Instagram Basics for B2Bs
By Rachel Peck
B2B organizations have started slowly migrating over to Instagram as a social media channel over the past few years as communications professionals began to realize the immense opportunities for exposure. However, it’s not enough to just start an account and post a few images. The more you know, the better you can take advantage of the variety of benefits Instagram can offer. Don’t let B2Cs have all the fun – Instagram is a great audience building and authentic channel that B2Bs should be investing in. Here are Eclipse Media Group’s Instagram basics for B2Bs.
“Link in bio.”
If you’re an avid (or new) Instagram user, chances are you’ve seen this sentence a time or two. Why is this important? Because unlike other social media channels, links placed into Instagram captions are not clickable. They are for show only and therefore do not belong in a caption. Don’t worry, there’s a place for your links. You guessed it – it’s in the bio section of your profile. All you’ll need to do is shorten your link using Bitly (or another link tool) and update it in your profile. You can leave it there for as long as you like, or change it the next time you post with new content. This allows you to keep your content fresh, while placing a call to action in your caption and driving conversions to your website.
Stay away from vanity metrics
What are vanity metrics? They are the number of users who “like” your posts, or click on your links, etc. What you should be tracking instead is your engagement rate and your follower numbers. While increases and decreases in followers are easy enough to find, your engagement rate can be found in your account’s “Insights.” Here you can keep tabs on important numbers, such as the engagement rate for both your posts and your Instagram Stories, but also track your content impressions and website traffic.
Analyze it
Like we mentioned previously, if your B2B has an official Business Profile (different from a personal one) you’ll have access to helpful analytics with the Insights feature. How does this help you? Like with any other social media channel you’ll want to be able to measure and track your success, identify areas of improvement and use this data to plan future posts. Additionally, each Instagram post on your feed has individual insights, which track impressions, shares and the number of clicks to your profile.
Don’t forget the Stories
It’s easy to ignore this feature as a B2B, because it’s thought to mostly benefit B2Cs and personal accounts. However, not utilizing it is a rookie mistake. As a feature, it’s very simple to use and can lead to big results in content engagement. It’s also an easy way to connect on a more personal level with your audience and potential customers. Celebrate a company milestone, or highlight a staff member by scheduling an Instagram takeover in your stories. Test your customer’s knowledge with a Q&A, or a quiz. There are many opportunities for engaging through stories that require little time and effort – an added benefit for B2Bs who are new to social media.
If you’re reading this blog and have yet to even start an Instagram account for your B2B, we hope this is some helpful information to get you started. However, if you’re already an avid Instagram user, we hope you were able to learn a thing or two about making the most of your time, content and space on Instagram.