How to Use Instagram to Grow Your Business or Church

Instagram has changed quite a bit over the years. In its earliest stages, it was primarily a photo-sharing platform with great filters for photo editing. Over time, Instagram has become one of the most influential and lucrative social media platforms for content creators, business owners, and worldwide ministries.

Tapping into the Instagram network can help you achieve your growth goals, whether you have a traditional small business, a larger company, or a church. Here are some tips on how to effectively use Instagram for church and business growth.

OPTIMIZE YOUR BIO

Unlike many other platforms, Instagram does not give users a lot of characters to create a profile. A common mistake that many Instagram users make is not optimizing their bio. The bio has limited space at the top of the page, and it allows users to introduce themselves to visitors. The bio is the first thing visitors see and should be well-customized to your purpose. Here are the features of a well-optimized bio:

• A searchable name (including a term that Instagram users may be looking for)

• A purpose/transformation statement

• An indication of your target audience

• A customized link

Your bio is not complete without all four features being present.

CUSTOMIZE YOUR LINK

Instagram does not allow you to place a clickable link in the caption of your post. The only clickable link is in the bio. Sure, you can still drop the URL in the caption, but it's not clickable, and considering that most users access the platform by a mobile device and not a desktop, it won't be helpful to do that unless it is easy to remember the URL.

So, if you have several links you want to distribute, you can create a customized webpage that links to all your other platforms and websites, including storefronts, blogs, and podcasts, instead of trying to update the link every time you post. Just don't give them too many options, or they may be left confused about what they are supposed to click on to get to the website they wanted. So, keep their options minimal.

You can create the landing page yourself on your website or use a third-party provider such as Linktree. Either way, you can monitor the traffic to your link and the content with the best reach.

CREATE INTERESTING CONTENT

Once you've created your account, you will need to decide on the content you want to put out and the experience you want visitors to have. There are a few options available on Instagram (with a few restrictions depending on your country). Here are the options:

• Single photos/videos: These are individual or stand-alone posts uploaded to the grid.

• Carousels (up to 10 items): There are different ways to upload a picture or a video on Instagram. Carousels allow you to upload batches of ten, whether videos, photos, or a combination of the two.

• Reels: This is a new feature on the platform, which lets you create a short video clip of up to 60 seconds. Reels have a wider viewing audience and are not limited to those who already follow you on the platform.

• IGTV: While Instagram has reels, which are usually short videos, IGTV, on the other hand, is the opposite. Videos can be as long as an hour, and you have the option of auto-generating captions to assist the hearing impaired.

• Stories: This feature allows you to share videos, photos, do polls, ask questions and use fun filters. Anything posted to stories will remain visible for a limited period of 24 hours unless pinned to a highlight on the feed.

• Rooms: This new feature allows you to go Live with a maximum of 3 additional persons, bringing the Live up to a total of 4 speakers. Rooms are a great way to include your audience or invite experts that can contribute meaningfully to your audience.

• Shop: This feature assists an individual to go through the catalog of a business page without having to exit the platform. As the name suggests, you can shop for the products on display, making your purchase on Instagram with a credit card or PayPal.

When creating content, incorporate as many options as you can, as the algorithm treats each a bit differently, but the combination of the features will maximize your results.

3 WAYS TO ATTRACT MORE PEOPLE

Paid ads

For a church or a business aspiring to grow or expand, paid ads are just one way to accomplish that. With paid ads, you can get featured on several people's feeds or reach out to a large audience within your community or beyond. Because of the relationship between Instagram and Facebook, all Instagram ads are displayed to Facebook users, effectively doubling your overall reach.

Hashtags

The use of hashtags is essential when posting on Instagram. Hashtags are searchable keywords that are associated with your post. For example, if you own a bakery and upload a donut picture, proper hashtags to include would be #donut #warmdesserts #sweettooth, and #pastries. Researching the hashtags is very important, however, as not all hashtags will yield similar results.

Collaborations

Leveraging other people's audiences is a great way to expand your audience. The followers of all speakers in the room receive a notification when you go live with someone else or open a room with three other users. So, instead of going live and reaching your followers alone, you can multiply your reach. If the person they follow endorses you and your content, it is much easier for them to become a part of your network.

ANALYTICS

The key to growth of any kind on Instagram is understanding your posts' performance. Analytics will tell you:

• How many followers and unfollowers your account has for a particular period.

• How many accounts your posts have reached.

• How many users have viewed and interacted with your content.

• What content users are consuming the most.

• Profile visits.

• Website taps & email button taps.

• How many likes, comments, saves, and shares for a particular period.

• Top location of your followers.

• The age range of your followers.

• Gender of your followers.

• Most active times your followers are on Instagram.

Understanding these analytics is vital for creating an effective Instagram strategy to grow your audience and expand your reach. Making adjustments according to your analytics will boost your placement and cause you to show up more frequently before new users who are interested in the kind of content you create.

Conclusion

Instagram boasts its unique features and offers an entirely different user experience than other platforms. For businesses, it would help to understand that there is a growing trend of users shopping more from Instagram than websites. Also, online ministries have exploded on Instagram, with Christian content creators banding together to share the gospel. Regardless of where you fall, this is a great time to start using Instagram!