In the last few years, many platforms have been launched to help grow a business. One of these is Instagram — while it may have started out as a simple photo-sharing app for friends and family, today it can be a viable marketing tool for businesses.
B2B marketing is no easy feat! Between understanding who your audience is, understanding how to reach them, what they want to hear about, there are just so many things to take into consideration.
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Social media marketing is an important part of modern marketing, and Instagram is becoming one of the most popular platforms to use for B2B companies.
Ever since their launch in 2010, they’ve really taken off but now IG is not just for celebrities and influencers to strut their stuff, it’s also the ideal platform for B2B marketing.
The picture-heavy social media platform allows companies to interact with prospects just by uploading beautiful images and videos coupled with concise messages that help sell their products.
This article is designed to give you some of the best tips and advice on Instagram B2B Marketing so that you can incorporate them into your own strategy.
Please Don’t Ignore Instagram
Social media is important for small business owners. Nearly 75% of small business owners use Facebook, 47% use Twitter, 48% use Pinterest, and 22% use LinkedIn, to name a few. Instagram in particular is one that should be explored by any B2B company.
Research has shown that B2B companies have earned an impressive return on investment by utilizing Instagram. It also provides more accurate engagement data, easy control over content, and a strong social media ranking. Businesses can tap their loyal customer base to gain new followers, increase brand awareness, and generate revenue with advanced advertising solutions.
If you are an entrepreneur or business looking to grow online, Instagram can be a powerful asset. The World Economic Forum has identified 57% of Fortune 500 CEOs who have used the app to promote their company.
If your product is sold online, Instagram can be an effective marketing tool. However, it will be challenging to compete with other B2B businesses that focus mainly on their clients rather than prospective customers online.
Remember that when there is a market to capture, rendering your competitors irrelevant is the greatest weapon in your arsenal.
And stories help you achieve that —
- the stories that people can relate to
- the stories that empower people
- the stories that inject hope into people’s lives
- the stories that place joy right in the middle of the mundane
Treat your prospects like community members and watch how willingly they become a part of your business soul.
Now let’s look at a few ways to capture success on Instagram as a B2B company:
Publish Great Content
Content marketing is easily one of the most important aspects of any B2B marketing strategy.
That might sound like a lofty claim, but it just really isn’t that difficult to understand that if you want customers, then you need to show up where they are.
One of the easiest places for them to be in today’s digital world is on Instagram, which in turn means that Instagram should be one platform your company isn’t shy in using in your campaigns.
But how do you keep things successful when there are so many other businesses out there vying for their attention? You publish great content–content that has something specifically designed to meet the needs and pain points of your target market.
Building a following on Instagram can be difficult, especially for companies that sell exclusively through other channels such as cold emails and follow-up phone calls.
Although it might seem to accomplish the same goal, publishing great content is much more effective in winning people to your brand.
Great content means funny memes, inspirational quotes, or advice from thought leaders in the target industry.
The quality of content goes a long way in the age of self-service. There’s a reason that major brands are investing more and more into content production if for nothing else, marketing purposes.
People are more likely to trust or join a brand that they find appealing or relatable. If you want to build both connections and goodwill with your target audience, try to use humor in your posts.
Understand your customer’s desires and needs to find success with marketing on Instagram.
Curate engaging content by providing unique perspectives on the products you’re selling.
To establish yourself as a thought leader in just one post, tell industry secrets that some may not know about, or deliver some tips that would not be found elsewhere.
You can then use these posts to drive followers back to your account by tagging them alongside these posts (such as #business #inspiration).
It’s important to be concise and stick with topics your audience is interested in.
So when crafting messages on Instagram, keep in mind the following: Post five times a day — not more than ten messages in one day — 10 messages per hour. Focus on customer success tips vs. giving promotional messages.
Have A Unique Brand Voice
For B2B companies, Instagram is the perfect platform to highlight their products or services.
Mixing brand-centric imagery with well-crafted promotional content, including testimonials, drives home the value your company provides.
But if many businesses are using Instagram to boost leads and sell products, how do business owners make themselves stand out in the competitive arts? Building an authentic and genuine one-of-a-kind brand voice is the best way to stand out from all of those me-too brands that are fighting for attention.
Using a voice that’s recognizable to your customers can be one of the most powerful tools you have in your arsenal. A unique voice will set you apart from the competition and create a really clear identity for your brand, meaning customers will know who you are at a single glance.
You must be unique in your messaging to your customers. You must get by the noise of “me too brands” by providing something different.
