence isn’t a total mystery. If you’ve been looking to squeeze more out of your Instagram account for your business or brand, start with these tips and build from there.