Social platforms are the catapult to company Websites where sales occur through ecommerce and/or by introducing your target demographic to your brand. Online shoppers crave quality content, which means more creative online ads, captivating written content, and most importantly, inspiring visual content to draw in the audience and attract them to your unique and innovative brand identity.

Using Instagram as a business to draw crowds

There’s no more popular platform for visual content than Instagram, and with the ability to create promoted posts that Instagram rolled out last year, your business can reach thousands of potential consumers. Promoted posts must contain compelling visual content, hashtags, and accompanying prose that enthralls, illustrates originality, and closes the deal with magnetic aesthetic appeal.

No need to hire a photographer: genuine images from the ground floor

Instead of wasting valuable marketing dollars on a professional photographer, use (and have employees use) iPhone, Android, or Windows phone cameras to capture what you all see from the vantage point of your enterprise every day. Show workers smiling over a project in the office and the same people in another post at the beach, for example. This reveals your business as a cohesive group rather than a “daily grind” where employees prefer to clock out and get away from coworkers — today’s consumers love to support brands with a fun, motivating, and even humorous tone. Displaying real happy human connection is one key to moving your target audience from an Instagram post to your Website.

Always be at the ready

You never know when you’re going to see something anywhere that captures some aspect of your brand identity or message. Think about your own authentic “product placement” that doesn’t look or feel contrived. Keep your company’s ideals at the forefront of your message. People, atmosphere, and things like food, mobile devices, pets, and other objects that compliment your product will round out a message about what you provide and what kind of energy defines your brand. Never miss the opportunity to snap a pic — stash it in your phone’s gallery and when the right moment arrives, you’ll have your own perfect library of photos to choose from.

Why am I posting this? The significance of your message

With all the elements of your image and supporting verbal content, create a theme that engenders thoughtful discourse not simply about your product, but the reason it exists and the scenarios in which it resolves an issue people face. For example, let’s say you owned a dental practice in Washington, D.C. A thoughtful Instagram post might be an image of a group of people with healthy, toothy smiles on a roller coaster. The written content might be, “The best part of having fun is showing the world your beautiful smile! Mention us in a post showing off your smile with hashtag #DCpearlywhites for half-off your next visit!” With outgoing, playful words, a great offer, and a way for people to join the conversation paired with your eye-catching image, you’re sure to get the attention you want with your promoted post.

Your Instagram company profile: up-to-date and pointing to your Website

Once people see your post, if they’re interested in buying your product they’re going to head to your profile to read your bio and hopefully click on the link to your site. Make sure your profile picture is consistent across all social platforms and anywhere else online to create recognition. Keep your bio concise but charismatic, and always include the link to your Website. Finally, track your Website analytics to see how much of your traffic is coming from Instagram. The better you get at using hashtags, posting really great images, and writing compelling accompanying content, the more traffic you’ll see.