Let’s talk about Instagram marketing for handmade businesses! So many handmade sellers are using Instagram but might not be using it effectively. It’s important to ask yourself first, is your ideal audience even on Instagram? Don’t feel like you need to be on Instagram because everyone else is. It’s entirely dependent on your specific business and audience.
If you’ve determined your audience is on Instagram, here are some tips for using Instagram a bit more strategically as a handmade business owner:
1) Don’t Just Talk About Your Products
A lot of handmade businesses tend to talk about their products a lot. This makes sense as we need to promote our awesome products and get sales, but you are missing out if that’s all you are talking about. You need to stand out against the sea of companies on Instagram by sharing other types of content:
Share more about you - you are the creator and business owner, and your customers want to know who you are. People can connect with the person behind the business just as much as the business and products themselves.
Share funny and engaging content that relates to your ideal audience. Do you make products for children? Share some funny motherhood moments, stories, or quotes!
2) Use Stories, Reels, IGTV
Instagram continues to expand and if you want to keep up with the platform’s changes, make use of all of the features they offer -- including stories, reels, and IGTV. Instagram announced in 2021 that they are no longer just a photo-sharing app, so don’t be afraid of video content. We've learned now even several years later that video isn't going anywhere!
Record a short video of you packaging an order, making your items, or telling your story (why you named your business what it is, why you make what you make, where your inspiration comes from, etc.)
3) Have an Engagement Strategy
Instagram is the one social media platform that requires daily engagement to truly have success. Even 10 minutes a day of strategic engagement will help you grow your account. It’s no longer about posting and sharing great content - you also need to engage. I love the Gary V $1.20 worth strategy (want your mind blown, look it up!)
Take a look at the recent posts on some of your key hashtags and engage with them! Like, follow, comment, and build relationships with your ideal customers. When it comes to engagement, you also want to make sure you keep up with your current followers and audience, too, and not just engage with new people.
Respond to any messages and comments left on your posts, and then return the favor!
4) Build an Audience of Fans
The best small businesses on Instagram have built a loyal following of fans, and that’s the goal for our accounts, content, and engagement strategy. We want to build a loyal fanbase that can connect with us, our businesses, our products, and our messaging.
Creating content that resonates with them will make all of the difference between just selling vs. building a loyal customer base.
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How do you feel about Instagram for your business right now? Have you moved onto another platform entirely? Do you need a better content strategy that isn’t all product photos? Hopefully, this post has given you some content ideas to add in some behind-the-scenes and engagement-type content, too.
