31 - Tip Tuesday - Instagram For Your Business With Sue B. Zimmerman

Sue B. Zimmerman is a successful business owner who was all about using social media to bring business into her store on Cape Cod.  After she saw her daughters using Instagram, she wanted to see how she could use this tool for her business.  Well, not only did she use it for her business, but she has spends her time traveling the world, teaching others how to utilize it for their businesses.  We were lucky enough to have her stop by and share some amazing tips on using Instagram for your business!

Can you explain how Instagram can benefit you as a business? You can communicate what you do very efficiently, by your visual story. That means sharing things about your business like new products, people who you admire, or events that you attend. You can show what you are passionate about and what your business represents.   Sue has 6 accounts because she's found that the more that you niche down what you do and what you share the more likely you are to attract your ideal follower.

If you are going to show them your feed then you really want to deliver a lot of valuable content. They extracted out the different markets that she serves, so her store on The Cape has its own account and has posts very specific to my store and the area it is in.

What is often enough when it comes to posting on Instagram? Twice a day at minimum if it’s your personal account. On a featured account you should be putting so much value in one post that there is no reason to make another post to compete.

Schedugram is a great online tool to use to schedule your Instagram posts if you don’t have time to do it in the moment.

Sue also tracks every person that follows her using a spreadsheet.  She also sends them a direct message with a graphic icon telling them to text  ‘Instagal’ to 80464 and they will get my download of the ‘10 things to do on Instagram’ and then she captures their email.  Direct Message on Instagram is an amazing tool. You can communicate with anyone you want to within the app, we sometimes send out coupons or special deals to selected followers.  With this strategy they get 25 to 50 new opt ins a day.

What are ways to reach your target followers? When you open Instagram, the second button to the left is called the explore button. That is where you can explore hashtags or usernames. It's good to get a unique hashtag and use it consistently. Anyone can use the hashtag but you want to dominate the hashtag so that you stay at the top.  With people who you want to connect with you should like 3-5 pictures, but you comment on at least 2. This shows that you care about their content. If you give on Instagram, people tend to do the same.

GREAT TIP:  You should never put hashtags in the original post, only in the comments. You can use up to 30, it’s really important to get your top 10 hashtags and consistently use them.

ALSO: It is not a numbers game; it is about your target audience. Never buy followers, never ‘follow for shout out’.  You should go for the people who you really want to connect with; it is about the quality of the follower.

Some of Sue's Favorite Apps:

Wordswag: This is very easy to use; you can put words over images very easily. It is worth the $2.99.

Videohance: Sue's go to app for videos. You can upload multiple video sequences within one app. You can also add music to the video. Ranges from 99 cents to $2.99.

Flipagram: You can take photos and turn them into a video and then put music behind it. This is free.

Phonto: You can put text on photos. Free.

Camera Plus: Adds vibrancy to the photo.

A lot of people do not understand the importance of geotagging. When you geotag your post you are letting people know where you are. So when people click on it, it takes them right to that location. When you do this you sit in that location and people see your posts.

It is not just about what can I post but whom can I collaborate with?

Sue's Upcoming Live Event: Saturday, September 20th, just outside of Cambridge. Key Note Speakers: John Jantsch and Nathan Latka, Chris Grogan, and many more speakers. This is for people who are already in business that want to take their business to new levels with social media. There will be a website up soon called ‘Sail to Your Success’,

Follow @SueBZimmerman and @TheInstagramExpert on Instagram and leave a comment that you heard this interview.

More About Sue:  Sue B. Zimmerman, aka the #InstagramGal and #TheInstagramExpert, is a master at Instagram for business. She teaches entrepreneurs, business execs, and marketing professionals how powerful Instagram can be for business.  Sue B is the founder of the online Instagram course Insta-Results, the author of the #1 eBook Instagram Basics for your Business, and her CreativeLive course holds the #1 spot for Money and Life.