In just a few short years, Instagram has grown from an app with a loyal following, to one of the fastest growing social networks in the world.

Today, Instagram has more than 200 million active users. And those users have shared more than 20 billion photos!

There are several benefits of using Instagram for your business, but my favorite reason is simply that it’s easy and fun to use.

For those of you new to Instagram or hesitant to start, I’ve outlined answers to 10 of the Instagram questions I’m most often asked from small business owners.

1. What is Instagram?

Instagram allows users to take pictures and videos from a mobile device, apply digital filters and a caption, and then share the image on a variety of social networking services, such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Flickr.

Instagram makes it easy to create stunning photos that make you, and ultimately your business, look professional and creative.

2. What is the difference between Instagram and Pinterest?

With Pinterest, a user’s intent is primarily focused on the discovery and curation of other users’ content. Similar to a search engine, users can use Pinterest to search for specific content or products. They can then create visually appealing boards by pinning and grouping the content they discover.

On Pinterest, every pin is a link to the source of the image, usually an external site. Therefore, one of the common goals for businesses is generating website traffic and using Pinterest for SEO purposes. Pinterest is also a proven sales generator for retail businesses.

On Instagram, users are looking for a much more personal experience with the brands they follow and engage with. The content you share on Instagram should give your audience an authentic view into your business.

Here are a few other differences to be aware of:

Instagram vs. Pinterest v2

3. Can you connect your Instagram account to your Facebook Business Page?

Yes! Under Share Settings in your Instagram Account Setting, you can connect to your Facebook Business Page.

This will not only make it easier for you to share your Instagram photos on Facebook, but also makes it easier for people on Facebook to connect with you on Instagram, as well.

4. I don’t have a smartphone; can I still use Instagram from my computer?

Unfortunately, you can’t post to Instagram from a computer, but you can use the web browser version to look at profiles, follow people, and comment on photos.

5. How can I grow my following on Instagram?

Leverage all of the social channels you currently use to tell customers and supporters about your new account.

Let your contacts know you’re on Instagram in your next email newsletter, and make it easy for those interested to follow you. Also include your Instagram username so those without a smartphone can check you out on the web.

Find your customers on Instagram with this social media trick (see #3) to see who is sharing photos while visiting your business. Or access Instagram’s ‘Find People to Follow’ feature within your Account Settings.

Lastly, help your customers find you by adding an Instagram badge to your website or blog.

6. I’ve seen people create collages on Instagram, how can I do that?

Pic Stich and Pic Collage are both great for making beautiful collages.

Additional popular apps to use in conjunction with Instagram are Repost for Instagram and Repost & Regram for Instagram. These apps allow you to repost your favorite photos or your customers’ photos from your account.

For more tips on creating eye-catching images with your smartphone, check out this post: How to Create Stunning Visual Content with Your Smartphone

7. How can a business measure their success on Instagram?

Iconosquare (formerly Statigram) is an easy-to-use, free analytics platform for Instagram. Iconosquare allows you to easily check out which of your photos are generating the most engagement, track your likes and comments, and see even more analytics.

Do you use HootSuite? You can install the Iconosquare app as a stream in your HootSuite account to manage your Instagram presence more easily.

8. Is there a way to switch back and forth from your personal Instagram account and business account?

There isn’t an easy way to switch from your personal Instagram account to your business’s account using the Instagram app yet.

If you’re looking to simply monitor your Instagram feeds, there are a few apps you can use.

With Iconosquare’s integration with HootSuite, you can monitor multiple Instagram feeds and analytics from the HootSutie mobile app.

Fotogramme is another app that allows you to switch between multiple accounts for monitoring, but not posting.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed Instagram releases an app for brand manager, similar to Facebook’s Page Manager app soon!

9. Why would a business or nonprofit want to start using Instagram?

Instagram gives you the perfect opportunity to show customers a personal side of your business and tell your business’s story. As with most social media networks, using Instagram isn’t just about selling your product, it’s about connecting with the people who matter most to your business.

