There are 2 billion monthly active Instagram users. This covers around 25% of the world’s population, and for any business, this platform is impossible to ignore. 4.2 billion likes per day are generated by the daily sharing of over 95 million photographs by more than 500 million active users every month.
With those numbers, it is obvious that Instagram is the place to be. Instagram is a great tool for freelancers as it helps them cater to all types of audiences, from university students, who can be the ideal candidates for their courses, to national and international clients looking for a service provider.
The Instagram tools mentioned below are like the Swiss army knife, if used properly this one tool can perform multiple functions efficiently.
1. Author Bio
Just below your name you have a space to introduce yourself or your brand, your bio should have something unique about you, something that your audience can remember about you. While designing this unique bio of yours make sure you include these 4 essential elements:
- About your services- Don’t leave it to your viewers to guess what services you are providing, give them everything on a platter. The bio is a space where you can clearly state your services. Be specific like a freelancer graphic designer, social media manager, web designer, makeup artist, etc.
- Call to action – Instagram provides you with an option to insert one link so use this opportunity to its fullest. Putting a call to action on the bio completes a sales cycle, for example, if a user visits your profile this CTA works as an easy next step for them to follow.
Now you can either post a link to your new blog, newsletter, YouTube video, or website link. This list is only indicative and not exhaustive; you can add other links that you want to promote.
Alternatively, you can add the Linktree link, this link will redirect users to a landing page where you can add as many as 5 links. Now, this can be a great way to promote multiple links like your store link, blog, business updates, website, signup form, etc.
- Your interests- This interest list will allow your audience to know more about you. The key is to be original, your interests can be within the same niche or something completely different but in the end, it will cater to only one thing i.e. giving a holistic view of your personality.
2. Use Hashtags
One of the main reasons to use hashtags is to get easily discovered and increase exposure to your target audience. Generally, the audience starts with a broad hashtag search. So by just using the right and most relevant hashtags you can increase your target audience interaction multi-folds.
There is 5 broad variety of hashtags you can use:
- Product/ service specific- These types of hashtags increase the general visibility and discoverability of the brand, For example – #Shoes, #LogoDesigning, #BridalShoot, etc.
- Brand related – These are used to establish your brand name and to popularise your name in the industry. For example- #Nike, #Pepsi, #TheSheApproach (If you want to promote your site as a brand, #TulsiShewani( if you are targeting to make your name as a brand then use it)
- Industry-related – These can be used to describe your niche, for example – #DigitalMarketing, #ITDeveloper
- Event-related- If you have an event coming up you can turn the name of the event into a hashtag this is a great way to market. Moreover, these hashtags can be further used by event attendees.
- Location-related – This will help your audience to reach out to you easily, for example- #India, #UK, #USA.
What are the ideal numbers of hashtags to use?
According to a survey published in March 2022, Instagram posts with 3-4 hashtags had an average engagement rate of 3.41 percent, making them the most successful in terms of user impressions. When more than 5 hashtags were used, user engagement fell. The interaction was lowest for posts with between 17 and 18 hashtags, demonstrating that using hashtags excessively on the platform can hurt engagement.
3. Collaboration
Collaborating with other Influencers on Instagram will not only increase your audience but will also help you to network with some great creators. You can carry out this collaboration through IGTV, reels, posts, stories, and Instagram live.
The 4 main reasons to use collaboration as a tool are-
- Attract new audience- To reach a new audience is a great incentive to work on an Instagram partnership between brands and influencers. You earn new followers right away when the influencers start their promotion.
Collaboration on Instagram is a fantastic way to connect with a new group of potential customers for your brand. This benefits you in two ways: it helps you get new followers and raise brand awareness.
- Sales Growth – Working together on Instagram might be advantageous directly and practically. One of the main advantages that brands aim for is conversion.
Imagine you are going to introduce a new product. You want to advertise it to your current fans since they can be your most devoted buyers. But you’re also on the lookout for innovative approaches to engage fresh audiences.
- Build Relations – You will be establishing a long-term partnership with lots of potential between them and your brand when you collaborate with an Instagram influencer. This connection can catalyze the growth of a group of supporters who have a strong belief in your brand and its offerings. In business, there is always an opportunity for additional opportunities and better partnerships.
- Creativity Increases – Influencers have varied ways of creating content. Because you and the influencers are working together, it is a joint duty to create original and creative content. This benefits your brand by giving you access to more exclusive, high-quality content that you can use in your content marketing plan.
Again, a huge benefit of this is that you have material already created by these influencers that you can use to fill in the blanks if you run out of ideas. This will guarantee that you are providing your audience with a steady stream of original, high-quality content on social media.
