There are 1 billion users on Instagram every month. And while the majority of them don’t live in Ireland, it’s still a statistic you can’t ignore.
Learning how to promote on Instagram is an increasingly important tool, even when you’re targeting the local population.
In this article, we’ll go over some of the ways you can engage and attract a local audience by harnessing social media and some of the great opportunities it can provide.
Read on for an in-depth run down.
Gone are the days of uploading a grainy image of your pets and having that pass as acceptable for Instagram. Instead, in order to attract a meaningful audience, you’ll need meaningful content.
This also means you’ll have to step up your photography game or use quality stock photos. You’ll want your feed to look aesthetically pleasing, as this is incredibly important when it comes to who Instagram users will choose to follow.
Hire someone on your team who has a knack for photography and put running the Instagram in their job description.
If you can’t do this, consider hiring a photographer every now and then to do some great and productive shoots. If you’re a restaurant, for example, you’ll want pictures of the atmosphere, the food, and the chefs, but you don’t want amateur snapshots.
Hiring a professional for a full day shoot can also give you content for weeks or months to come, and it is well worth the investment if you want to grow your Instagram.
You know you want to promote your store or product to people in your local area. But, who do you specifically want to promote it to? You’ll need to know this in order to have any kind of meaningful engagement on Instagram.
One way many companies do this is to have what they call a customer profile. You’ll sit down with your marketing team and discuss the ideal customer, down to their age, habits, and location.
Using this information can help you when it comes to deciding whom to target.
Browse other local businesses and take note of the hashtags they use. You may also want to consider looking at local tourism authorities and the hashtags they use to promote tourism to your city or town.
When posting a photo, don’t forget to add these hashtags. They’re a perfect way for locals to find things to do in their city and discover things they didn’t already know. Additionally, it can help people who are coming to your city on holiday to discover your business.
While you’ll want local repeat customers, tourists are also valuable as well. Local hashtags can help them find you as they plan out their holiday.
Many Instagram accounts have a feed theme. This doesn’t mean that all of the pictures have to be of one or two things or that they all have to be one colour, but they should be cohesive.
This means that if someone clicks on your profile, the pictures shouldn’t clash with one another.
There are several apps, such as ColorStory, that allow you to preview how a photo will look on your feed before you upload it. This way, you can make sure that the photo is the perfect fit and won’t look out of place next to the other photos.
A professionally created and cohesive theme will make people take your business seriously.
Many businesses begrudge having to use ads to get their media out on Instagram, but it can be a powerful way to reach a local audience. Armed with your customer profile, you can specifically target people whom you would like to patronise your business.
Instagram ads don’t have to be incredibly expensive. You can spend around €25 and still reach a rather wide audience on a photo. In some cases, that small budget will reach 10,000 Instagram accounts showing them all your photo.
While we know this doesn’t mean 10,000 people will actually click on your account or visit your business, it does plant a seed in their heads. And if you ensure you pop up on their feed often enough, they may decide to pay you a visit.
In some Irish towns, 10,000 Instagram accounts may actually account for the entire town. So it really isn’t a bad deal.
Additionally, if your Instagram looks polished, many of those people who see your photo will check out your Instagram and decide to follow you. People like beautiful Instagram feeds, so regardless of your product, there will be people interested in you just because of your photos.
While you want your core audience to be from your area, Ireland also relies heavily on tourism. As such, your Instagram shouldn’t neglect people coming to Ireland on holiday, especially if you live in an urban area or one where there are lots of visitors. Let them know you offer an authentic experience or something else visitors might be inclined to find interesting about your business.
How to promote on Instagram is not an exact science. Instead, you’ll need to try and fail a few times before you find the sweet spot that works for your business.
If you’re looking to create a new website for your business, see our article on choosing a .irish or .ie domain name.
