Instagram is one of the biggest platforms for advertising who you are and if you have a business, a necessity to getting clientele. Should the two mix? It depends on what your service is and the relevance of your images and your branding purpose. Instagram has never been my strongest form of communication since the whole picture taking is for my iPhone and not for business advertising – there is a difference, at least I think so.
Since the beginning of the black lives matter movement, there has been an overwhelming amount of support for all things black. Black people, creators, innovators, music influencers, and business owners have created and shared content on their Instagram page, Facebook, Websites, and YouTube pages. The problem is, their pages are not business-like. The idea is to follow others on a similar platform or to discover new brands to collaborate and support however, when you’re not sure what their business is, how can you support?
Now, let me say that I am no expert, I’ve recently removed pictures that didn’t make sense to the layout of my page. I try to throw in some quotes from my blog because that’s my related content and/or part of my blog which could turn into my business. If you review my page, <– shameless HINT, you’ll guess that I’m a natural who talks about natural hair on my website. That is a good assumption. I do discuss natural hair and other lifestyle topics. The images are not far from what you’ll find on my blog and you will find the link in my Instagram bio. Here are a few tips that I have discovered if you have or at least want an Instagram business page to highlight and market your services.
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Creating a Business Instagram Profile Page
You’re probably wondering, what is the difference between an Instagram Business page and your personal page? Most business pages for Instagram provide you with statistics you will need for selling yourself to brands for paid collaborations. Your personal page, most times will show your personal side of yourself and pictures here and there about your business or service. There is no pattern or consistency with the layout of a personal page in comparison to a business page. And under no circumstance is your business page set to a private setting. Once anyone comes across your page, they should easily find what you are trying to advertise, like and comment on a few of your pictures, and hopefully click on your link for further information.
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Do you have a logo? If so, this should be your profile image.
Having a logo is not necessary unless you have a brand that you want to clearly separate your personal self from your business self. In the beginning of creating my blog, I just used my best headshot as my logo. That same picture is still shown here on my about page. I also have a personal Instagram page, which I can’t delete because it’s linked to my business page, and with that being the case, I choose to separate the two with a logo.
Creating a logo is not as difficult as it may seem when viewing so many. I used the free website Canva and mixed and matched a few shapes to create mine. If you choose to create your own, just be sure that it doesn’t already appear on the internet for similar brands of your service. This logo is consistent throughout any page or site that references my brand. Having a logo is a helpful tool when marketing your brand. If you have a budget for it, hiring a professional graphic designer or a marketing design professional will help you with your logo and branding.
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Do you have dominant colors or a theme for your images?
Let me say that it takes a lot of time and effort to decide on a color scheme for your brand. When you do create the perfect mix of colors, stick with them everywhere. I’ve changed my colors a few times before deciding on four hex colors. You can Google colors that you prefer and then save the color codes to easily find in different platforms.
When creating an Instagram business page, brands use their colors in the theme of their page in different ways. I’m not going to go through the different pages that I’ve come across and stopped to scroll through their entire feed hoping to let the inspiration fall off of the screen and onto my page. Instead, I’ll send you to another social site which is very reliable when it comes to visual assistance, Pinterest.
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What is your service?
Mention it in your biography (bio) section. It could be something as simple as the tag line of your blog (like I did), hashtags related to your brand, or if you have something a bit more descriptive – do that. The purpose of this area of your bio or Instagram is to keep people engaged past the images. They will have an interest in what you are selling based upon the photos, now give them a site to purchase items, or find more content. Which brings me to the most valuable part of building a brand on social media, creating a link to a site.
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Where do you want your clientele to go to purchase or view your service?
Instagram and other social media sites are great however, where is your website or business store? These sites are yours in the case that something happens to the social media site which is not yours to keep. Instagram gives us the platform to socialize through images but what if they decide they don’t like your content? Or if they shut down for a period of time? You should always have another way for your content to keep going.
I may not know much about social media marketing or advertise many images however, I know the many black-owned business Instagram pages I’ve seen need some work. In addition to the layout of your page, please keep in mind that you are at work and advertising a service for future clients.
You should,
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- Not have a private page. How will anyone see what you are selling if your door is closed and locked?
- Keep the images consistent with your business. For example, I am a mother, I have many pictures of my child but if it’s not relevant to the look of the Instagram page, I will either go to my stories, publish it on the blog or on my personal Instagram page.
- Make sure your images are clear visually and mentally. Do I need to hurt my eyes trying to see your quote and then understand what it means? Less is more.
Are you have a black-owned business page on Instagram? Are we following each other?
1 thought on “5 Quick Tips to Creating an Instagram Business Page”
This is such an in-depth post, thank you for sharing. I struggled with keeping my Instagram feed on brand for a while and that’s one of the reasons why I stopped using the platform. But this post has inspired me to start using it again and see what happens.