Did you know Instagram now has over 700 million monthly active users? What are the Instagram mistakes to avoid?

If you have been sitting on the fence on Instagram’s ability to attract millions of users like its sibling, Facebook, you now have a firm answer.

Running a marketing campaign on Instagram can yield you excellent results, as long as you get the basics right.

In this article, we’re sharing top Instagram mistakes you or your SMM services provider must avoid.

Let’s get into it!

Buying Followers? Never Fall Into This Trap

Unless you’re a celebrity or a well-known company, it’s going to be tough to pull in a sizeable Instagram following, even with millions of people using the service.

Even the brands with millions of followers didn’t get there overnight. It takes time to gain followers.

As a small business owner, however, you may feel the urge to take a shortcut and buy Instagram followers. After all, having more followers means you have more people to market your products and services to, right?

You are right, but buying followers isn’t going to give you this audience. Many sellers of followers are known to create dummy accounts, which they use to follow people who buy their services. Plus, you risk getting punished by Instagram.

Using Instagram without a Content Strategy

When you’re running a personal account, you have the freedom to post your photos as often or as infrequently as you like.

However, when you’re running a business account, you must have a content strategy. How often do you want to post photos or videos in a day? At what times do you intend to do this? Will you be replying to every comment?

Ensure your strategy plays into the preferences of your followers or target audience. Your photos and clips should also have a good quality and don’t forget to make use of captions and hashtags.

If you’re planning to use an SMM services provider, ask them what content strategy they think is best for your business before hiring.

Getting Overly Promotional

In a bid to increase sales, it’s easy to be overly promotional on social media. After all, you are in business to make money.

Unfortunately, social media marketing doesn’t work that way. If your followers feel you’re pushing your products or services down their throat, they won’t hesitate to hit the unfollow or, worse, block button.

Focus on posting informative and entertaining content, and only weave in promotional content sparingly.

Failing to Maintain a Consistent Visual Branding Strategy on Instagram

Instagram is a relatively new platform compared to Facebook and Twitter.

This means chances are high your business already has a presence on these two social networks.

When it’s time to join Instagram, don’t forget to maintain your visual branding. If possible, the profile picture you have on Facebook should also be used on Instagram.

A consistent visual branding across multiple networks increases your overall social media presence.

Ignoring New Features

Instagram engineers are always working to give users new tools and features to improve their experiences on the platform.

Always try out the new features like Face Filters and Instagram Stories. While on Stories, did you know businesses that use the feature get at least 1 direct message in every 5 stories they share?

Keep in mind, though, you don’t have to keep using a new feature if it’s not helping your content strategy.

Use SMM Services to Get the Most Out of Instagram

Instagram is a powerful platform that can drive your business to the next level.

However, you must know how to play to its strengths. But as a business owner without sufficient social media management experience, this can be a challenge.

That’s why you should get in touch with us and allow us to bring your brand alive on Instagram.