Instagram Marketing 101

How to use Instagram mobile application to advertise your business!

Most entrepreneurs and smart phone users must have heard of Instagram at least once.

It is one of the most popular photo apps, which allows you to take awesome pictures and share them with others.

It is a "global" app that is used by people from all over the world: U.S., Japan, Europe, Korea, China, Taiwan, Thailand.... you name it!

And if you dive deeper into the app, you see that there are many many users who have more than 1000 followers and have uploaded more than 500 photos. Many of them use Instagram daily, uploading pictures of their daily lives, places that they went to, food they ate, clothes they love, and so on.
Good pictures receive a lot of comments and a lot of "likes" (just like Facebook), and people do it because they love it. No, most of them are not professional photographers, but there are ways to make your pictures look a little more professional. So, on Instagram, anyone can be a quite good photographer. All you need is a smart phone to download the app and take pictures.

If you own your own business, you have to take advantage of this opportunity to advertise your company.  Most people wouldn't think that Instagram can help bring in more customers to your business, but you are wrong! It can be a quite powerful source of marketing.

Here are steps you can take to do a successful Instagram marketing:

First, you download the app and register: make your name your own name or your business name. For example, Teen Vogue has an Instagram account, and their name is shown as "Teenvogue."

Second, you upload photos. This can be photos of food, fashion, or whatever your business is related to. If you work for Teen Vogue, you might want to upload photos of fashionistas, trendy items, and so on.
But you can also upload photos of your company. What's happening inside the company? How do the employees look like? Are they happy? how is their office organized? Any photos that give viewers a clue about how your company really operate inside will gain popularity. People like to see insider info/secret scenes. (Have you ever looked into a Facebook profile of someone you don't know? Are you following someone's Twitter page secretly? Same for Instagram.)

Third, you follow people who seem to be popular in the area of your interest, or people who seem interested in it. They will be your potential followers, and possibly your potential customers in the future.
Most people you begin to follow will look into your profile and photos, and if they like the photos, they will easily click "like" and comment on it, and start following you back.
Make sure to upload at least 2-3 photos daily. Most Instagram heavy users use it daily, more than once..
So you want to update them constantly. This takes some work, but not that much. All you have to do is take some pictures (good ones). With a few clicks, done! You uploaded a new picture on Instagram.

As I said, Instagram is global, so this is a great way to make your business better known globally. People from all over the world will see your photos.

oh, and make sure that you fill out your profile page in detail.
Leave a link to your business (like "teenvogue.com" or your twitter address) so that people can visit your website.
And introduce yourself or your business "politely" so that people will like you more.:)

It takes a while to gain followers, but you should at least try.
Even if you fail, it's a great way to figure out what people like to see or do these days.