When you think of Instagram, the first things that pop into your mind are photos of delicious foods, glamorous celebrities, and adorable puppies. However, with 2 billion active users per month, Instagram makes a great marketing platform.
B2C companies are all experiencing success on Instagram, but the majority of B2B firms still have minimal or close to no engagement.
Many B2B brands are hesitant to dive into the world of Instagram as it seems less professional than Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn.
But remember, people do business with people, not with other businesses.
Through Instagram, you can advocate your company’s core values, and establish a long term connection with your consumer base.
If you are still lost, below are some areas you should focus on in Instagram B2B marketing to help you get started.
You can also analyze your company’s Instagram account and hashtags using Keyhole.
1. Company Vision
Don’t think of Instagram solely as a marketing tool and constantly bombard your audience with your products and services.
Try to stick with a central message or theme that both represent your company and show personality.
Displaying company culture will allow you to better connect with your targeted audience, and if done correctly, have people immediately connecting your company with a certain keyword.
WeWork does an exemplary job of showing culture and vision through their Instagram.
Their mission is “to create a world where people work to make a life, not just a living,” so their Instagram follows the theme of being passionate and excited about life with photos of funky office decorations and their employees at concerts and parties.
2. Employee Engagement
Employees are a company’s greatest assets, so appreciate the hard work they put into making your company better and stronger, and show them off on Instagram.
IBM hits top of the lists for B2B Instagram accounts with an engagement rate of 4.04%the secret to its success is its focus on employee engagement.
In a recent interview, Katie Keating, the Social Content & Engagement Strategist at IBM revealed that “IBM is primarily experienced by the world at large through our employees, so it’s important to us that they’re engaged and feel empowered to share their experiences.”
3. Company History
Let people know about the history of your company— Why it was created and where you are planning to go in the future.
Share photos of company founders or from company archives and let your audience understand the purpose of your journey and the hardships you had to face throughout the process.
It will add depth to your brand’s image and build an emotional connection with your customers.
To constantly stimulate interest, celebrate achievements, anniversaries, landmarks, or anything you believe is important to your company.
Zendesk, a software company that provides cloud-based customer service for businesses rocks it on Instagram by showcasing their critical milestones.
Their CEO is a frequent cast in their photos, giving followers a sense of intimacy and builds genuine rapport.
4. Thought Leadership
After recognizing the foundation of your company — the history, culture, employees, you should also acknowledge the masterminds within your company.
Share thought provoking quotes from your conferences or conduct series of short 15 second interviews of your employees or even yourself to arouse intellectual engagement on Instagram.
For maximum engagement, you can also let your audience voice their questions and concerns on Instagram, which subsequently captivates a new form of customer service.
Oracle loves sharing insightful quotes, not only from the CEO but also senior executives in the company on its Instagram page, especially from Oracle Open World to draw extra attention to the event.
Not surprisingly, Oracle also tops the charts in B2B Instagram marketing through its effective strategies.
5. Product Demonstration
Yes, behind the scenes are important, but introducing your audience to the core of your company is equally essential.
Post short clips of product launching teasers on Instagram to gain interest, or take creative, artistic shots of your products to allure a wider audience base.
CBRE is a commercial real estate company that is very creative in product promotion. It doesn’t bore its audience with leases, but instead shares photos of city skylines and architectural art, alternating between buildings under its own organization and others that are not.
This way, the audience gains knowledge of CBRE’s products, but at the same time does not feel as if they are being forced to make purchases.
Keyhole is a real-time conversation tracker that provides keyword + hashtag analytics and social media analytics across platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
6. Share Company News
Who still eats breakfast with freshly delivered newspapers every morning? Probably very few still practice the tradition. Press releases are still effective but social media marketing will help you spread the word more extensively and efficiently.
Rather than long boring news stories, the general public will be more attracted to powerful visuals. So whether your company is launching a new product, or landed an exciting partnership, share a photo or create a graphic to announce the news.
Farmacy is keeping up with this new trend. Instead of putting out a traditional press conference, it has just announced its new product on Instagram.
7. Promote Your Events
With the rise of hybrid events, combining both in-person and virtual elements, Instagram provides an excellent platform to engage with a broader audience and create buzz before, during, and after the event.
Don’t feel limited to share only one picture before your event for promotion. You can also share photos of the process that goes along planning the events and setting up the venue, during the event, and post event to thank everyone’s participation and dropping hints at the next event.
Everyone loves having fun, so be sure to share cool places to go to surrounding the venue — closest coffee shop, most popular restaurants, hipster shops.
Bloopers during rehearsal is also a great way to juxtapose your serious business events with light hearted laughs.
During one of their workshops at LinkedIn’s New York headquarters, Hootsuite posted a photo of the packed room of attendees while tagging LinkedIn and SMA to appreciate their hosts.
8. Use Hashtags
Hashtag! Hashtag! Hashtag!
To tie in with event marketing, you should create one unified hashtag for your event across all your social channels to engage conversation and also to connect with attendees.
But even if you’re not hosting an event, hashtags are still very effective in promoting your brand as it allows you to be easily searchable to potential customers who are interested in your company values or products. However, never overdo the hashtags.
One or two is fine, but if you go beyond five, it is a nuisance to everyone’s eyes and you will come across as trying too hard. Keep it simple!
Popeyes uses #LoveYourChicken to showcase customer experiences in and out of their restaurants.
9. Regram
If one day, you are stuck and don’t know what to post anymore, try regramming photos that your customers have taken of your company or its products and services.
Not only is it a way to generate new content, but it also allows you to actively engage with the community.
Fedex is one of the leading B2B Instagram accounts and engages with the audience through many of the previous suggestions.
It also regrams photos shared by its customers thanking them for their inspirational messages and also reaching out for deeper connections by asking its own followers to share their stories.
10. Showcase Creativity!
Be creative in managing your company’s Instagram account. You can even host contests for your audience such as snap a selfie with this hashtag and enter to win a special prize.
Instagram is an app that people use during their leisure time, so don’t approach it as a traditional marketing tool. Have fun with your brand’s Instagram account and make the photos as exciting and fun as possible.
There are endless possibilities to engage with your audience and promote your products and services through B2B marketing on Instagram.
Related Articles:
How to Get More Instagram Followers: 30 Proven Strategies
Social Media Trends to Track in 2020 and Beyond: Marketing Tools, Content, and Strategy
Keyhole is a real-time conversation tracker that provides keyword + hashtag analytics and social media analytics across platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
