For businesses these days, having no social media presence comes at a cost. Not only do you miss out on opportunities to communicate important news and promotions to your customers inexpensively, you also run the risk of missing out on being able to reach out to potential new customers. These customers may also be the sort of people you would not normally be able to reach using traditional – and often outdated – marketing channels.
On the flipside, however, savvy social media users are increasingly tuning out when they come across business social media accounts especially Instagram accounts. Too often, they are seen as ‘too corporate’ and inauthentic – and most certainly, not the sort of accounts that customers are too keen to follow, let alone engage with. The most successful business Instagram accounts defy these issues simply by injecting personality (and thus, authenticity) to their feeds. If you are a business owner who is running your business’ Instagram account, here are some ways that you can help add some personality to your feeds:
got a set of beautiful professional photos? Great! Instagram is definitely all about showcasing your goods in a presentable manner – the better your photos are, the more your audience is likely to be interested in your brand. However, the old adage ‘too much of a good thing’ applies here: a feed showcasing the same, albeit striking, photos can get a bit dull over time. Consequently, your feed becomes too uniform and too boring. Solution: add some random photos into the mix. By random, we mean regrams of items that are directly or indirectly related to your offerings or a meme that is relevant to your business.
customers respond well to funny captions, thus increasing engagement so feel free to use humour. Depending on your brand’s tone, you may get away with being a little cheeky but don’t go overboard or make controversial statements (unless, of course, you want to alienate potential customers).
The best and most effective way to shape a brand’s personality is to have conversations with customers, both existing and potential ones. This is also a great way for you to promote your offerings or services. Be careful though: engaging in an authentic manner without sounding too contrived or seem like you’re spruiking can be tricky. The best way to avoid this is to talk to customers like they’re good friends; this can take time and practice but we can assist you with this as our team are experts at this after doing this for years.
It also goes without saying that you need a well-planned social media strategy to facilitate all this. At Crackling Media, we can help you create or redefine your social media strategy as well as ensure that your business Instagram account has a personality of its own. If you’d like us to assist you with this, drop us a line and we can give you a no obligation free consultation.