Today, Instagram has become the perfect space for all kinds of companies to make themselves known and have a place to connect with their audience. It is a platform with very active users that helps you find new potential clients and grow your small business on Instagram in 2023.

To grow your small business on Instagram from scratch, we must first know how its business model works and how we should act on this platform.

What is Instagram

Instagram is a platform or social network that allows you to share photos and videos through its mobile application. You can grab, edit, and post visual content for your followers to engage with by liking, commenting, and posting to their stories.

Instagram is a completely visual platform. Unlike Facebook, which is either text, link, or image-based, or Twitter, which is text-only with the option to add media or links, Instagram’s sole purpose is to allow users to share images or videos with their audience.

It seems like everyone is on Instagram these days to grow their small business on Instagram (primarily young people), from small businesses to large ones, news organizations to cultural institutions, celebrities, photographers, and musicians.

How does the Instagram Algorithm work

The truth is that it is not known exactly how it works, but one thing is clear: the Instagram algorithm wants to know that you like it, that you pay attention to it, or that you give it importance to show you more similar content or to show the same content that you like.

Two people can follow the same 100 accounts, but the posts you both see are going to be totally different because Instagram prioritizes what the algorithm predicts you’re going to like.

If you have 1,000 followers and you post something, it may only be seen by 100 followers. And that’s why Instagram shows you stories from your ex or crush in the first place.

So what we should know is that the fact that a person follows us does not mean that they will see our publications.

Instagram first shows a small group and, according to the reactions of those people, decides if it is relevant to show more people. And show the people who showed the most interest in your profile first.

How does Instagram know what you like

  • Searches
  • Likes and comments
  • Shipping and saving
  • Profile visits
  • Interaction in the stories

Your followers indicate how many people were interested in you at some point, but not how many people are interested in you today.

How to earn a reputation for the Instagram algorithm

  • Be real. It shows that there is a person behind.
  • Follow accounts that matter to you.
  • Like posts.
  • Comment from time to time.
  • Save or send posts.
  • Spend time on the platform.
  • Watch stories.
  • Don’t buy followers.
  • Do not participate in the dynamics of following me and I follow you.

What takes away your reputation

  • Use third-party apps or plugins
  • spam
  • Mass follow/unfollow
  • delete your posts
  • Change the description of the posts
  • Fake followers
  • Other things they monitor:
  • If the content is new or reposted
  • The date the content or photos were created
  • If a comment/message is copy+paste
  • Reallocation
  • If you have fake followers
  • If you haven’t connected for a long time

What to Post on Instagram to Grow Your Small Business

In the feed, we can publish images, videos, or carousels. A carousel is a sequence of up to 10 slides, photos, or videos. The videos can have a maximum duration of 1 min.

Use all the resources.

  • A good description helps to retain people longer, which will indicate to the algorithm that it is attracting their attention.
  • Hashtags help other people find us. Use less competitive hashtags to position yourself better. Massively used hashtags are usually more difficult to position.
  • If it is correct, we can mention the people that appear in that publication or other brands if it is appropriate.
  • Location can help us connect with other people in the same place.
  • You can also post stories, make live videos, and post long videos on IGTV or Reels.

How much and when to post on Instagram

How much depends on one hand on your budget and time. The important thing is consistency. The recommended minimum is 3 per week in the feed and more frequently in the stories.

More quality content has to go in the feed and in the stories. We can publish more everyday issues such as behind scenes, photos of clients, and even clarify doubts or interact with followers.

Post when your audience spends the most time online by looking at your audience stats. There are people who recommend specific days and times, and it is recommended that you be guided based on your own audience.

How to get more followers on Instagram

If we have to summarize it in a few words, we can say that everything is about creating quality content, content designed to entertain or generate utility for our followers.

But there are many details that we have to take into account, such as publishing when they are more active, asking something in the content so that they feel more involved, and commenting, so we also improve our engagement.

The goal should be to provoke emotions and if you can create content that is consumed slowly, the more time a user spends looking at a post, it sends a signal to the algorithm that the content is attractive.

Contests, giveaways, and DIY posts work better than regular posts. Although the instinct is to publish photos of products if we have a small business, the themes or types of publications that work best on Instagram are others:

  1. DIYs: DIY techniques shared on Instagram are attractive and often help you gain more followers.
  2. Contests or games: One of the oldest strategies, these posts still have people lining up to join.
  3. Sweepstakes: These publications generate a lot of participation, although they do not always build loyalty.
  4. Tutorials: A great way to share some of the knowledge with the audience. Images that show your interaction with customers or the community are also recommended. Humanize the brand, show the pet that accompanies you to your workplace, write reflections, and, above all, not focus only on selling.

Also Read – 15 Best Instagram tools and apps for growing followers

Make use of all available Instagram content formats

Instagram allows a variety of content formats on its pages. In addition to photo or video posts, you can try using the other formats available to engage customers and create the brand recognition you want to create. 

Instagram Stories

They are used to post various types of content and are a fun way to entertain followers. Stories are used to share less relevant content as it stays on the page for 24 hours. Let’s take a look at how you can take advantage of Instagram stories

  • Boost your posts: You can share your posts to stories, which allows more visibility for your standard photo posts, and feed posts don’t always reach everyone. 
  • Ask a question: used to attract and interact with customers to build trust and generate more sales, showing that you care about their opinion. 
  • Create a survey or questionnaire: This is, again, a useful method of attracting customers. You can use surveys to understand customer views and opinions. 
  • You can also add your website links to your stories or tag products from your store on Instagram. 

Highlights

You can think of highlights as permanent stories. They are displayed at the top of your page and are an effective content format for displaying important content on your page.

Highlights are used to communicate important information, showcase products customer photos, and answer frequently asked questions. 

IGTV

Instagram allowed videos of a maximum of 60 seconds, while stories have a 15-second time limit. IGTV solved this problem for users by allowing verified users to post 60-minute videos. For all other users, allow the maximum duration of 10 minutes. 

You can post product description videos of customer reviews, answer frequently asked questions, or showcase your success stories. This feature allows you to be creative and engage the audience on your IGTV channel.

Instagram Live

Instagram Live is also a very useful feature that allows you to engage with your audience in real-time. Viewers can comment and share their thoughts on your live sessions and ask their questions, which you can answer directly.

You can also invite people to your channel, talk to them about your product, and let them in. This will help you build a personal connection with your audience. 

Reels

Instagram Reels are short videos that can be creatively edited on the platform. In summary, it is a copy of Tik Tok. Brands can also use that for short and entertaining content.

Conclusion

To conclude this complete guide to grow a small business on Instagram, we have explained everything so that you can go step by step to build an optimized Instagram marketing strategy for your small business or personal brand on Instagram.

More Related Articles: