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Tips for Using Pinterest and Instagram for Business Marketing You need to have a proper understanding of these platforms in order to make them work best for your business's promotion.

By Bhavik Sarkhedi

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It is undeniable that social media is an important part of the internet marketing but if you think Facebook and Twitter are the all that you can do in the digital marketing, then you are wrong. No doubt these platforms are used by most of the businesses for promotion but the other platforms like Pinterest, Instagram and Tumblr are also gaining importance. So, to beat the competition and stay ahead of the others you also need to use these platforms for business marketing.

However, you cannot gain benefits from these platforms unless you are aware how they work and what strategies you need to implement. You need to have a proper understanding of these platforms in order to make them work best for your business's promotion. You need to know the type of users who use these platforms, what they like and what would work best for them. In addition, you should be well aware by all the platform features so that you can utilize them.

To make the process easy for you, here we are enlisting the tips for using Instagram, Pinterest and Tumblr for the marketing of your business.

Tips for using Pinterest

  • Optimize your pins

The most important thing for being successful on the Pinterest is getting your pins seen and shared by the maximum people. And you can do it by optimizing your pins. The various things that you can do for optimizing your pins are:

- Adding keywords to pins' titles, descriptions, images.

- Using a call-to-pin

- Connecting your Pinterest account to your other social media accounts i.e. Facebook, Twitter and more.

- Sharing pins in your newsletter

- Adding "Pin It" button to your images.

- Posting content at the best times.

  • Engage to build healthy relationships with your audience

Now, your pins are seen by the maximum people and have got the popularity, the next step would be using these pins for building relationships with your audience. More you engage with them, higher will be the chances of success. The things you can do for enhancing the engagement with your audience are:

- Post content frequently; you can pin about 5-30 pins every day but not all of them at the same time.

- Respond to your followers' queries, tweets, posts and comments. Go the extra mile to make them feel special.

- Follow the popular brands and engage with them as it will increase your brand's exposure.

  • Make your content just outstanding

Add diversity to your content so that it can gather more audience. Even your followers will start losing interest when they will view the same kind of content on your profile. Rich Pins are the best way to make your content noticeable and generate more traffic. Along with integrating Rich Pins, the other things that you can do are:

- Putting most popular boards on the top

- Keeping the content relevant

- Creating a separate board for the blog posts

- Including your site's direct link in the descriptions

However, don't forget to track your success and know the strategies that work best. Along with that, you can use the Pinterest Analytics to create the future strategies.

Tips for using Instagram

  • Set up an optimized account for Instagram

The first thing that you must do is setting up a separate account for your business and optimizing it. You need to remember that marketing is about customers, not about you; so keep your personal account separate from your business account. Don't forget to learn these top 10 strategies that will have command over digital marketing in 2017. Well, the other things that you should be doing for optimizing your account are:

- Include a link to your business website in the bio. This will drive more traffic to your website.

- Use a relevant name for your Instagram profile that would relate to your brand. And same is the case with the profile picture. Make sure both of these are professional and recognizable.

- Keep your bio interesting, informative and to the point that would help you add value to your content. Such a bio will help you keep your followers hooked up.

  • Post photos that would gain attention at the first glance

Though adding descriptions along with the products' images is common but remember Instagram is not for direct sale pitches. Trust me. Being a Founder of a Content Marketing Firm "Write Right', I do get lot of pitches; I prefer not to go for it. You need to direct your traffic that will be converted into sales. So, post the photos that would grab attention and be full of personality. Rather than posting an image of the product description or posting description with product's image , you must post the creative and attractive images that would incite the viewers to buy them. Here are some tips for the Instagram photos:

- Keep your photos' size and clarity such that they would reflect professionalism.

- Use editing tools for making the images outstanding ones.

- Keep some kind of consistency in your images so that they would reflect your brand.

- Make sure the images follow your brand's culture.

- Use images for offering exclusive announcements.

- Use photos to promote your events.

  • Implement strategies to grow your followers

No matter how awesome images you are posting on Instagram, you still need to get people see them and follow them. The things you can do to show off your brand and grow your business followers are:

- Hashtags are the only way that would increase the shelf-life of your Instagram posts, otherwise, they can get buried as Instagram feeds change fast. You can use as many hashtags with your post. Create your own hashtags on the basis of big hits and your brand's relevance.

- Encourage your followers to share your brand as it would help to grow the customers.

- Share the photos in which you are tagged by your followers.

  • Work on building strong customer relationships

Nothing will be more beneficial for your business than the satisfied and happy customers. So, make efforts to build strong relationships with your customers.

- Organize contests and increase engagement with your followers.

- Write inviting captions

- Thank your followers for tags

- Like and follow their posts

- Respond to their comments and queries

- Use your Instagram account for boosting up the online purchases

Don't forget to track your performance and note down the successful strategies as it will let you continue the growth of your business.

Always remember your audience are going to view what you would show to them. So, create an appealing image of your business that would attract maximum customers and keep your business follow the path of growth.

Bhavik Sarkhedi

Author of The Weak Point Dealer

Being bibliophilic in nature and engaged in personal diary writing since I was 9, the enthusiasm I have for writing can be expressed clearly when I write about the intersection of Technology,  Startup, Entrepreneurship and Juggle themBohemian by nature, Rapper by Passion, Story-Teller by Soul, and a Wanderlust, he wants to explore the intersection of philosophy and psychology. He is smartly dumb, genius moron, dynamically stubborn and occasionally an engineer. Die hard fan of TV seasons and  fictional characters- Sheldon Cooper, Chandler Bing, Charlie Harper, Daenerys Targaryen, Barney Stinson, Joey Tribianni and Tyrion Lannister.  Writes about Social Media, Entrepreneurship, Startups, Latest Tech Trends. The author of The Weak Point Dealer and 'Will You Walk A Mile?'

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