No one is perfect, let’s get that straight. We all make mistakes. And it’s especially easy to make them when things are changing so rapidly as they are on Instagram. Here are the most common Instagram mistakes we see local businesses doing all the time and a few tips to avoid them. If you want to learn more about Instagram and how to use it for your business, sign up for our upcoming Instagram workshops in Tauranga!
DON’T: JUDGE YOUR SUCCESS ON THE NUMBER OF LIKES YOU GET
Earlier last year Instagram announced and quickly implemented ‘hidden likes’, which means only you can now see the number of likes your posts receive. Technically, other users can still count them manually if they have too much free time but no one really does that. And neither should you! What you should know though is that since this update, the overall number of likes EVERYONE is getting on Instagram has decreased dramatically. They just stopped being important, so people no longer see the necessity in double-tapping.
DO: PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR REACH, SAVES AND COMMENTS INSTEAD
The ‘Reach’ number you see on the Insights of every post shows how many people HAVE SEEN your post. They’ve read your caption, seen a photo of your product – and might’ve happily scrolled further without taking any actions. But they SAW your brand and your news. This information will sit somewhere in their subconscious until the very moment they need it. Mission accomplished! We also recommend not
DON’T: START FROM TOO FAR
You only have the first two lines of the caption to grab the attention of your followers, scrolling the feed. The rest of the post, which is, no doubt, very interesting and informative will be hidden under the ‘More’ button that requires readers to click on it to read further (which literally no one does these days). Imagine, you’ve started your post with something like ‘As you all know …. and we’re not the first ones to talk about that’ – and then comes the “More’ button. Not only is this not really intriguing but you’ve also just wasted a whole two lines that you could’ve devoted to a way more important message.
DO: GET TO THE MEAT STRAIGHT AWAY
‘We’re now open on Sundays as well!, ‘We’ve just added a new dish to our menu’ or even a question to your readers would be a much better way to start a caption. If you manage to grab their attention with the first two lines, they’ll click ‘More’ and will read the entire message. But even if they don’t, at least they already know that you’re now open on Sundays!
DON’T: WASTE YOUR BIO SPACE
You bio is what new people read through first of all to decide whether to follow you or not. Your favourite Michelle Obama quote (though she sure IS a genius) won’t say a lot about who you are and what you do.
DO: BE VERY SPECIFIC
Describe your business in clear, short sentences – pretty much like bullet points that describe what, why and how you do what you do. Mention your official hashtag if you have one. Add your website and address, if that’s important. You only have one chance to make the first impression – make sure it’s the best one!
DON’T: HIDE FROM YOUR AUDIENCE
Perhaps you don’t like being in photos (not to mention videos) or you prefer your product and your outstanding branding to speak for themselves – we get it and we respect that. Sadly, Instagram doesn’t. Like it or not but you’ll HAVE TO show up on Stories, IGTV and the main feed every now and then if you want this thing to really work for your business.
DO: BE REAL AND APPROACHABLE
Did you know that the main trend for 2019-2020 on Instagram is authenticity? Did you know that Stories get more views if the first Story of the day was of a person talking to the camera? Did you know that IGTV is predicted to be one of the main Instagram tools for 2020? And that it gets 4x more space on the Discovery page than any other posts? Did you know that Instagram prioritises showing LIVEs and will show your Stories to more people if you also went LIVE that day? Well, now you do. So, time to get over that fear and smile for the camera! Your readers and customers want to see YOU to start trusting your business more.
DON’T: BE A LOCAL KIM KARDASHIAN
A single emoji as a caption? You can’t be serious! Only the Kardashians can still get away with that but each of them has a following of a decent-sized country.
DO: WRITE LONG, INFORMATIVE CAPTIONS
Longer captions tend to get more attention and more engagement lately. After all, it’s those Instagram accounts that are TEACHING their audience something – be it skincare routine, cooking secrets, motivational tips – are the best performing on this platform. So, be useful, be informative and put some effort into your captions. The best performing Instagram captions in 2020 should have at least 75-100 words!
