9 ways to use Instagram to reach more customers this Christmas
The run up to Christmas has well and truly started and from what I hear from friends who own retail businesses people are shopping already.
This year may feel different because of the ongoing cost of living crisis and the impending recession however people will still be spending some money, they’ll just be having to make more careful decisions about how they spend the money they have available.
So help your customers to make those buying decisions by using Instagram strategically in this festive period. This will be an incredibly busy time on Instagram with a big increase in activity on the platform so I wanted to share 9 ways to use Instagram to help you reach more of your customers and increase your opportunities for sales.
Post Reels
There is no doubt that Reels is the preferred format of Instagram. So it makes sense that if you want to reach as many people as possible you should be posting at least one Reel a week. This doesn’t mean you can no longer share static images but do include Reels in your Instagram strategy.
Reels can be absolutely anything - try to just think of them as short form video that gets your customer’s attention and you’ll soon see why they work.
Show people your brilliant products and services, take people behind the scenes, share a day in the life, use stop motion, film a timelapse, you can even dance in a Reel if that’s your thing too.
But just remember Reels will get your business in front of more people.
Instagram Stories
Your Instagram Stories are a really important part of your Instagram account. Because your Stories are content just for your existing followers. And your existing followers are likely to be your best customers and your best supporters who tell other people about what you do.
So use your Stories to stay connected and engaged with your followers. The more they feel connected the more likely they are going to share your business to their Stories and help you to reach more of your customers.
So use your Stories to take people behind the scenes, show them what running a small business is like for you. Share the highs and the lows during the festive period. Tell people about what you have on offer, what’s selling out, what are your best sellers and most importantly where and how they can buy from you.
Behind the Scenes
I talk about sharing the behind the scenes of your business a lot. And there is good reason for this. Because your followers and your customer want to see it.
Instagram users are more sophisticated than ever when it comes to making decisions about who they follow and the content they want to consume. So you have to give them reasons to keep coming back to your account.
And it may sound like a difficult truth but showing people what you make/ create/ sell is simply not enough. Your customers want to the know the story behind it, the story behind your business. Where you work from, what your working day might look like, the process you go through in bringing the thing you sell to life.
Share some behind the scenes in your Stories & Reels. Give us a tour of where you work, what does a day in your working life look like, what the design process for your product or services like.
Instagram Shopping Tags
If you have Instagram Shopping set up thanks to a new feature update last week your products can now be tagged in anyone’s posts, Reels and Stories. This is fantastic for you as a small business because it means that other accounts on Instagram can be helping to drive traffic to your website and increase your sales.
So encourage your customer and supporters of your business to tag your products when they are talking about them. And if you work with influencers and brand ambassadors ensure they know to tag your products.
This is a great new feature and it will probably have most impact when used in Stories because people are used to tapping on Stories to find out more information.
Collaborate
Now even when it’s not Christmas time I would say that collaboration is probably one of the very best ways to use Instagram. Because by collaborating you’re giving your business a huge opportunity to be seen by people you would otherwise not be able to reach.
Think about other accounts on Instagram with whom you may share an audience that may be full of your ideal customers. Collaborating with these other businesses, brands and influencers could help you to be seen by more of your customers.
One of the best ways to collaborate is to use the new Invite Collaborator Tag where you can tag an account with whom you can share your post. So your post would simultaneously sit on your Instagram grid and that of the account you’re collaborating with.
It’s such an easy feature to use but one that could result in your business getting in front of lots of new fresh eyes.
Other ways to collaborate to increase your reach could be @mentions in other people’s Stories, guest posts and going Live together.
Be More Visible
I know this is a very busy time for and you’d much rather post about your products and services but just remember your customers want and need more than that from you if they’re going to keep coming back to your account.
Show up on your Stories - have a chat with your followers, let them meet the person behind the account. Don’t have an anonymous faceless account. Instagram is all about those human to human connections you make.
Bring your account to life by bringing you into it now and again. You’ll notice it has an impact on your engagement right across your content.
Go Live
Now I know the idea of going Live may sound terrifying but it can be a brilliant way to bring your products to life. Think about using a Live in the that QVC style of video content.
Go Live and give us a demo of your product or show us how it could be styled, worn or used. Use a Live to show your customers your products in 3D.
The reason why these kind of Lives work is because you’re creating immersive video content that brings your business to life.
A brilliant example of this is the brand Wyse London who are the gold standard for using Instagram to sell their clothes. They use Lives to show you their clothes on real life people and this really helps us as viewers to make those buying decisions far more easily.
Instagram Guides
Instagram Guides were a new format that were introduced in the Summer of 2020 at exactly the same time as Reels so unfortunately they’ve never received the same level of profile as Reels.
However they are still a brilliant format for you to use to put all your products and services into separate Guides. They are incredibly easy to create, you simply add posts from your account (or indeed other accounts) and then add more copy to the Guide much like a blog post.
This works really well if you have Instagram Shopping set up and because you can add products from your Instagram Shop into a gift guide. And this is a great way to increase sales.
If you’d like to see a Guide in action have a look at this Guide from Frankly with a gift guide for Christmas.
Repeat Yourself
This may sound like I’m stating the obvious with one ( and again you want to be doing this all year round too). But you need to get into the habit asap of repeating yourself a lot on Instagram.
Make no assumptions as to how many times your customer may have heard you talk about what you have to sell. Make no assumptions about when your customer may be ready to buy.
Instagram is a very busy platform and over the next 8 weeks your customers are going to bombarded with content. If you want to reach your customers you need to be reminding them often about what you have to offer them. And how they can buy from you. Once you have their attention make it super easy for your customers to know how they can buy from you.
More than this, tell people about your best sellers, tell people when things are about to sell out. Remind them about when your last posting out day will be. If you create products that are made to order remind people about your lead times.
Assume nothing, and just remember to remind and repeat as often as possible.
So this was a very long read I know but these are important things for you to consider if you truly want to get the most out of Instagram this festive period. And you don’t have to do all of them - just try some of them and it will make a difference to how many customers you reach.
Wishing you all the luck for this festive period 🎄