10 Instagram Mistakes You Need To Avoid

I have been using Instagram for many years now and it has been a very powerful tool to help us grow our brand 'Illume Partyware'. Visual sharing is so important in the party industry and our fans love to see whats been going on. Instagram allows us to connect with our fans person to person.

Instagram has become one of the most popular social media platforms today. It currently has over 400 million users with more than 75 million daily users. Today I want to share with you 10 of the most common mistakes business owners make on Instagram:

1. Don't be Boring- Tell your story and show people why your business is different. Think of creative ways to showcase your product or service and include behind the scenes photos. Engage with your fans by asking them a question. If you sell a product encourage your followers to post photos of them using your products. Post a balance of images which include lifestyle, product, real events and relevant content.

2. Don't Post Boring Product Shots- Images of just product with a white background are not very interesting to look at, make sure you are posting images that are interesting.

3. Don't Post Poor Quality Photos- The quality of your images says a lot about your business. Check your photos are of high quality, not low res and fuzzy, this looks very unprofessional.

4. Don't Forget to Interact with Others- Engage with your fans by commenting and liking their feed. When you connect with your fans they feel personally connected to your business.

5. Don't Post too Often- 2-3 times a week is enough. Don't flood your fans feed. Over posting can look like you are spamming them.

6. Don't Post Enough- Make sure your posting at least 1 post a week. If you are not posting enough your followers will forget about you.

7. Don't Oversell- Posting loads of pictures of your products gets boring. Sales come with good content.

8. Not Having a Link to Website in their Profile- Make sure its easy for followers to find you by including a link to your website in your profile.

9. Not Using Hashtags- Don't forget to add hashtags to your post, Instagram posts with at least one hashtag get a lot more likes than those without.

10. Don't Use Too Many Hashtags-  Make sure to use hashtags that are relevant to your business. Instagram is all about telling your story in a visual way, so get creative.

We look forward to seeing your story on Instagram and connecting with you.