Business and Instagram - Business Works
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Business and Instagram

by Shaz Memon, CEO, Digimax Dental What's the first thing you look at when checking out a new profile on Instagram? Chances are, it's the number of followers they have! Shaz Memon, CEO of Digimax Dental, shares his tips for growing your followers on Instagram and why the platform is important for business.

The business value of Social Media

Low follower counts signal a mediocre profile at best, which inhibits the level of growth and engagement you can expect to see on the social platform that's quickly becoming the world's largest.

It is easy to think that Social Media are just a blizzard of likes and hashtags - lots of fun, but ultimately a bit pointless. Wrong. If you're running a serious business today, no matter what you're selling, Social Media can be one of the most powerful tools at your disposal.

Here are three quick reasons why Social Media are incredibly valuable to any business:

  1. Social is where users spend their time - there aren't many certainties in the online world, but here's one: we know that as much as 75% of people's time online is spent roaming around Facebook, Google and other social platforms. There's no reason not to be there with them.

  2. Your competitors are there already - there's no part of the business world that doesn't depend on social in some way. Your competitors will be using it and you need to keep up. So look at what they're doing, learn from it, and try to one up their efforts.

  3. It can make you a ton of money - Social Media are an incredibly efficient way of promoting yourself - and turning eyeballs into sales. Plus, with analytics you can clearly see where your biggest returns are and maximise your customer acquisition costs.

Top tips for growing followers


  1. Keep it real
    when it comes to Social Media, Instagram is one of the least corporate platforms. It offers a degree of authenticity and somewhat a personal experience. Remaining true to your real-life persona, you're likely to have better engagement with customers - new and repeat.

  2. Upgrade to a business profile
    Make the simple switch to a business profile to get the benefits of analytical data such as demographics and engagement. Other than these statistics, you can also add your address details, contact information and categorise your business to provide better information to visitors. Best of all, it's free and can be done in a few seconds!

  3. Follow the right accounts
    As tempting as it is to follow back everyone who follows you, be mindful of two things:

    1. there's a cap of 7500 accounts that you can follow at one time, and

    2. most profiles will follow you, obtain your follow, then unfollow you which will ruin the follower to following ratio.

    Focus on following similar profiles to yours which will ensure you're listed with like-minded accounts.

  4. The power of 9
    Due to the low attention spans of the average social media user, you need to ensure you capture their gaze immediately. With this rule, aim to have your first nine posts relevant to your business and not images of your last cup of coffee - unless you run a coffee shop that is!

  5. When to post
    There isn't a set rule that defines the optimum time to post, but consider a schedule based around your desired audience's working hours. One way to monitor this is to look at Instagram's analytical tools - you need a business profile as already touched upon - and tailor your content calendar when it suits optimal engagement for your customers.



Shaz memon is CEO of Digimax Dental, the world's highest-rated dental digital marketing agency, and author of the Amazon Best Seller Instagram for Dentists. For more information, please visit: Digimax Dental



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