How You Can Use Instagram to Improve Your Business’s Networking Opportunities

While we often think of LinkedIn or Twitter as the social platforms to network on, Instagram can hold its own weight as well. Depending on your industry, the photosharing app can help you engage on a b2b level more than you might imagine. That’s why we’re giving you a few key points to get started.

Cleaning Yourself Up For The Gram

A cornerstone of getting yourself in a position to network on Instagram is a page that looks like an attractive opportunity. According to Brandwatch, there are over 25 million brands on Instagram, which is why it can be tough to stick out. When factoring in how many of those companies already have a strong base for their industry, competing against them can seem not even worth trying. However, you’d be surprised at what proper branding can do for your inbound Instagram engagement.

The best way to create a brand that will be successful on Instagram is to determine how your brand stands outside of social media. Would it be worth it for someone else to Instagram it? Your brand has a life of its own, and it’s important to gauge what the perception of that life is. You don’t have to change the world, but the image you should be portraying is that there’s a mission to what you’re doing and you’re the best at doing it.

Talking About The Industry

Networking in your industry requires not only talking about it but being a conversation starter. Remember, people view your brand as its own living, breathing entity, which means that they want to hear its perspective on what’s happening around the industry and less about self-promotion. In fact, 45 percent of consumers will unfollow a brand if they are too self-promotional. If you want to start engaging more, it’s a good idea to start conversations about the industry.

In looking at your current content on Instagram, ask yourself what type of materials you’re producing that gets a response, including if you have any series or limited runs. A smart way to think about response strategies is by looking at things that aren’t necessarily a question, but do pose one; for example, if your business worked in blockchain security, then periodically offering five points of insight on what you feel like the future of stable coins should be based on the perspective of the security industry. At the core, your goal should be to produce topics that you would want to engage with on Instagram.

Give Your Reputation A Boost

As unfortunate as it sounds, people don’t like to follow or engage much with unpopular accounts. While there are some exceptions to the rule, the majority of people are going to want to follow a page that has a base they feel matches the size of the company. Otherwise, there’s just too much competition because as noted by Sprout Social, 80 percent of Instagram users follow a business, which goes to show how easy it is to be overlooked. However, that’s why it’s important to give yourself a little boost.

Although you want to avoid straight up buying followers, it is wise to look into some Instagram tools that can increase engagement. For example, agencies like https://www.socialsteeze.net/ can help you gain real followers from your niche industry. You should also look into productivity tools that help you with basic upkeep of Instagram. A little bit of maintenance can go a long way, and definitely should be toward the top of your priority list.

Keep Conversing

A significant part of keeping the conversation going and creating networking opportunities is to keep conversing day-in and day-out. While that might sound obvious, you’d be surprised how many people start posting more only to become discouraged when things don’t work out quickly. The secret to growing your audience is to consistently post, giving yourself a steady volume of content and conversation.

A smart strategy to consider is setting a calendar reminder to like or comment (as long as it’s genuine) on some of your feed a few times per day. Don’t forget to compare yourself to averages periodically (especially for your follower count), for example, as noted by Scrunch, the average for a normal follower count is between 1 to 3.5 percent, which varies depending on the number of followers you have and the types of content you producer per your industry. It can be concerning if your content never pops, so try to run audits of what you can improve. With the right drive, you’ll find that networking on Instagram can be just as simple as networking in real life.

What are some ways you’ve used Instagram to start networking successfully?