Instagram Mistakes That Businesses Make Daily – so how can you make mistakes on Instagram if it’s just posting photos?

Very easily

If you’re a regular reader of Altrincham HQ you’ll know how popular Instagram is

Our blog on Instagram for Business was the most read blog of last year

Last year we looked at Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn Mistakes That Businesses Make Daily

Here is our 4th in the series : 10 Instagram Mistakes That Businesses Make Daily

1. No Plan
People underestimate the power of Instagram – they only see it on the surface level of photos and videos

So they don’t plan all the things as they would do for any other Social Network

They don’t plan what they will post; when they will post it; how often they will post it; who to follow; who to engage with; how to convert followers to customers; and so on

If you look at our Instagram there’s a structure – it’s always 4 behind the scenes photos and then 1 quote image about marketing or social media

Since we set that structure our Instagram doesn’t deviate from it

2. Low Quality Photos
Instagram is all about high quality feel good photos – the very best of the best

Imagine flicking through a glossy magazine and then wondering why a poorly quality / poorly framed image in there

That’s the same feeling people get when they see low quality photos on Instagram

It’s why teenagers spend so long getting the perfect photo and then delete it if it doesn’t get over 60 likes

We’re not suggesting to act like a teenager – but have some quality control

3. Not Filling In Your Profile
This sounds simple – but a lot of businesses don’t fill in their biog or web address

Telling people what you do, what to expect and including somewhere they can click on to find out more about the business is essential

Apart from the profile set up this is the only place on Instagram where regular users can have clickable links

(Note: Verified Accounts can include this in Instagram Stories and others can use sponsored Instagram ads for clickable links)

4 & 5. Not Enough Hashtags / Too Many Hashtags
Hashtags are the route to discovery on Instagram

And like other Social Networks a good place to start is the local area. People like to search the local towns to find out what is going on in their hometown

However unlike Twitter, where research shows the most level of engagement is 2 Hashtags per tweet, the optimum number of hashtags per Instagram post is 11-13

Instagram allows up to 30 # per post – but you could say that any more over the 13 is too many

6. Vanity Hashtags
All of these hashtags are the most popular hashtags on Instagram

#love #TagsForLikes #TagsForLikesApp #TFLers #tweegram #photooftheday #20likes #amazing #smile #follow4follow #like4like #look #instalike #igers #picoftheday #food #instadaily #instafollow #followme #girl #iphoneonly #instagood
#bestoftheday #instacool #instago #all_shots #follow #webstagram #colorful #style #swag

They’ll get you a stack of new likes and new followers

Are they likely to bring your local business any genuine business though? Probably not

7. Not Using Instagram Search
Instagram search is a gold mine – seriously – if you’re not using this every day you’re missing out

Search for people, tags and places

Particularly useful for B2C businesses searching for customer pics – not all of your customers will tag your Instagram account and many will use a local hashtag, tag you in the location search or hashtag your brand

It’s so useful for regrams and user generated content

8. Tagging People In Photo’s They’re Not Actually In
This is a BIG problem on Twitter – which means our advice for that is exactly the same for Instagram

There’s a prompt that comes up when you upload a Instagram photo to tag people in the photo

Now my eyesight can be a little iffy at times, but I don’t think I’ve read that as tag people who aren’t in the photo in this photo as a sly marketing tool

It’s very simple – only tag people / businesses in the photo that are actually in the photo

9. No Engagement
So many businesses see Instagram as a post and go platform

Think of all the options there are for engagement and / or comments
* New Followers
* Your Photo Comments
* Prospective Customers Photos
* Existing Customers Photos
* Local Media / Influencers

Engage Engage Engage

10. Not Measuring Stats
Earlier this year Instagram introduced business profiles which allowed you to get insights for Instagram (think Facebook insights, but not as in-depth) and the Social Media debated should you active your Instagram For Business Profile
or not

Naysayers said no because it’s likely Instagram will throttle businesses organic reach like it does for Facebook business pages

Other people said yes as it gives you access to data to improve your Instagram marketing

The key is GREAT CONTENT will always great through and some of the Facebook pages that have seen massive drops in organic reach have been ones posting really poor quality posts

The choice is yours but look at this blog to see how to activate your Instagram Business Profile

https://altrinchamhq.co.uk/instagram-for-business-how-to-activate-your-business-profile-and-why/

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Please call Alex on 07806774279 or email alex@altrinchamhq.co.uk

Alex

Alex McCann is owner of Altrincham HQ – a social media management and training company based in Altrincham, Cheshire that has worked with 100s of local business developing their social media strategy. Alex has 350+ LinkedIn testimonials and is ranked number 1 for Social Media Marketing in the UK via independent customer reviews on Freeindex.