How to Use Instagram for Small Businesses. Presentation given at the Langley Center for New Media on November 5, 2014

1. Sami Postma
EDC
7/29/15

6. • Filters
• Boarders/Frames
• Brightness
• Straighten/Tilt
• Contrast
• Warmth
• Saturation
• Highlights
• Shadows
• Vignette
• Sharpen

8. Tip #1: Show Your Products
Everyone loves to browse products, so let your followers do some
mobile window-shopping! Show off a collection of the products you
offer, share a photo of a new or lesser-known product or zoom in
on a product and engage your Instagram followers by asking them
to guess what it is.
Got a service-oriented business?
Show off some of the equipment and supplies that play a role in the
services you provide. For example, fitness trainers could show off
their favorite workout equipment, photographers could reveal their
most prized camera lens and mechanics might give us a look at their
most sophisticated diagnostic equipment.

9. Tip #2: Show How It’s Made
Let followers in on the origins
of their favorite
products with snapshots
taken at various points in
the manufacturing process.
If that process is a long one,
you might consider making
it a multi-part post that
follows the process from
planning to production to
delivery.

10. Tip #3: Show What Your Products Can Do
Sometimes our imagination only takes us so far. Use Instagram to
create demand by helping consumers imagine new or novel uses for
what you offer.
This is also a perfect opportunity to invite user-generated content.
Have fans submit their own photos demonstrating creative use of
your products and pick the best ones to post on Instagram.
If your business provides a service like makeup or hair design,
landscaping, decorating, auto body repair or interior design, show
your Instagram followers the impact of your work with a shot of
your subject before and after you work your magic. The side-by-side
comparison will add the wow factor to your Instagram
content and maybe even get you a few new customers.

11. Tip #4: Give a Sneak Peek
Everyone likes to be the first to know… well…
anything. Make your Instagram followers feel
special and give them exclusive previews of
products and services, or virtual tours of your
new stores, production facilities or offices in
the making. Things never seen before make
for particularly shareable content, so be sure
to publish the post to Facebook and Twitter as
well, since Instagram does not yet have a
sharing or reposting function.

12. Tip #5: Go Behind the Scenes
Social media users love to feel a connection and
personal communication. Nothing invites the
personal touch like showing your office,
introducing your employees (especially the
ones that run the social media accounts), and
showing that there’s a real person behind the
marketing attempt.

13. Tip #6: Take Them with You
Going to a trade-show or
sponsoring an event? Use
that as an opportunity
to take your Instagram
followers with you
wherever you’re going.
Followers in those locations
will be tickled to know
you’re in their
neighborhood. Folks can
also get a better feel for
your brand by learning
about the events or causes
you attend, support or
sponsor.
The Seattle Sounders gave fans an off-field
glimpse of its players doing something
quite ordinary, standing around waiting at
an airport with luggage in hand.

14. Tip #7: Share the Whidbey Cuteness!
There is no denying the appeal of animals in social
media. Lolcats, Cute Overload and the countless
other awwwww-inducing blogs out there are
proof that there is capital in cuteness.
Whether they’re pets visiting the office, starring in
your ads or animals sporting your schwag, never
miss an opportunity to get a snapshot to share on
Instagram. Our furry friends can be counted on to
get likes and comments from followers.