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Instagram for Brands

Overview, Best Practices, and Checklist

I. Overview

Instagram is a social networking service that provides brands with the capability to visually share their

story with the world. Engaging with current and potential customers on Instagram is as simple as

uploading a photo or video with the proper hashtags and content relevant to the brand.

II. Best Practices

• Build Your Profile

o Create a user name that directly relates to or is your company’s name. We recommend

the same username you've used for other social networks to stay consistent across all

channels.

o Select a profile picture that represents your company, whether it is the logo or your best

selling product.

o Create a short bio for your profile, complete with the URL to your website. This will be

one of the first places visitors look to get an understanding of what your brand is about.

o Upload content (photos and video) to give people a complete look at your

brand/company.

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• Connect with Your Customer

o Know your audience.

o Add an Instagram icon on other social media profiles and your website to link to your

Instagram profile.

o Encourage your followers to visit your Instagram profile and begin to follow you.

o Conduct research to determine optimum posting times to ensure you’re getting the best

results on each post. This information can be found through Statigr.am (an Instagram

analytics site).

Engage Your Audience

o This is a great place to showcase your business, products, etc. Upload quality images

and videos that follow Instagram's artsy and organic style to catch your followers’ eyes.

o Run contests that require the use of hashtags (always research your hashtag – make sure

it isn’t already being used and that the word(s) in the hashtag are being searched).

o Answer your followers.

Your followers will comment and ask questions. Provide meaningful replies,

incorporating advice, tips and answers.

Always be honest with your customers/followers. For instance, when you don’t

have an answer at the time a question is asked, it is best to express that you are

working on getting the information rather than not responding.

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If there is ever a serious issue, ask for your customers direct contact information and

speak with them privately.

Always acknowledge and thank your customers. They’re your biggest fans.

III. Instagram Checklist

☐ Check Statigr.am regularly to be sure you’re posting at the best times.

☐ Use of a content calendar to stay organized (see below for an example)

☐ Cross-promote your Instagram account and posts on other social media profiles (Twitter and

Facebook.).

☐ Be sure to keep the image of your brand consistent.

☐ Always check your hashtags to see how they’re being used and/or are using searchable terms.

IV. Sample Instagram Content Calendar

Keeping yourself organized will help you manage multiple accounts and social media marketing

campaigns. Check out this simple yet effective content calendar layout that we recommend you

incorporate into your day-to-day.

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When creating your content calendar, be sure to include the following:

Date

Image

Caption

Hashtags

Enter URL of published image/video

Please note this content calendar was easily made in an Excel spreadsheet. There are many options

out there when creating a content calendar. Be sure to research the different options to determine

which would work best for you.