How to use Instagram to Boost your B2B Brand

If Instagram has shown the B2B marketing community anything, it’s that B2B doesn’t have to be boring. Creative B2B brands are using Instagram to their advantage by sharing compelling, interesting visuals that give a sneak peek into their internal culture or by coming up with creative ways to showcase their products or services.

But before diving headfirst into Instagram for B2B, it’s important to map out a trajectory for your account. Having a clear plan when it comes to any social platform ensures that all posts are on point and on-brand. As a visual-first platform, this is particularly important for Instagram– a quick scroll through a brand’s Instagram feed has the power to create a lasting first impression.

Below we break down simple questions to ask before launching a branded Instagram account.

What is your marketing objective?

Whenever launching a new marketing tactic, whether it be a new website or social media platform, it’s extremely important to define what you’d like to achieve, and launching an Instagram account is no different.

Whether you’d like to use your account to showcase your products or services, highlight internal culture, build brand awareness, establish thought leadership or use it as a recruitment tool, it’s important to define the objective and function for your Instagram account. Keep in mind that you can have multiple marketing objectives, but consistency is key (more on that below).

Who is your audience?

Defining your ideal Instagram audience will go a long way when mapping out future content and will also allow you to better develop your brand tone. To connect with your ideal customer (or customers) ask yourself: What about my brand interests them? What do they want to learn about? What motivates their decisions?

Once you’ve determined your audience, do some research – look into accounts they follow, visuals they post and relevant hashtags. For example, when Stryve launched our Instagram account, we knew we wanted to target the Kitchener-Waterloo community, so naturally, the hashtag #kwawesome helped us to reach that audience. If you’re like us and location is one of your targeting objectives, you should also consider geotagging your posts so that people interested in that location are able to find and follow you.

What is your brand tone?

Consistency is key for Instagram. Avoid a scattered feed by determining your brand tone and voice before you post. If your brand was a person, who would it be? Is your brand witty, smart, friendly or ambitious? Your brand tone should resonate in every visual, caption, and even hashtag.

How often will you post?

You and your team should have a clear plan of how often you will post and how you will plan for new content. If you’re posting weekly for example, have an idea session the week prior to determine what visuals you’ll post and who will be responsible for posting.

How to grow your Instagram following?

Now that you have a strategy for posting amazing content, you’re in a great spot to focus on how you will grow your Instagram following. As mentioned above, relevant hashtags can go along way in helping you reach your target market on Instagram. Luckily, when people find you via hashtags and you’re posting killer content, you’ll likely get a follow.

In addition to hashtags, following and engaging with friends of your brand is a great way to add to your following (although we’d suggest not adding #likeback to your hashtag arsenal). Sharing the news on your website and other social platforms, letting your team know and experimenting with Instagram Ads, are also effective ways to grow your following. Lastly, be social! Respond to comments from your own feed and like, comment on and repost share-worthy visuals that others have posted.

Happy posting!

Go forth and Instagram! Don’t forget, choose the right filter. No pressure.