4. Video Content
According to a survey, viewers retain 95% of a message when they consume it in the form of a video as compared to 10% of the message is retained when read in a text format. So to grow on Instagram you can use this tool to create interactive content.
Why is video content so effective?
Figures – According to wyzowl 86% of businesses use video as a marketing tool. Out of which a huge proportion of marketers (92%) consider it as an important and effective tool. The figures and the experience of professionals are enough to prove its effectiveness.
Reasons-
- It helps to increase conversions– as 74% of consumers who have the chance to watch a product in action through an explanatory video will purchase it
- Better Google ranking – Using videos in other types of content as well as on your major web pages may do wonders for your SEO, provided the films themselves are also properly optimized, as search engines love videos because they perceive them as high-quality information. This entails using the appropriate keywords, a decent meta description, and a compelling title.
Video Content Ideas to showcase your work
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- Upload your existing work – Show them how your work can make a difference in their organization.
- Client reviews– this can help to build trust for your future customers.
- Brand Story – Use this space to tell your brand story.
- New Product launch– You can create hype and have a blockbuster launch without investing a lot of money – all you need is a great idea and good editing skills.
5. Interactive Instagram Stories
The stories can be a great way for day-to-day engagement. You must spend time developing an Instagram Stories plan if you want to increase your following and reach. Start interacting with others, build connections, and leave comments on their stuff.
Swipe-up links become available to Instagram Business users once they reach 10,000 followers, making it even simpler to direct visitors to your website.
You must spend time developing an Instagram Stories plan if you want to increase your following and reach. All you need to do is be inventive and use a beautiful image or moving video to convey an important message. The sky is the limit if you want to be creative with your stories, but a few indicative ideas are:
- Post-Q&A to interact with your audience
- Share your blog links to get the direct audience
- Use the poll/ this -that options to engage the audience
- Customer feedback – Request reviews from your clients for your goods and services, then include them in your stories.
- Organize quizzes
- Share behind the scenes
- Feedback – You may use Instagram Stories to conduct some market research and solicit candid feedback from your audience even before the introduction of a new product.
6. Build A Schedule
Specific goals – The goals which are written are more likely to get achieved. It gives you a sense of direction and purpose. Divide your goal into the short-term and long-term. Build an action plan to achieve those goals. Your goal can be anything from:
- Drive more traffic to the site
- Get more collaborations
- Increase sales
- Create more video content
- 30 real Instagram followers daily
- Increase engagement
- Create more trendy content
Social Calendar – It’s simple to lose track of the daily grind of managing numerous social media accounts because of the constant influx of new information, news, and concepts. A well-planned social media calendar focusing on the material you know your audience wants to view is essential if you don’t want to lose sight of the big picture.
You can create this social calendar in 3 easy steps
- Analyzing what type of content works for your profile – You can use past engagement to analyze what type of content your audience prefers.
- What to post -Deciding what type of content to post forms a key part of your social media strategy. The 80-20 rule states that 80% of your content should be aimed at educating the audience and 20% of the content should focus on the business conversion part.
- When to Post – The date, time, visuals, captions, tags everything should be pre-decided so that there is no scope for delay.
7. Provide Knowledge To Your Audience
Nowadays, there is a tone of information available online. However, as a business owner, you’re probably specialized in your industry. With a piece that clarifies some common misconceptions that readers may have, you may help attract them.
Two of the most beneficial forms of engagement you can get on Instagram are saves and shares. Offer value on your Instagram account to attract these special interactions. Make material that users will want to return to and recommend to their friends; nevertheless, avoid making it boring. A fantastic graphic is always necessary for Instagram marketing.
Making an eye-catchy and informative post is a very digestible approach to sharing insightful information/ practical advice. Make colorful charts and graphs to depict a step-by-step process in detail. Then, add further context with your Instagram caption.
Make the 80-20 rule mentioned above work in your favor. 80% of your content should focus on providing value to customers as this approach puts the customer in the center. It can be a great tool to build customer trust. This 80% is what will increase the conversion of your 20% content.
Conclusion
Freelancing is a popular lifestyle choice for many employees in today’s digital era all over the world, so using the most powerful tools, like Instagram, can truly help you stay one step ahead of the competition. It may take some time and effort to create your freelance business on Instagram, but if you do it right, you’ll eventually convert those followers into clients and grow your brand.
In sum and substance, Instagram offers immense growth opportunities. The only way to master this site is to be original in your storytelling. The tools mentioned in the article will help you achieve your short and long-term goals.
So depending on the size of your business (or freelance services) and your needs you can blend the above-mentioned tools to work in your favor. The key here is to keep an eye on new trends while using the timeless advice provided by us.