Instagram has been hugely popular all over the world since its launch in 2010. Statistics indicate that 32% of all United States adults are Instagram users. It now has a billion active users per month, and it is not only meant for personal use anymore.
Today, Instagram is a comprehensive global platform that offers businesses and professionals the opportunity to add value to their marketing content, showcase their services and products, and interact with their target audiences.
Instagram is unique in that there are millions of users on the platform and they are actively engaged. Over half (51%) of Instagram’s active users go to the site on a daily basis, and 35% report checking it many times a day. This video and photo sharing platform has rapidly become a leading social media site.
Instagram has emerged as an excellent platform for increasing brand awareness and introducing prospective clients to your practice. Itlets marketers promote their products and services in a transparent and friendly manner without overtly selling to potential clients.
Notably, Instagram is designed as a platform where users share visual content as soon as it occurs. Users need to routinely post videos and photos there to achieve high visibility. Failure to keep an up-to-date profile could cause users to lose followership and witness a decrease in engagement levels.
Here are some useful tips for maintaining a successful Instagram profile for your dental practice.
Download the Instagram App
First, you need to download the app. No desktop Instagram version has all of its functionalities. For instance, users can view content on Instagram’s site but can’t upload it using their desktop. The Apple App Store and Google Play both have the Instagram app available for free.
Make an Instagram Account
After downloading the app, you need to create an account. Upon opening the app, you will have two options. You can either “Log In With Facebook” or “Sign Up with Phone or Email.” Ideally, you should sign up with your business email to make sure that your profile is not linked to your Facebook account.
The next step is to enter your details. “Your Full Name” will be the name that will be displayed on the your profile, and not the account username or handle. You should enter your actual enterprise name to ensure that visitors can recognize your profile.
Choose a Username
The platform will then prompt you to select a username,which will be unique to your profile and enable other accounts to engage effectively with your brand. Choose a recognizable and easytolocate username. If your practice’s name is already taken, you can keep the initial part of your business name in your username. Also, you can update your username later in the account settings if you want to change it later.
Identify the Right Profile Image
You now need to select a profile picture,whichwill be immediately noticeable when potential patients are searching for and visiting your profile. Therefore, it is crucial to ensure that the picture is in sync with your practice’s branding and visual markers.
Practice owners and marketers can consider using the practice’s logo or a recognizable image as their profile picture. The profile image is circular, and Instagram will crop it automatically to accommodate it. It is advisable to leave some margin around the corners of the chosen picture.
OptimizeYour Instagram Bio
Before posting on Instagram, you should optimize your Instagram bio. Because Instagram bios only allow up to 150 characters, you should be direct and concise. You need to inform your audience about who you are and what you offer in a creative way that reflects your practice’s personality. Keywords and hashtags are not searchable in the bio, so you don’t need to focus on them while filling out this section.
Practice ownersand marketers can encourage visitors to take particular actions such as visiting theirpractice’s website. You can only enter a clickable URL to send traffic to an external site in the bio and nowhere else.
Clicking on the “Edit Profile” tab allows you to changeyour profile picture, profile name, bio, username, or URL.
Manage Settings
Finally, make sure you update your account settings by clicking on the small gear (or dots on an Android device) icon in the top right-hand corner of the Instagram profile. This allows various activities such as changing your password, viewing posts, and enabling notifications.
Story Settings
“Story Settings” allows users to manage who can see and respond to their Instagram Stories, which are photo and video posts that vanish after 24 hours. Nevertheless, it makes sense to allow followers to view and respond to yourpractice’s Stories to create more brand engagement.
Switch to Business Profile
Instagram introduced its business tools function last year. You can now identify yourself as a business. This makes it more convenient for potential patients to reach out to you.
Furthermore, business profiles offer more detailed insights and make content promotion easier. And note: A business must have a Facebook business page to switch to an Instagram business profile.
Private Account
Instagram will set a new profile to public by default. If the user is a business, it will not need to adjust this setting. A business would find it beneficial to have users see its posts automatically and follow it without any hindrance.
Comments
It can be encouraging for users to receive comments on their content. However, some comments may be contrary to your practice’s values or offensive to audiences. Instagram can hide comments that include specific phrases or keywords. You can enter such phrases and words into your Instagram settings and turn this functionality on.
Instagram Post Types
After creating an account, it is important to populate it with fantastic content. On Instagram, users can post various types of material such as videos, photos, and Stories.
Imagesareis the most common type of post on Instagram. It is useful to post a wide variety of pictures when creating these kinds of posts. It also is a good idea to capture your practice’s culture with lifestyle photos as well as behind-the-scenes shots. Don’t post too many images of your treatment. Users on Instagram seek authentic posts from practices, not outright advertisements.
Instagram also allows users to upload videos that are up to 60 seconds long. Users can upload videos from their computer that were edited with professional editing software, or they can edit videos themselves via mobile apps. Splice is a popular free editing tool that enables users to cut together multiple clips as well as add titles, transitions, and music.
Instagram videos commence without any sound, though. Therefore, it is essential to ensure that the videos you’re considering do not need sound to be understood by audiences.Or, encourage users to turn on the sound in the caption.
Instagram Live
Additionally, Instagram has a live video functionality that allows users to share content with their audiences in real time. The live video stream starts by opening the camera inside the app, selecting the “Live” tab from the menu located at the bottom of the screen, and clicking the tab to “Start Live Video.”
Mr. Arulrajah is president and CEO of Ekwa Marketing, a complete Internet marketing company that focuses on SEO, social media, marketing education, and the online reputations of dentists. With a team of more than 140 full-time marketers, ekwa.com helps dentists who know where they want to go get there by dominating their market and growing their business significantly year after year. If you have questions about marketing your practice online, call (855) 598-3320 or email naren@ekwa.com.
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