How to effectively use Instagram for your Personal Brand and Business

If you haven’t heard of Instagram, you’ve probably been living under a rock

Instagram is a 2nd tier social network that has recently been purchased by Facebook. Instead of status updates, we use photos to share our message with the world! What better way to share our message than through photos, eh?

It has been proven that we connect with photos on a much deeper level than we do with just plain text. It’s so obvious! That is why big, and small brands are taking advantage of this amazing network called Instagram.

So let’s dig in! Wether you are a small business, or a personal brand, here are some of my personal suggestions that have proven to be successful.

Use your face, not your logo

A lot of people are getting this wrong. Unless you are Gap, Coca Cola, or Hope Depot, PLEASE use your beautiful face as your profile photo, NOT your logo!

Speaking from a personal experience, (and the opinions of many others) We connect with people, not brands (again, unless you’re…..Odwalla)

We all connect with people that have the same values, goals, and opinions as us. (most of the time) For example, I am drawn to business owners, entrepreneurs, start-ups, mommies, wife’s, people who lead a lifestyle I am inspired to live (juicing, exercising  and healthy habits)  why? Because we have a connection. So before uploading y

our logo as a profile image, ask yourself – would you connect with that brand if you randomly saw it online? Probably not. Unless they had a very compelling message, of course. But that’s a different story.

Interact, Interact, Interact.

Sounds almost like Location, location, location? It’s just as important if you owned a local shop. You absolutely HAVE to interact if you want to be on ANY social network. How can you interact?

• ALWAYS reply to your commenters. That way you are building a relationship. And relationships are build with two parties involved Just reminding you. But you already knew that.
• Don’t sit in the background. Comment on other peoples photos, like them, start a conversation! Treat others how you would like to be treated. Comment if you would like to receive comments.
• Bring value to your followers with the quality of your photos you share. Wether to inspire, educate, or motivate, always have your follower in mind. (boy am I learning a lot from writing this or what!) Please don’t make it all about “me, me, me!” I mean, you. Please don’t make it all about you.

Keep your profile up to date

Our life constantly changes. One day your favorite fruit is apple, and the next thing you know you have a change of heart about the fruit, and have a different number of kids. Just sayin’. Keep it fresh, short, and sweet

Use Hashtags

Hashtags are like SEO for your photos on IG. If you don’t use them, no one will find your photos. Use hashtags in your profile, such as a location, a hashtag you created for your business, or the industry you’re in. It will help people find you when you match their search criteria.

When you upload a photo of you beautiful grey kitty and live in Portland, and have a white mantle in the background with a fireplace burning. Your hashtags should be as follows, but are not limited to:

#cat#kitty#greykitty#greycat#fireplace#mantle#whitemantle#cozy

#furry#furryfriend#instacats#catlover#portland#portlandia#pdx

#portlandoregon#bridgetown#ilovemykitty#ithinkimdone

(and yes you can squish them together like that with no spaces)

Instagram will allow up to 30 hashtags per photo. Hashtag your heart out, but please make sure your hashtags are relevant to your photo and location.

Be authentic

Do not try to be someone who you are not. You will not get very far. Remember:

“Always be a first rate version of yourself and not a second rate version of someone else.” – Judy Garland CLICK TO TWEET!

Personal experience on Instagram

Since being on Instagram, I have developed strong relationships with people that I now call friends. (There’s something about photos, I’m telling you!) Through Instagram, I met local moms who I now go on play-dates with, I met business owners who I now do business with, and I almost landed a client who I have been a HUGE fan of (we were not the right fit, YET) (FYI, my business is not capable of catering to a celebrity business stars just yet) But just the fact that I was contacted via Instagram proved that it’s POWERFUL.

If you’ve gotten this far, (and please let me know that you did) Please comment below and tell me if you are an Instagram user, along with your handle please Do you have any tips for me, as well as my dear readers? Please post in the comments below!

It will also mean THE WORLD to me if you could tweet this post and share it with your Facebook community <3

Thank you so much for reading and interacting on my blog. Till next time.

-@vickylyashenko