How to Grow Your Business on Instagram

Here are some inside tips on how to grow your brand and audience if you are just starting your business Instagram account:

• Add your logo as the profile photo and have it be a high quality photo.

• Write a super dynamic bio at the top of your profile—this is prime real estate and it needs to communicate your mission, your USP and a call to action. You only have 150 characters, so make each word count!

• Put up at least 9 solid, branded posts before you start following new accounts (who will hopefully follow you in return!) Your posts should have crisp graphics and the copy should be conversational and reflect your business’s voice and persona.

• Make sure to research hashtags that you want to include with all or certain posts. This will expand your posts’ reach.

• Give yourself a goal of how many times per week you will post (we recommend between 3–5 posts per week) and write your content ahead of time, proofreading and always adding a call to action (read this, comment below, DM us, etc).

• Once your page is optimized (see above), start following accounts that need to know about you—this can include future clients if you are B2B, but it should also include community partners, networking groups, Chambers of Commerce and industry affiliates. Engage with these accounts by liking and commenting on their posts. Spend 5–10 per day engaging.

• Extra tip! Make sure you have converted this account to a business account so you can add contact info and get analytics.

Spending time every day on Instagram engaging with other accounts, paired with putting up interesting, branded content will lead to a healthy, growing account. Happy posting, we are ROOTING for you!

Why Community-Driven Social Media Marketing is Crucial for Your Small Business or Nonprofit

If you understand the importance of a healthy, vibrant community, then you’ll have the mindset to harness the power of social media marketing. Social media marketing is not only about getting your content online in a branded and consistent manner, it is also about connecting your messaging with the potential partners and affiliates around you who have their own audiences who need to know about YOU. Instead of thinking first about what content to create, we turn the paradigm on its head and think about our community, our audience and who needs to know about each post. Once we think about our audience, we develop a tagging strategy; only then do we begin to create great content.

Community is important for small business owners and nonprofits because it’s the backbone that supports us. Community helps these entities to amplify their messages. Innately, communities want their downtowns to thrive and they want the people who build businesses in these places to succeed. Being an entrepreneur or running a nonprofit can be like working in a vacuum. You wear all the hats and there’s never enough time in the day to think about your marketing and social media and get feedback and perspective on what your messaging needs to be. This is when you know it’s time to harness your community and connections and let them amplify your messaging and help you get in front of your prime audiences.

When you use social media as a vehicle to connect with other businesses, community groups and influencers, your social media marketing becomes very powerful. This is what hyperlocal really means. It means learning how to connect with people in your community, real life relationships being created and nourished and ultimately magnifying your message through reciprocal local support.

Red Root Summer News

We have so many fabulous things brewing for the fall and can't wait to share just a few with you! 

• Our new fall workshops will include Small Biz Growth Strategies and Getting a Jump on Holiday Marketing.

• We are planning a 5-week Incubator Series for Small Biz Owners at the Red Root office in Verona. Our vision is to provide local entrepreneurs with Space, Knowledge and Support to Plan for Growth. Stay tuned for more info on this amazing opportunity and email us here if you want to get in on the ground floor as spots will be extremely limited.

What kind of support for your business do YOU Need? Contact us here today to discuss.