Should my Business be on Instagram?

Instagram is basically a simplified version of Facebook with an emphasis on sharing images. Same principles apply in that you follow others, they can follow you and accounts can be private or public.

While you can access Instagram on a desktop it's very mobile focused and as such best used with your phone or tablet.

Does your business need to be on it? The answer is, it depends. If your target market use it (25 - 34 year olds) then you probably should be.

The great thing about Instagram is that you can use it in a different way to your other social channels.

Say you run a restaurant. You're updating your weekly menu on your website and Facebook, you're tweeting about a fresh seafood delivery / delicious batch of shortbread in the oven on Twitter and you're shouting about your apprentice chef position on LinkedIn. That leaves Instagram as the social media channel to dedicate to beautiful photos of your food.

Everything on social doesn't have to be a sales pitch and it shouldn't be. Most people visit social media as an escape, on a break and to be entertained. They don't go there to be sold to.

Still using the restaurant as an example, let's consider optimum times to catch attention.

If you serve lunch & dinner, the ideal times to catch hungry customers would be between 10.30 to midday and then 4pm onwards.

You want to attract workers but they tend to be in a hurry, and generally don't buy restaurant food at lunchtime.

Put yourself in your ideal customers shoes: you're a Hungry Horace at work, dreaming about lunchtime. Its 11.22am and you're browsing Instagram. You're not going to visit a local restaurant website specifically looking for their menu because let's face it, you're probably weighing up your home made sarnies against a Greggs sausage roll. What though, if you're browsing Instagram killing time until your break and a local restaurant has posted a picture of a 'sharing take-out platter' for two. It looks amazing, it's on at a deal price and your mouth is watering...you start thinking 'who could I share that with? I bet Nigel in Finance would appreciate that as much as me...

**Tags Nigel in post**

Nigel closes the deal by replying 'Yeah!' and you're in.

The wonderful thing about illicit (read: more expensive than a sandwich) work lunches is that getting buy in from a colleague makes them justified. Once two of you are on board then it's game on. Two of you are doing it 'together' so it's way more acceptable to splash out a bit more on lunch.

You've also got a second bite at the cherry for catching a new market of dinner customers. If lock down has taught the restaurant industry anything, it's that good food is in demand and if we can't get to the venue, we'll still pick up a meal and take it home! From lunchtime onwards, your pictures on Instagram could show some mouth watering meals being packaged up and ready to collect on the commute home. It should be enough to prompt a few 'Fancy a takeaway, darling...?' messages.

This is an example for the food industry but the point is universal; it's the pictures doing the selling for you and that's what Instagram is all about.

(There is another big part of Instagram and that is 'stories', I'll cover that another day)

#foodmarketing #restaurantpromotion #foodphotography

Amazing imagery is just one way to improve your Instagram engagement, if you'd like some help in this area, or you don't have time to set up lots of 'perfect' shots, get in touch with Aye Media for professional photography services. We're a boutique marketing agency with low operating costs and we pass the savings onto you.

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