Instagram 101 for Business

3 years- over 300 million users Visual communication

Use it to connect with consumers

Picking a usernameCreate an account. Think of a username and set-up your account. If you’re active on Twitter, try and choose the same name handle that you use there, that way the account will be linked and if you share on Twitter there won’t be any confusion.

Posting a Photo• Choose a filter. You’ll see at the bottom of your photo a series of little trees,

they’re the range of filters Instagram has to offer. Click through each to see how they change your photo. Select the one that looks best with your picture.

• Add a frame or take it away. You’ll notice as you flick through the filters that many of them have different frames. If you like your photo with a frame, leave it as is.

• Add a caption. What do you want to say about your photo? Make it short, to the point and relevant. If you plan on also sharing your photo to Twitter, make sure you also keep it under 110 characters to make sure your message doesn’t get cut off.

• Add a hashtag. Hashtags are a way for Instagram to group photos together. When people tag their photos, it means the community can click the hashtag and see each others photos. You might add a tag if you were traveling somewhere like New York {so #NewYork} so your photos could be pulled together with other photos of New York.

Posting your Photo

• Share with others. Before you publish your photo with the world, you can choose to share it with platforms other than Instagram. You can set up in your profile to publish to your Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Flickr accounts, or even to email yourself a photo each time you publish. Once you’ve selected where you want to share it, click done.

• Apps to use to edit photosPicStitchInstaCollageBeautifulMessRhonna DesignsStudio Design

Integration

• Tumblr• Flickr• Facebook• Twitter

Inspire Potential Customers

• Post photos that are relevant to your brand and potential customers.

• Whole Foods Market posts representative photos to promote healthy, wholesome food products, store events, sustainability and their active community of customers and employees.

Cultivate a following:

• Connect your Facebook account• Use relevant, popular hashtags• Engage by following others and liking their

photos• Cross-post selected images to your Facebook

page with a hashtag that aligns with your campaign or brand image to help people who don’t know you’re on Instagram to find you there.

The art of Hashtags!

Which hashtag to use?

Showcase Photos of EmployeesShowing your employees at work not only gives a behind-the-scenes view of your company, it’s also a way to celebrate staff and show them how much they’re valued

@englishgardenraleigh

Chobani

@chobaniWhen asked why Chobani saw Instagram as a natural fit for the brand’s marketing strategy, the answer is simple. “We want to be where our consumers are,” says Hilary duPont, Content Manager on Chobani’s Brand Communications team.“We’re on the platform every day so we know what’s trending. If our consumers are posting about smoothies, we are, too. We want to be doing what they’re doing.”

The social team uncovered a trove of photos by the Instagram community of artfully-arranged

breakfasts and clever smoothie concoctions. By using the hashtags #creationaday and #chobani,

people sought to both inspire other yogurt-lovers and engage with the brand in direct conversation.

General Electric

@generalelectric• The team behind @generalelectric isn’t here to

push appliances. Instead they tell a broader story of building, powering, moving and curing the world—which just happens to be their company mission.

• While building awareness for its innovative technology—helpful for attracting young engineers and big contracts—General Electric has also established itself as one of the most admired contributors to the Instagram community, with its majestic shots of powerful engines and remote wind farms.

Video

Sharing Photos “Direct”

Exploring- Following- News

Can I schedule my posts?

Tips:

• Be true to your brand: Ensure that your imagery expresses a clearly defined personality and voice.

• Share experiences: Offer a view into the world or lifestyle that your brand makes possible through the eyes of the people who use your products and services.

• Find beauty everywhere: Show how your company sees the world and make it meaningful to people.

More tips….

• Inspire action: Start a movement around your brand, whether that means inspiring people to capture photos while running like the #runfree campaign from @nikerunning, or to celebrate a delicious yogurt concoction, as @chobani has done with their #creationaday hashtag.

• Know your audience: Learn what people love about your brand, and explore how can you capture the imagination of new customers.