Around here we love Instagram. It’s our favorite social media platform. (With the Introduction of video and stories, it’s become incredibly entertaining as well.) As the years have gone by, many are trying to navigate how to use Instagram for business. How do you show up consistently, presenting your services to the world? Are you finding creative ways to engage your audience? How do you stay true to your creative voice and raise it into a raving, paying tribe?

Keep reading for our tips after the jump!

1. Show up with your work. Everyday.

For many posting on Instagram feels arbitrary or another thing to do. If this is the way you’re thinking about Instagram, it’s time to develop a strategy. Spend an hour a week developing a content calendar. Focus on the writing first and the imagery second. Then, write and create content for your dream client, rather than yourself. How would you engage your dreamies? Write to inspire and delight. Bring original photography, type, and your work for the table. Ask yourself, do people know what I do? How am I representing this visually? Is there consistency?

2. Have a dedicated account or profile for your business.

If you’re still wanting to post less curated items, think about developing two accounts, one for personal and one for professional use. This will keep your account curated on your offerings, work, and content, rather than having to be filtered through by your audience. Once you have a page dedicated to your Instagram, create a mirroring Facebook page, allowing to utilize an Instagram business account.

3. Know lighting and study photography.

Ditch dark and dingy pictures. Make a commitment to shoot in natural light and avoid harsh shadows. This will work wonders on your photos. Look through your existing feed. If there are images that aren’t amazing, delete them. As you shoot think of a consistent color scheme and editing filter for all of your images. This will bring visual continuity. We love using the VSCO app on our phone for quick edits and using Lightroom on our computers. It’s a game changer.

4. Your Instagram bio and contact information are incredibly important.

Can people tell what you do through your business? Do they know your physical location and hours? What are the services you offer? Are you driving people to your website or email? Spend time crafting your message and a strong call to action in your bio.

5. Get your life back, use a scheduling platform. 

You don’t want to spend hours on social media. Make a commitment to yourself that you will only spend time on social media that is valuable in contribution. This means likes have no value. Choose to write authentic comments instead. Only focus on contributing content that will grow your tribe. This removes pressure that can come from social media and comparison that can occur as you spend time online. If you’re on an adventure you want to photograph or capture, spend 15-30 minutes getting your shoots and then put your camera away. Confession: almost all of our images are latergrams. They are all shot ahead of time, edited, and then scheduled using Later app. This allows us a steady workflow and keeps our mornings freed up for client meetings, emails, and correspondence rather than spending hours on social media indexing.

Ready to take your Instagram to another level?

I will be teaching a half-day workshop in Redding on May 6 talking about Instagram for Business. Find out more information for the event here.