Eric Butow - Instagram For Business For Dummies

FIGURE 2-10:Instagram users view your business profile with these added features.

Chapter 3

IN THIS CHAPTER

Establishing business goals and social media team roles

Researching your competition for ideas for posts

Choosing the best scheduling and analytics platforms for your business needs

You can take fabulous photos and create cute graphics to promote your business on Instagram all day long, but putting a plan in place is crucial for true success. If it seems like there's no rhyme or reason to the posts from some businesses, it's because there isn't. But you're different. You want to do it right, which is why you're reading this book.

In this chapter, you start by determining your business goals and deciding whether you need a team to fulfill them. Then you find out how to gather post ideas by researching your competition, determining the different types of posts, and putting your content into an organized content schedule. Finally, the chapter gets more techie, showing you how to schedule and analyze your posts to save time and create a more successful campaign.

Before you dive deeply into how to take the perfect Insta-awesome photo, you should establish your business goals for the account. Instagram is a wonderful platform, but it's best to know your business reasons for joining before you start posting.

Here are some of the top reasons why businesses join Instagram:

Brand awareness: Make your brand recognized by potential customers.

Engagement: Meet and interact with your potential customers.

Increase web traffic: Drive traffic to your website or blog.

Content distribution: Disseminate useful information about your product.

Lead generation: Collect data for list building and sales prospecting.

Community building: Gather a community of people who love and engage with your brand.

Customer support: Answer questions, field complaints, and accept compliments.

Of the seven business reasons for using Instagram, you might have only one or you might have them all! The number of reasons you choose dictates the roles and responsibilities in managing your account. And your budget plays a big role in determining whether you or a team shoulder those responsibilities. Regardless of the number of people, certain functions must be established for your business to be successful on Instagram.

Generally, the social media manager is responsible for the account's big picture. In regards to your business goals, the social media manager plans the strategy of the account and might assist in hiring team members for the other roles (discussed next). The social media manager also creates the account, manages passwords, and sets up the profile page. Details on how to do all these tasks are in Chapters 1and 2. If you're a one-person team, you'll take on the role of social media manager and all the other roles described in this section.

The content creator creates and organizes all content to be shared in the account. It's best if the content creator has experience with photography and graphic design because Instagram is visual and success on the platform requires professional imagery. The content creator may also be responsible for posting, scheduling, and storing posts to be shared later. Details about creating a content calendar are detailed later in this chapter.

The community manager is in charge of engagement. This person should be regularly following other accounts, and liking and commenting on posts from other Instagrammers. A community manager should be actively listening to your audience and those in your online community so he or she can anticipate problems or take advantage of opportunities to promote the brand. The community manager is the PR arm of your Instagram account.

Promotions, contests, and giveaways are used to attract more followers. The campaign manager manages them all. A promotion might include paid advertising or working with other accounts for shared exposure. The campaign manager works closely with the content creator, often providing a storyboard of ideas.

The analytics manager tracks all data in the account. Followers, post performance, campaign results, hashtag winners, you name it — the analytics manager tracks it. After this data is collected, the analytics manager shares it with the team so they can make informed decisions about what is and isn't working.

Does your brand have a consistent voice? For instance, if someone doesn't see your physical branding (logo, colors, imagery), could he or she recognize that the content was from you simply by the words that were written?

Establishing a consistent brand voice is important, especially if you have several content creators. Here’s how to get started:

Review several samples of your content and pull the pieces that you feel best represent what you (and your team, if you have one) want to convey as your brand. Figure out what they all have in common. Also note which items don’t fit so you'll know what you don’t want your brand voice to sound like.

Choose three words that best describe your brand from the pile of sample content. For instance, a daycare might choose nurturing, diverse, and joyful. Then further break down how these words will be expressed by your brand. For example:Nurturing: Loving, safe, cuddly, warm, kind, patientDiverse: Multiple programs, cultural awareness, inclusiveJoyful: Happy, fun, musical, laughter

If you have a team, ensure that they're on board with the brand voice and the associated words. Show them your favorite pieces of content that embody these words so they have a good understanding about how you want them used.

Review your brand voice at least every six months to make sure it's still working. Look over a large sample of content to see how your brand voice has been carried out, and adjust anything that isn't working. You may even discover a new word that you'd like to incorporate!

After you have an understanding of your brand’s voice, it’s time to work on your brand's look. Although most people consider the logo to be the main element of a brand, you need to consider a lot more. In the context of Instagram, your content, not the logo, is usually the focal point of your profile. However, your logo makes a good starting point upon which to base other elements.

A logo is a distinctive symbol that the public can easily identify as part of your brand. Think of some of the brands you see regularly, such as Target, Apple, and Starbucks. One look at their logo and you instantly know which company is represented.

Logos can be designed in a variety of ways: