Instagram 101 for Indie Retailers Confidently get your business started on Instagram with the help of our Instagram 101 Guide. We take you through the step-by-step process of getting started, engaging your customers, gaining an audience for your business and more. www.snapretail.com
Table of Contents Get Started with Instagram 4 Follow & Connect on Instagram 6 Develop Your Brand Through Photos 8 Expand Your Reach with Hashtags 10 Interact and Engage 11 Promote Your Instagram Presence 12 Repurpose Your Content 13 Instagram 101 for Indie Retailers Page 2
Introduction With more than 130 million monthly users, Instagram is one of the hottest social networks. Its ease-of-use and visual nature is contagious. Share your business s most photogenic moments with access to Instagram s full functionality from your smartphone. People share their favorite foods, places and products with friends and businesses alike. Aside from posting, Instagrammers search popular hashtags to interact with other users and discover new things. According to Business Insider, 90% of Instagram users are under the age of 35. Gary Vaynerchuk, social media maven and entrepreneur, says the fastest growing demographic on Instagram is between 40 and 60 years old. Small businesses can make a big impression on a diverse audience by sharing their story, products and more. More than 1,300 big name businesses are reporting success due to marketing on Instagram, according to Maximize Social Business. Consumers love the idea that products are easily accessible right where they already spend much of their time. In fact, the average user spends 257 minutes a month on Instagram, according to Maximize Social Business. Let's dive right in to find out how easy it is for your store to become active on Instagram. spends 257 mintues a month on Instagram Instagram 101 for Indie Retailers Page 3
Get Started with Instagram If you re ready to get started on Instagram, we suggest you pull out that smartphone. Although Instagram has a website, instagram.com, its smartphone application is the only place where you can create an account and post photos. The app is available in the Apple App Store or Google Play. 1 SIGN UP When you sign up for an account, you will be asked to enter your email information on the first screen. Although you have the option to log in using your Facebook credentials, we recommend doing so when creating a personal Instagram account, not one for your store. 2 CREATE A USERNAME & PASSWORD On the second screen you will enter a username and password and upload your store s logo. Create a username that is the same or similar to your other social accounts so that your customers recognize your store. If your desired username is taken, try adding your location to the end, like "mystorepgh" 3 ADD YOUR NAME & NUMBER The step on the next page is optional, however we suggest completing both fields. For the full name, use either the name of your store or store owner s name. Next, add the store s phone number to the phone number field. Instagram 101 for Indie Retailers Page 4
4 CONNECT WITH FACEBOOK & CONTACTS Instagram will again encourage you to connect your account to Facebook and to your contacts to help you find other users to follow. We recommend that you skip this step because we will focus on building your following in the next section. 5 COMPLETE YOUR PROFILE Lastly, add in details to complete your profile. Include a link to your website and a 150-character bio. We understand this is a tight character limit, but it is important to provide as much information as you can to catch the attention of people navigating to your profile. 6 INSTAGRAM MANAGERS Give your Instagram account credentials to your employees. You ll need to decide whom you would like to have help you manage your account and provide them with the username and password. Instagram 101 for Indie Retailers Page 5
Follow & Connect on Instagram Now that your Instagram account is complete, it s time to build your following and start influencing customers purchasing decisions. FOLLOW Follow local restaurants, coffee shops, boutiques, industry leaders and other relevant local businesses to show your support and build your following in return. There are two ways to find a business: usernames and relevant hashtags. Touch the magnifying glass at the bottom of the app to bring up a search bar. Type in the name of a business and, if it s on Instagram, it should appear under the Users tab. If the results for your search turn up empty, try searching their store name under the Hashtag tab. For example, if you type in #SnapRetail, it would lead us to SnapRetail s Instagram. You will find most of the accounts you want to follow by searching for their hashtags. As a local business, you should follow accounts with interests and products in common with your own. Find these businesses through common hashtags such as #ShopLocal, #SmallBiz or #IndieRetailer. Following relevant accounts will help build your following but engaging regularly will create a stronger relationship. (We ll cover more on hashtags later!) Instagram 101 for Indie Retailers Page 6
CONNECT Connect with those you follow by interacting with the images they post. You will see those photos in your Home Feed. You can access your Home Feed by tapping the icon of a house in the bottom left-hand corner of your screen. Like and comment on their photos or tag them in your posts. TAG When you want to mention another Instagram user, you can tag them by placing the @ symbol in front of their username in your caption. Another way to tag a user is by tapping Tag People below your image and description. Tap the photo where you d like to tag a user and search for their name. Once you ve found the correct account, tap their name and they ll get tagged in your post. After you ve tagged everyone you wish, tap done and you ll head back to the final screen where you can share your image. v. [tag] to link a person to a picture or video on a social network Tag those you follow in images they may want to share with their following, such as store/community events, unique promotions, sneak peeks and other news. It s a small token of neighborly love and loyalty and will create a social media bond likely to be returned. Instagram 101 for Indie Retailers Page 7
Develop Your Brand Through Photos Before you begin posting, define your overall goal for being on Instagram. Establish a vision for your brand and make it your goal to achieve that vision. Develop a posting plan for the type of content your business or store should share on Instagram. It is important to post a variety of content to keep your followers interested. J PRODUCTS Post photos of the most popular items in your store, seasonal items that sell quickly and slow sellers to help move inventory. Snap a photo of a delivery truck dropping off new arrivals or of your staff unboxing product to give your Instagram followers a sneak peek of what s to come. Make your product shots stand out with filters and additional photo editing options. f PEOPLE Faces add a personal touch to Instagram photos. According to Track Maven, Instagram posts with human faces are 38% more likely to receive likes and 32% more likely to receive comments. Take a photo of staff members and customers interacting, or on a lunch break sharing some laughs. Instagram gives you the ability to post a 15 second video, so post videos of customer testimonials, staff interviews and personal product demonstrations. Instagram 101 for Indie Retailers Page 8
NO FILTER GRAPHICS Posts that are inspirational, holiday greetings or shop local messages don t need a filter at all! While Instagram offers us all of the bells and whistles to make our photos fun and exciting, these posts are designed to look the way they are. P VIDEO Videos are limited to 15 seconds, but that's still enough time to catch your followers attention. You can film store tours, weather conditions or a new display. And you can choose a filter for videos just as you can for an image. Before you post, select a still frame for everyone to see before they press play. REGRAM Many Instagram users have taken to sharing regrams, which is done by posting a screenshot of another user s photo. It s important that you tag the original user in the post to give them credit, or ask permission before using their photo. There are several apps on the market out there such as Regram that allow you to regram posts with ease. Wouldn t it be wonderful if there was a secret formula to tell you the perfect time to post? Social Media Examiner has done the research and claims the best time to post to Instagram is at 9 p.m. on Fridays and at 9 a.m. on Mondays. As for the rest of the week, it depends on your audience. Post at different times of the day on different days of the week to find your sweet spot. Your engagement will give you the answer. Instagram 101 for Indie Retailers Page 9
Expand Your Reach with Hashtags Hashtags are social media gold when it comes to reaching a larger audience on Instagram. In fact, 83% of Instagram posts have at least one. Hashtags can bring together a group of photos under one or more keywords. A hashtag should be relevant to the post and should help describe the content. You can add one or more hashtags to your post by including the pound sign (#) in front of a word or phrase with no spaces. There is no limit on the amount of hashtags in a single post but we suggest using three to five at the most. Here, #FlashSale and #ArmCandy are being used for a current promotion on bracelets. Anyone searching for these hashtags, or for a good deal, will come across this photo. Users can also click hashtags within a post to see what others are posting about on the topic. It s a clever and simple way to help people find others who are interested in the same topics. We recommend that you use the hashtag #ShopLocal in order to celebrate your small business. Using audience-specific hashtags, like #DogLover and #Foodie, is important, as well as using hashtags that are relevant to current events or holidays. Tip: Learn more about hashtags with our Beginner s Guide to Hashtags. Download the guide to increase your brand awareness and attract new customers. Instagram 101 for Indie Retailers Page 10
