Chances are you have your own personal Instagram account, or you know someone who does. This is because when it comes to building your network, whether it's made up of friends or potential customers, Instagram has had a spotlight on it in the past few years, and by the looks of it, will continue to burn brightly in the years to come. In Singapore alone, joining Instagram means access to over 75% percent of the population, or up to 4.7 million people according to Statista.

If you’re a start-up company and you haven’t figured out how to reap the fruits of this popular social media marketing hub, you can always reach out to your friends over at Jenfi to get your started with the capital you need of course, but here are some additional tips to reinforce your overall marketing strategy for 2021 and beyond.

Optimize Your Bio

So you’ve got your account set up, which is great, but you’ve written in a very generic bio that basically states what you do. Understandably doing anything else can be confusing, considering you’re only working with 150 characters, but your bio is going to be the “call to action” button of your whole account, leading them to important links as well as being a place to showcase your brand voice. 

Make sure to fill in every text box when editing your profile, including:

• Business category
• A clickable URL for your site
• Contact information (email, phone number)
• Add an action button along the lines of Book Now, or Reserve as it pertains to you. 

Establish a Brand Theme

When you sat down and developed the visual branding of your company, you more than likely had to take into account things like colors and fonts. Well, when it comes to Instagram, carrying out those brand consistencies is key to having a successful marketing strategy.

If you take the time to visit the accounts of similar businesses or any business, you’re going to see that the same colors are used throughout the page, creating a clean look that also distinguishes your brand from users’ feeds.

Whether you choose to go bold, or sleek, the more recognizable you are on the app the more trust you’re going to build with your ideal customers.

Videos Are Everything

Instagram has the capability to either film short-form video content called Reels, or deliver live video streaming on the platform. Videos give a face to your brand. Psychologically you now have so much more depth than the products you sell. Instagram lives in particular, are a great way to interact with your audience and potentially get some insight as to ways you can improve your strategy. 

Reels are an excellent way to hop on viral trends early on and get extra exposure for your account. Bottom line, during a time when face-to-face interaction is scarce, videos are essential in connecting with your customer base in a way just words or graphics could never accomplish. 

Marketing for a Cause

In the same vein as video marketing, incorporating philanthropy in your social media strategy is a wonderful way to emotionally reach your followers, and for a good cause!

Just back in July of 2020, Instagram unveiled a social fundraising feature as an answer to the devastation caused by the pandemic, and the Black Lives Matter protests in the US. The rise of digital activism has opened the door for companies to not only be vocal about social issues but also to allow crowdfunding to support those very causes. 

The public craves transparency now more than ever, and choosing to take a stand will earn your company the respect of all your customers. 

Instagram Shopping 

Instagram Shopping is a feature that’s blowing up in a good way. If you’re a direct-to-consumer company, long are the days of solely having to rely on customers directly visiting your site to purchase from you. This in-app shopping feature makes it possible for your followers to shop your products directly on the app, almost like having an additional home for your products aside from your website.

So if you’re having any doubts as to whether this is a feature for you, Facebook reports that over 70% of users use Instagram to find new products, so why not make it easier for them to shop without ever leaving the app?

Social media marketing is its beast, but certainly not one you can’t conquer. A major element of a solid marketing strategy is also includes paid advertisements on Instagram, Facebook, or Google. Accruing sufficient funding to hit the ground running shouldn’t be the most stressful part of your growth journey. Apply for Jenfi funding today, and get pre-approved with no obligations!