This can be effectively done by having an authentic and genuine brand voice around unique and proprietary content so that your ideal prospects recognize your brand and understand who you are and what you stand for.
This will help you differentiate in a saturated market, build relationships with potential customers, and identify who you want to target in the future.
But remember that today the market is flooded with B2B companies. Become an influencer in your niche and encourage brand ambassadors to promote your products/services to emerge as a winner in a hyper-competitive market.
However, one of the best ways to stand out and build a reputable and trusted reputation in B2B circles is to put in the work: invest heavily in marketing automation, use data insights proactively, host webinars and speak at events.
Caption It And Rank It
Instagram can be a fantastic platform for B2B marketing on the condition that you are willing to work hard to make it happen.
The first step is picking your niche.
You can’t just post on Instagram without meaning or relevance. It’s not good enough to simply publish nice pics with no captions.
Show your audience some love by pairing them with captions that demonstrate why your posts are important, and ask questions to foster engagement.
And don’t forget the hashtags! Use up to 30 relevant ones for maximum impact.
To be successful with B2B marketing on Instagram, you need to optimize your posts for engagement.
Businesses should take advantage of the medium and its newest features to boost their Instagram presence.
There are many ways to go about it, but the best way is to use captions that provide your audience with value and hashtags that will increase visibility.
Constantly publish new posts on Instagram to show people that you have a passion for what you do.
Great content is not just about great photography but also about compelling narratives. Captions should tell the story, provide context and answer questions for your audience.
A lot of people also use captions to promote their Instagram account with a link. Hashtags are another way of connecting with new followers on Instagram. To avoid being labeled as spammy, it’s important not to use too many hashtags per post — around 11-30 is the recommended max.
Please don’t use the banned hashtags or your content or account can get shadowbanned. All your efforts will face the great tragedy of vain!
Dunk It With Consistency
Consistency is key to Instagram B2B marketing success. Focus on publishing quality content on a regular basis, keeping your followers engaged, and tracking your results.
You want to be consistent with your posts and measure the results of what is working and what isn’t. If you don’t, you won’t see the desired results.
It might sound like a good idea to post only every once in a while, but in reality, this will make your account look inactive.
Instead, find a schedule and stick to it. Try posting at the same time every day or week, or add special hashtags on certain days of the week.
You should also monitor the results of your posts and adjust accordingly to see what works best for you and what doesn’t work well at all.
When it comes to marketing on Instagram, you need to develop a strategy that will support your company’s objectives. Are you looking for more brand awareness? Are you trying to get more traffic to your website? Do you want more leads or sales? You have to have clarity about what your goals are in order to be successful.
Ask yourself what you want out of Instagram marketing. Your goals will be refined with the data you collect so take the time to experiment.
Posting, commenting, and following other accounts is a commitment that needs to be acted on.
Your customers will notice if you’re not posting or posting inconsistently.
You should also keep an eye on the metrics. Look at things like how many comments your post gets; how many likes your comment receives; how much engagement there is with your comments; and which posts are getting the most interaction (aka likes, comments, shares).
Craft more content that vibes the best with your audience to consistently grow your account and turn those followers into paying customers.
So remember to publish consistently and track vigorously because what isn’t measured doesn’t get accomplished.
Plug Some Influence
When you’re trying to decide which phone to buy, who do you trust more: a random person on the street or a friend you know who is into tech?
Of course, it’s the latter!
That’s because customers put their trust in a person of credibility, period.
So, whichever domain your e-commerce store lies in, find influencers that your Target Audience raves about.
Build relationships with them instead of spamming them with partnership offers.
And you don’t need to spend a ton of money on extremely pricey influencers, pick nano or micro-influencers, who would be more than happy to get free products in exchange for an honest review or a series of Instagram posts.
Remember that it doesn’t take money, but a well-thought-out plan to establish social proof.
Don’t go for a volume of influencers. Instead, build quality long-term relationships with a handful of them, and watch some handsome results check-in.
Why Don’t You Reel It?
Instagram copied TikTok to take over the global sensation that the app became.
That’s the sweet & simple story of why Reels is getting immense organic reach and is the single most important account growing method right now.
Utilize Reels to communicate everything that concerns your industry on top of trending Reels background music.
For example, you can convert your actionable content pieces into Reels.
1 Reel a day keeps your account happening!
Final Thoughts on Instagram B2B Marketing
So which advice compelled you to take Instagram seriously and use it as a platform to grow your B2B business? Let me know in the comments below. If you have any questions, I’d love to help you out.