Interact & Engage Because Instagram is so streamlined and image-focused, engaging and interacting with your following is easy. Below, we ve outlined a few tips to maximize your efforts. TIP 1 You can directly ask for engagement or feedback in the caption of your posts. For example, ask your followers to be the buyer and to give their opinions on something you are thinking of carrying in your store. Asking questions like this invites followers to comment and interact with your brand. TIP 2 Respond to all comments in a timely manner. Any social media account with your business s name attached to it is a representation of how you treat your customers. Responding to their comments will help generate even more conversation and buzz, too. TIP 3 Even if someone leaves a negative comment, it is important to respond. Just as you would respond on Facebook or Twitter, apologize and offer a solution. Comment back something like: We apologize for your poor experience and would like to work toward a solution as soon as possible. Please email us so we can move forward! No comment is too small or too large to be addressed. TIP 4 Interact with your competitors followers. Download JustUnfollow, and become familiar with the app and start engaging. It may take some time and brain power, but it s worth it. Instagram 101 for Indie Retailers Page 11
Promote Your Instagram Presence Simply having an Instagram account isn t enough. It takes some extra effort to spread the word and invite people to connect with you. DEDICATED EMAIL Send an email dedicated to Instagram to your email list. Announce that your business is on Instagram and invite them to follow you. Your email signature may already have links to your other social accounts, so make sure to add Instagram in there, too. The easier it is for your customers to access your account, the better. INSTAGRAM ICONS Instagram has a social icon just like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Include it on your business cards, emails and any other marketing materials that have social media information on them, such as your emails and website. The icon is easily recognized and customers will be pleased to see your brand associated with it. THE POWER OF SHARING Ask your friends, family AND fans to share your Instagram account with people they know. Word-of-mouth is still one of the most effective forms of marketing today. When people see a brand or product they like on the internet, they tell their friends. Post sharable content, tell your followers to share or add incentives for sharing, such as a discount or a prize. Instagram 101 for Indie Retailers Page 12
Repurpose Your Content Instagram has the power to make ordinary photos extraordinary with its editing features. Why not reuse them in your emails and social posts? At SnapRetail, we ve made it easy to do just that! Your SnapRetail account connects directly to Instagram so that you can use your beautiful images in emails and Facebook and Twitter posts. See how below or read more here. Log into your SnapRetail account and find the My Account section. Scroll down to Email & Social Media Accounts to connect to Instagram and your other social networks. Follow the step-by-step instructions to connect to each account. After all of your social accounts have been connected to your SnapRetail account, you ll receive confirmation! Tip: Repurpose your Instagram photos in other forms of marketing to create a consistent tone and voice. Instagram 101 for Indie Retailers Page 13
Due to restrictions with Instagram's software, you cannot schedule posts with SnapRetail, but we can sync all of your Instagram photos into your SnapRetail Image Library to use for social and email marketing. Posting the same image to all social networks gives your business a consistent voice and uniformed look, but it is important to adjust the captions to the appropriate length for each network. Not all images posted to Instagram HAVE to be posted to Facebook and Twitter, although you have the option. On your way to Instagram marketing success! Now you re ready to fully embrace Instagram and its power to take your business to the next level. Once you re past the technicalities and basics of yet another social media network, your business will be reaping the benefits in no time. With this handy Instagram 101 Guide, you ll have no gray areas when using Instagram. Take the Next Step See how easy SnapRetail makes it for your business to connect with its customers through social media, email and web presence with one dynamic platform. Request a personalized product tour today! GET STARTED Instagram 101 for Indie Retailers Page 14
Finally. An all-in-one marketing solution just for you. We know your store is important to you. So why use an online marketing solution made for just anybody? SnapRetail is the only one built with the needs and challenges of retailers in mind. GET STARTED WITH SNAPRETAIL YOU CAN: CALENDAR The Calendar gives you one place to plan, manage and execute your marketing. Schedule website updates, emails, social posts and events with ease WEBSITE The Website feature helps you build a mobile-friendly website, schedule updates automatically and create unlimited custom pages EMAIL Our drag-and-drop Email editor gives you the power to create beautiful emails effortlessly using customizable content blocks like text, image and coupon widgets SOCIAL Social integrations with Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and Twitter keep you connected to your customers with a lot less work CONTENT A ready-to-use Content library saves you time with website layouts and themes, fully written email templates and social media posts, and stock images SUPPORT Your personal consultant will Support you in achieving your online marketing goals, every step of the way 2014 snapretail.com