Optimizing My Instagram for New Leads and Customers: Here’s How to Get Instagram Leads for Your Business

You started an Instagram business account with the goal of finding new customers and clients. It seems that the whole Instagram marketing thing is easier said than done.

You’re going to learn how a social media manager uses Instagram to get more customers and web traffic for their clients. Instagram has provided so many updates to optimize their platform for businesses.

Small brands and large brands alike find success with Instagram marketing when they do it correctly.

You first need to know about the platform. Do you know how to add hashtags to your stories? Did you know you can add hashtags to your bio for people to find you easier?

Do you perform proper hashtag research using a mix of hashtags your ideal customer might use with hashtags your competition is using? I didn’t even cover every update and feature Instagram has for business accounts.

There’s a lot we need to cover so let’s dive right in.

Setting up a business account to find new leads

A regular profile won’t give you the opprotunity to look at marketing insights and profile options. Here’s directions on how to set up your Instagram business account.

Now you can choose the right category to list your products or services under. For example, I’m a copywriter and social media manager so my business account is in the category of public figure.

You can choose from categories such as consulting, finance, marketing, and more. Just click “edit profile” and scroll down to see the list of categories.

This makes it easier for potential customers to understand what you do and who you serve. If someone searches for “consulting agency” your profile will pop up since you took the time to optimize it correctly.

You want it to be as easy as possible for people to find your business account on Instagram. Optimizing your business account on Instagram means you take the time to ensure your email, phone number, and bio are correct and written in a way to lure your customers in.

Using your Instagram business account bio to find new leads

Instagram allows you to have a short bio to introduce your business. Use industry related hashtags but only choose one or two. You don’t want your brand account to come off as spammy.

Choose a hashtag that doesn’t have millions of followers. Your account will be drowned out and it won’t even matter that you used that hashtag in your bio.

Try to go for a hashtag with 30,000 to 80,000 followers. There’s enough people following the hashtag to engage with your brand but it’s not so low in follower count that it isn’t being used.

You’re going to need to hire a copywriter or take a class on copywriting to make your bio stand out. This is the first thing new leads read when visiting your profile so be sure to make every single word count.

Include a call to action at the end of your Instagram bio. Make is clear and specific. Your call to action can be for:

• blog posts
• discounted products
• new products
• new services
• a link to a freebie
• subscribers for your email list
• to your facebook group

Provide value and engage the target audience

In order to find new Instagram leads for your business account make sure you’re providing value. Everything you post shouldn’t be about your company.

Make it about the consumer. If you’re a beauty brand give skin or hair care tips and if you’re a financial expert give advice on financial success.

You can always repurpose your content that comes in other forms. Gather blog posts, Pinterest content, YouTube videos and email newsletters to reuse (repurpose) into a new post for Instagram.

Providing behind the scenes insight into your brand is an excellent way of engaging your audience too. Asking close-ended questions is a quick way to get a response.

Your followers can choose a quick “yes or no” question to answer and you get more information about their needs and wants.

Collaborate with other industry leaders to grow your Instagram business account

Networking is a powerful tool that can be used to boost your Instagram following and lure your target audience in.

Connect with influencers or other industry accounts to provide discounts, freebies or other forms of collaborations.

The possibilities are endless but here’s a few ideas to get you started;

• collaborate on a new blog post and tell IG
• collaborate on IG live or IGTV
• give shout outs when credit is due
• tag other users in your posts (peers and customers)

Keep an eye out for opportunities to speak on radio shows, large blogs and podcasts. The more notoriety you get (relevant to our brand) the better off your Instagram account will be.

You basically need to be using every avenue to get word out about what you provide for your clients and customers. Which is the exact reason you’re using Instagram.

Using Instagram “shopping” feature to bring leads to your business

Online shopping makes it super easy and quick for consumers to get what they want when they want it. Instagram knows this and implemented a “shopping” feature for eligible businesses.

This is the perfect update for beauty brands, boutiques, jewelry retailers and other product based companies. How many times do you scroll through Instagram and see a product you want right then and there?

Customers shop on Instagram business accounts more often than you think and this feature allows business owners on Instagram to leverage the platform in a smarter way. A small pop-up will appear on the screen and you can click checkout super easily.

Your customers will be taken to a hosting site like Woo Commerce, Shopify and other e-commerce sites for the checkout. Debit and MasterCard may be used for the purchase.