Orji-Oko Uzor- Introduction
- Why your b2b business shouldn’t ignore Instagram
- Challenges for b2b businesses when it comes to Instagram
- Effective tactics for Instagram for b2b marketing
- How to use Instagram for b2b marketing successfully
Introduction
It emerged ten years ago as a photo sharing app, Instagram has fully grown into an established source of income for creators. And a new effective marketing platform for entrepreneurs. Research has shown that 90% of Instagram users follow at least one brand page on the platform. Which means Instagram has a large potential for business owners and marketers, especially for e-commerce.
According to a survey conducted by Facebook. It shows that 83% of Instagram users discover new products and services on Instagram. While 81% of users to research more on products and services and 80% use Instagram to decide whether to purchase a product or not. Surely, majority of these businesses leveraging Instagram for marketing are B2C brands. Yet, B2B businesses have their own place there, too. Instagram marketing is not an easy task. That’s why Urbizboost team came up with this article on things you need to know about Instagram for b2b and to be prepared for 2021.
Why your b2b business shouldn’t ignore Instagram
Being a visual storytelling platform. Instagram was created to show rather than to tell. It’s the ideal place for a business to tell their story through visual to a target audience in a compelling, memorable, and engaging way. B2B businesses can and should be on Instagram—you just need to understand what type of content to post. And how best to communicate their message.
There are over 200 million Instagram users visit at least one business profile every day.
Some B2B brands use Instagram as a door into their company. A staff of the marketing team runs the account and shares what happens within the business. And prospective clients appreciate the transparency of your business.
In fact, there are more 25 million businesses on Instagram.
B2B brands have started to incorporate Instagram into their marketing plans. When you are ready to jump on the bandwagon, know that you have come to the right place.
Here at Urbizboost, we have picked out two examples that are using Instagram the right way: ZenDesk and MailChimp.
ZenDesk: showcasing corporate culture
Millennials love social media, and they use Instagram more than any other social media platform. Research shows that 60% of Instagram users are between the ages of 18 and 29, with 42% of those users visiting the platform at least once a day. If you are a B2B brand, that are searching to hire a bunch of fresh talent. Take advantage of this social media platform where all that fresh talent is hanging out.
This is exactly what ZenDesk is doing. The company are good at posting photos that celebrate new employees and emphasize corporate culture.
MailChimp: leveraging content in a unique way
From all indication, video is one of the most engaging forms of online content. Embrace video in your own innovative way—and don’t be scared to get creative. Many B2B marketers often think their videos have to be professional and straight to the point.
MailChimp, on the other hand, gets creative even silly with their videos in order to show its automation features.
Just have fun with Instagram. Put your own idea on it and create something that will make your audience coming back for more. If your B2B business is not taking big advantage of Instagram. Seriously, you’re missing out on an easy, effective way to reach a large audience. Whether you’re looking for a way to show off your corporate culture or showcase your products and services. Instagram will add more depth and creativity to your marketing efforts.
Two benefits of Instagram for B2B brands
Let’s just take a look at two ways that Instagram can help you engage with your audience and grow your business.
Building trust with your audience
Instagram is a platform that encourages engagement and we’ve already established that. One of the benefits of engagement is that you will be able to build trust as you interact with your old and new customers. Instagram equally gives you the opportunity to share casual, day-to-day glimpses of life at your company. Adding a personal touch to your public image and at the same time promote transparency.
Pro tip: Build trust through sending a DM to thank potential customers for liking your photo. People will appreciate you for taking out time to message them and they will feel motivated to come back.
Increase In traffic to your site
Instagram has higher levels of engagement more than other popular platforms. It can be a powerful and effective driver of traffic.
Pro tip: Make use of the link in your bio to send followers to your home page or to a product page.
Challenges for b2b businesses when it comes to Instagram
Boring content
One of the major challenges b2b businesses face is a lack of exciting/interesting content.
Probably you’re an accountancy firm it will be a bit difficult to compete with the ‘instagrammable’ restaurant. Adventure travel brands that seem to dominate the platform. But, we’re not saying it’s impossible to do well, you just have to be creative. Thinking of creative ways to highlight your brand is crucial to succeed on Instagram. There is no one size fit all solution, something that works for a business may not work for the other. The major objective is to humanise your brand in order to establish a connection with your audience.
What should you post?
How will you know what to post? Once you decided that you will help your customers by providing solutions to the problems they face. It’s very important that you take time to create how to do that effectively. Sharing bad photographs with difficult to read captions won’t help you build a loyal following. In fact, it might have the opposite effect – and there’s no cutting corners when it comes to your brand.
So, how will you use Instagram b2b to grow business?
Instagram is a powerful and effective platform, but it’s equally very easy to get it wrong if you don’t have a plan in place.
There are many businesses out there that use their company page like a personal page. And they completely forget about their brand consistency. This weakens trust in your brand and confuses your potential customers.
To avoid making these mistakes most B2B brands make on Instagram.
How to build an engaged community around what you do.
Let’s consider the basics (before you begins posting)
Make sure your account is branded properly. There’s nothing that confuses customers than inconsistency. Instagram is a visual platform so brand your channel pretty well.
How do you do this:
- Choose a name that’s the same as your existing social media platforms.
- Upload your logo
- Complete your bio (150 characters)
Create an instagram strategy
Starting your Instagram account is like building a brand all of its own. Sincerely it’s something that takes much time, commitment and a well-designed plan. So put together a strategy in the same way you would for your entire business. This helps keep your content on brand, your ideas well structured and, if you’re a large team, be sure to keep everyone on the same page.
Your strategy goes a long way to determine what you post and how you post it. As well as the tone of your voice, visual style and the way you plan to engage with others on the platform.
Now that you’re set to start posting, here are some ways to grow a loyal and engaged community.
