I know you already know that Instagram is one of the best marketing tools to build an audience and connect with potential customers. The problem is that it’s easy to fall into the same routine with your posts and business can suffer because of it.
Instagram is not just for posting beautiful travel pictures and great food. It’s also a place where you can connect with your audience, grow your business, and generate leads and customers. In this post, I’ll share with you three different types of Instagram posts that could help you grow your audience and sales online.
Before-and-After Pictures
The best way to show potential clients that you can help them is through your portfolio. But even then, clients might feel skeptical about how well your skills will translate from pictures to reality… especially if they’ve never hired you before. You can help alleviate that with a set of before-and-after images (or videos) showing the results of your work on other businesses. This will allow them to see the results—and hopefully convince them that hiring you is a good idea.
While using a before-and-after picture is not a silver bullet for advancing your design career, it is a trick you can apply to position yourself as an expert in your industry. The before-and-after photo will give the audience more of a reason to trust you and show that you know exactly what you’re doing. This tip can help broaden your reach, and attract more potential clients looking for a designer with expertise in their field.
Behind-the-Scenes Posts
There’s a lot of value in sharing lessons learned from your personal experiences and mistakes—as long as you maintain some level of professionalism. A Behind-the-Scenes post can put a face on your brand that people can relate to. It’s not just about posting pictures of your office space or telling them how hard you work—although those aspects certainly give us a reason to pay attention to what you have to say.
When you publish a behind-the-scenes post, you’re giving your fans a window into the workings of your company. And in doing so, you’re involving your readers on a deeper level than you did before. Not only do they get an inside look at how you run your business, but they also get a glimpse into the personalities at the heart of the operation and what makes you tick. As such, it gives them an even stronger connection to your business. For these reasons and more, behind-the-scenes posts are a fantastic way to connect with your audience and create bonds that can last for years to come.
Transparency conveys trust, and it makes you more relatable to your audience. So don’t be afraid to let your customers see what’s happening behind the scenes. In fact, they’ll probably appreciate it (and you’ll likely enjoy the payoff as well, in the form of new customers and a stronger business).
Showcase Success Stories.
Word of mouth isn’t just a marketing tactic in the business world—it’s also a great way to get new clients and achieve success. The key is to spread your positive messages, your successes, and your expertise as widely as possible, which can increase business and grow professional networks. It all starts with sharing your client success stories in a professional and strategic manner that capitalizes on the resources you have available. Whether you’re manually spreading the word or using digital tools, your clients’ voices can be amplified across new channels—including those that may not yet exist.
Don’t be afraid to talk about your successes. As the saying goes, there’s strength in numbers. By sharing small anecdotes of how you helped a client earn more, buy their dream home, launch their big idea, etc, with your audience, you can help them to feel more confident that they are working with a capable business owner—someone who won’t waste their time or charge an outrageous fee for services rendered (a common hesitation with new clients). And more importantly, someone who can duplicate this win, over and over again should they choose to hire you. If you’ve been successful with a particular client before, don’t forget to tout that fact in a blog post or on social media. Even if you’re doing so anonymously, people will naturally gravitate towards you due to your perceived credibility.
Always be mindful… Our goal as businesses owners when it comes to social media has to be about leaving your mark and creating consistent opportunities for people to connect with your products and services. If you follow some or all of these tips and tricks, your posts will get more attention and potential clients can learn about your business in a more compelling way. That’s always a good thing—and it could also lead to you getting better results from your social media metrics as well.
