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Instagram is a wonderful tool for you to engage with your customers, no matter how small or large your business is. I’ve run instagram accounts for multiple businesses and I’ve found that with some businesses, it’s easier to come up with Instagram posts; for example, if you run a restaurant you can post photos of your food, if you make jewelry you can post photos of your jewelry, etc.
But what if your business is something that doesn’t necessarily lend itself well to Instagram? You might think then that you don’t need an Instagram, but I would warn against that. If you run a business you’re going to want to get your name & brand out in any way you can and having an instagram is a free service. Free advertising is hard to come by.
But you might be wondering how to come up with content for your instagram. Well, here are things I have done in the past when I have wanted to update my instagram with businesses that didn’t lend itself as well to instagram:
- Sales posts: You can make graphics showing off any sale you have going. This is a great way to let customers know about your sales and a great way to push any type of flash sale you want to run.
- Quotes posts: There are multiple apps that help you create posts with photos & famous quotes. You can go for a generic uplifting quote, or you could try to fit it around your brand. For example, if you run your own tutoring business, then find a quote that has to do with education or, if you tutor children, find a quote about the importance of helping children. Make your quote uplifting and it can make people feel more warmly about your product.
- National day posts: I love to look at the National Day Calendar to get inspiration for instagram posts. I look through the “National Days” and try to find one that could work with the genre of my instagram. For example, take July 11th. It’s National Cheer Up the Lonely Day, National Rainier Cherry Day, National Blueberry Muffin Day, National All American Pet Photo Day, National Mojito Day and National 7-11 Day. Now let’s say you run a massage therapy business. Your picture could be of your service (like someone getting a massage) or a gift card and your caption could read something like “Since it’s #NationalCheerUpTheLonelyDay how about give someone you love who’s having a hard time the gift of a much needed massage?” or something along those lines.
- Get creative with your angles: If you only have a few products but you want to create more posts, take pictures of the same product from multiple angles to add more variety to your instagram page.
- Tell your story: If you feel like your service isn’t something that would work well in photos, like a tax preparation business, then use your instagram to sell yourself. Post pictures of yourself, you with your children, spouse, parents, bff, sibling, dog, whoever it is that makes an influence in your life and then use the space for the caption to talk about yourself. Remember, a big reason why someone will choose you is if they feel connected to you, so if you have a great story to tell – like what made you want to start this business, adversity you had to overcome, feedback you got from a customer that made a difference in your life – people can read it and then become more loyal to your product.