We will know that is not all that will be suitable for your brand. But you will be able to implement some of them in one way or other whilst you maintain brand consistency.
Curated content
Only use your own professional photography or graphics will sometimes make your profile feel too polished and sales focused. Make sure you share authentic customer imagery, it will help to humanise your brand. If your service is something your customers are unlikely to discuss on their Instagram profiles. Think about ways you will encourage them to do so. For example, when you help a business secure their first office space. If they take some photos, tell them to tag you.
Transparency
Transparency around your supply chain, your culture and the way you work is a perfect way to create trust with your audience. It allows you to show your audience that you care about the same things they do.
Highlight your workplace culture
Not only is Instagram a perfect platform to attract new customers. It’s a great platform to attract new team members. You share behind the scenes moments of the day to day activities within your company. It will help your audience see the human side of your brand and what it would be like to work with you.
Fun, colourful and creative visuals
Just because the industry you might be in isn’t exciting and colourful. It doesn’t mean your Instagram profile can’t be. But remember to always put your audience in front of everything you do. Equally know what you’re up against when it comes to your customers’ attention.
Stories
Stories are perfect for the less ‘polished’ content and it shows a human, in-the-moment side to your brand.
Paid advertising
It’s not a secret that it’s difficult to reach a large audience organically these days. Organic and paid social media should no longer be regarded as separate entities. They are both part of an overall social media tactics and should be used in tandem to gain the best results.
Effective tactics for Instagram for b2b marketing
Be open to influencer marketing.
Is there any other social media platform that’s dominated by influencers and influencer culture like Instagram? Probably YouTube but it’s a close tie. Influencer marketing might not perform extremely very well for B2B marketers as with B2C marketers. But there are opportunities. Especially if you partner with subject experts and known authorities in your niche.
Engage with people directly
Talking directly to your customers might be scary. But an advice from different social media managers is that if you need traction on this platform, you need to go direct. Fortunately, because Instagram is very mobile-first, it isn’t too hard. You have your phone with you most of the time, right? So open that app, like and comment on, at least, five posts while you wait for a subway. Or in the checkout line at the grocery shop. Do this at least twice a day and you’ll be leaving comments on 10 posts a day. Extra credit when you mention someone as you comment. It’s a perfect way to get people’s attention, and by so doing you engage with two people at once.
Authenticity rules
Is there is any secret to success on Instagram that can be summed up in one word? If at all there is, it may be authenticity. Even B2B businesses do let their hair down a bit on Instagram. It’s a platform for behind-the-scenes fun.
Use stories
We talked to quite a few social media managers lately. And the word on the street is engagement with photo posts is falling off. Everybody’s just moving to the stories, a freelance social media manager told us. It’s not difficult to figure out why: Video. We love moving pictures. With sound adds a level to engage with, too. Stories do disappear after 24 hours. Ynless you add them to your highlights. Those round circles on your profile page, right above where your posts do appear.
How to use Instagram for b2b marketing successfully
Let’s look at the steps you need to take to use Instagram marketing for B2B.
Research and interact with the target audience
Before starting the research, remember that there is your target audience on Instagram, no matter the type of your business.
B2B audiences:
- Top managers of relevant establishments.
- Employees of relevant establishments (marketers, IT specialists, etc.).
- Self-employed and freelancers who might be interested in your products and services.
How do you find your target audience on Instagram?
You can search your audience with relevant hashtags within Instagram. Just type in hashtags that are very relevant to your niche and start searching. Once you find the results, start to interact with these users. By liking, following, or commenting on them to draw their attention.
Another way to find your target audience is by researching the audience of your competitors. If you really know who your competitors are. Find them on Instagram and look through their followers to know more. Or you can find your competitor on Instagram looking at their bio and clicking on the type of company they have stated:
Optimise your profile’s bio
Your profile’s bio is the first thing people see when they come to your Instagram page. That’s why it’s important for you to write it wisely. Here are tips for you to consider when creating your Instagram bio.
- Keep it sweet and short: Don’t put too many information in your bio.
- Notwithstanding the bio should be precise and short. It should contain all the relevant information about your company. Such as key products or services you provide, your name, etc.
- Add your contact information.
- Include your link in bio. This will lead more traffic to your website.
- Don’t put too much emojis, signs, and irrelevant elements in your bio. In the b2b sector, this will appear distracting and unprofessional, unlike B2C brands.
- You can equally optimise your bio for Instagram SEO, by adding relevant hashtags and keywords.
Publish user-generated content
This goes without saying that content is king. Especially when it comes to B2B Instagram pages. Your Instagram content needs to perform the following tasks:
- Attract the attention of your potential customers and propel them to follow you. Not leave after visiting your profile.
- Inform clearly about your company’s services and products.
- Build a community and create a positive image and credibility of your company.
Leverage influencer marketing
Alongside with appealing content and perfect bio. You need to understand which marketing tools to use and grow your Instagram page and thus, sales. And influencer marketing is one of them. Influencers, whether it be macro or micro influencers, they are the driving force of Instagram. If you need to partner with influencers to increase your brand awareness, grow Instagram and boost sales. You must choose the opinion leaders right for your brand.
Use targeted ads
Last but not least is used for targeted advertising. Targeted ads are the most actionable means to reach your potential customers in feed posts, stories, explore tab and even IGTV.
Conclusion
Promotion of Instagram for b2b pages is a very daunting and challenging task. And naturally, it’s impossible to cover the whole Instagram marketing strategy particularly for every business in one article. Yet, the task is very possible and productive when everything is done properly. There is no one accepted approach for every niche and Instagram account. So you must test as much tools and recommendations as you can. And don’t be afraid to make mistakes! Because after making some, you will understand what works for your account and audience and what doesn’t.