Instagram is fast becoming my favourite place to hang out. I love the variety of content, the friendly conversations and different elements that it has to offer – stories, feed, IGTV and lives.
As a business tool it’s becoming very powerful for brands to showcase their expertise and attract potential customers.
However, I think a lot of companies are missing the mark when it comes to Instagram and are just using it as a place to upload endless pet pictures without any real thought about how they are engaging their customers.
So with that in mind, here are some tips to maximise your Instagram efforts
How to grow your Pet Business on Instagram
#1. Fully complete your Bio
It’s important to make sure that when people come onto your account it’s really clear what you do and how you can help them. So make sure you have your description fully completed.
Emojis are a really good way to make your bio eye catching and break up the text.
Make sure you have a link to a relevant page on your website. Or you can use something like Linktree which allows you do add multiple links in your bio.
I wouldn’t recommend adding lots of links to linktree – if you give people too many options of links to click it can be confusing. Ideally you should have just one Call to Action on your insta profile.
#2. Decide on a style
There are so many different opinions on how an Instagram profile should look. Some people like the more casual posting style where you post whatever you like in any order, some like a more structured style to the account where you post things in a certain order and others create an extremely ‘designed’ insta style.
This really is personal choice. What I would stress though is that you want your account to stand out and appeal to your ideal customer. So take a look at what type of accounts they follow and the styles that are working and people are engaging with.
Also, consider something different to what everyone in your area is doing. With pet accounts they can sometimes all look the same – if you don’t have a stand out style.
#3. Use all 4 parts of Instagram
Instagram has 4 parts to it:
- The Feed
- Instagram Stories
- Reels/Video
- Instagram Live
It’s a good idea to use all elements of the app so you can get the most reach out of it. Having said that – I would master them one at a time. So start with your feed, then add stories and so on.
#4. Don’t forget to add a Call To Action
When you are posting on insta, doing stories etc. it’s important to ask people to do something.
Examples of Call to Actions include:
- Double tap if you agree.
- Let us know in the comments
- Link in the bio to find out more
And always reply to comments and try to continue the conversation. Instagram rewards engagement over likes – so do your best to engage people and get to know them.
#5. Hashtag keyword research
Hashtags are important to help new followers find you. So it’s important to do regular keyword research to help you get in front of your ideal customers.
I have found the best place to do this research in on the desktop in the instagram app. Start by searching for different hashtags you think might be followed by your ideal customers and then look at other related hashtags.
You should keep a list of the ones you are going to use and make sure you have a mixture of small, medium and large hashtags.
#6. Tag your location
People will often find you via the location you tag – so it’s worth making sure you tag your business with your location and also use the location sticker in your stories.
Note – you actually don’t have to be in a location to be able to tag it. So if you were add the dog park yesterday and only adding the photo to the feed today – you can still tag yesterday’s location.
#7. Tag relevant people (without spamming them!)
The best way to tag people is when the post has something directly to do with them. Here are examples of when this might apply.
- Your photos includes a product – like a collar, lead, treat
- You know your customers account to tag them
- You are sharing a rescue picture and want to tag the rescue
- You visits a dog friendly café/bar and tag them
Don’t just tag lots of big accounts in the hope they will share your post – it looks very spammy and generally people will ignore it.
These tips are going to give you a great basis for building a fantastic Instagram page.
