Instagram is a hot commodity with businesses optimizing this social media outlet as a platform to interact even further with their customers. In recent years, Instagram has offered even more features specifically for business, such as allowing businesses to offer their customers a way to shop through Instagram photos. Instagram is a great (and free) way to offer more interactive content to your customers and here are some ways to do that:

1. Use videos! Videos are becoming more and more popular, making static content not as effective on social media sites anymore. There are many services out there that will allow you to easily and cheaply make promotional videos, however, even taking videos on your iPhone can prove to be very personable and effective. Boomerang is a free app that allows you take short videos that play on a loop. These videos are very popular on Instagram and can allow you to get creative with your content.
2. Make Use of Instagram Features. Instagram offers some cool features such as Instagram Stories, which allows you to add pictures or videos to your profiles “story” and will leave it available to view for a limited amount of time. Instagram Stories allows you to create polls, which is great for interactive content. For example, if you are a clothing store, upload a picture of two shirts and ask “Which one would you wear?” allowing people to vote on the Instagram story. This keeps customers engaged with your products in a unique way.
3. Maximize Instagram’s potential by reflecting your brand. By this, I mean that your Instagram is basically a portfolio and it should reflect your brand. Upload images that fit together creating a cohesive look. All of the top brands accomplish this, making their profiles more appealing and encouraging people to follow them.

Once you get the hang of it Instagram can be a great benefit to your company’s marketing. Just keep up with consistently posting and follow the tips/tricks provided above and you’ll be a master of Instagram in no time.