When you showcase your personality and what goes on behind the scenes, it helps build a level of trust and familiarity that allows people to connect with your business. This is one of the best ways to build long-lasting relationships for your business.

10. What should I share on Instagram?

Small businesses actually have an advantage over big brands when it comes to using Instagram for visual storytelling. Unlike big brands, small business owners know every detail of their business and are present every day to capture authentic, timely content.

You also know your customers in a way that big businesses don’t. By adding the personal touch that big businesses lack, you can humanize your business, show off your values and personality, and foster customer loyalty faster.

For inspiration, here are ten great ideas and examples of small businesses using Instagram successfully:

Can’t see the examples below? View them here. 

Make an emotional connection: Visuals are a great way for you to show off your cause and your volunteers. The advantage to being a nonprofit is your emotional connection, and visuals are a great way to show that.

Introduce your employees: This is a great way to show the human side of your company.

Show the steps: Let your audience get involved by offering a sneak peek at a new product.

Go behind-the-scenes: This will leave a lasting impression on current and future customers.

Get customers involved: Encourage the use of a specific hashtag or show the customers themselves at your business!  By capturing customers in the moment, you can create authentic content that truly connects your audience to your business.

Capture a real moment: Instagram is an effective social media channel for conveying authentic emotive content that can inspire someone to act.

Provide a glimpse of the past: Include the hashtag #TBT for ‘Throwback Thursday’ or #WayBackWednesday with an image that highlights a milestone or a good time from an earlier time.

Promote your events: Show followers the excitement of an event they’re missing out on.

Offer Inspiration: Share motivational quotes or a great personal anecdote so others will come to associate a feeling of positivity with your business.

Promote something: Tease your followers with a photo showcasing a new product, special offer or upcoming event.

Have fun: Through engaging and lighthearted posts, businesses can create a personal connection between its brand and its followers.

Not using Instagram for your business or organization yet?

Check out these 10 steps for setting up an Instagram account for your business.

Follow Constant Contact on Instagram for a behind the scenes look at the happenings in our office!

This is the third in a four-part series by Hal Shelton, SCORE small business mentor and author of The Secrets to Writing a Successful Business Plan. In the previous two installments, we looked at “4 Sections Every Business Plan Must Have (and Why They’re Important)” and “Why You Need a Business Plan (and the Best Style for You).” This month, we discuss the best times to update your business plan.    

In this post, you will learn what events trigger a need to update your business plan, how updating a business plan differs from creating the original, and who should be involved in the updating process.

Do I Need to Update My Entire Plan?

Most likely, no. It depends on what trigger situations you are addressing. Almost all businesses should update the strategies and tactics in the marketing section to meet constantly changing market realities.

For example, which of your actions/activities worked well and should be continued, and which should not? If everything is working, then you are not experimenting enough — not everything will work as planned and you can only grow from the lessons learned.

If updating your plan fills you with dread, don’t worry.

Creating your first business plan may have been a chore, but updating a plan is easier and more fun. During your start-up, you likely had little direct experience and no track record or historical information, so many of the marketing and operational forecasts were educated guesses. Now you have some experience and a track record, and you have experimented and know what works and what doesn’t. Plus, you have already existing information to use as a foundation.

Situations That May Trigger a Plan Update

Business plans are living documents and need to be revisited every so often to ensure they are still relevant. In this way you can continue to use and benefit from the strategies and tactics.

Further, business plans are forward-looking, so they are based on estimates, which means updates are often necessary. Following are some specific situations that may be cause for you to look at updating your plan.

1. Competitors have reacted to your market entry by reducing prices for similar products, extending business hours, liberalizing their return policy, providing free shipping, etc.

You must decide whether to match their tactics or stick to your plan. In either case, your revenues will be lower, so you will need to plan a course of action. These situations may affect your plan’s marketing, products & services and operations sections with a resultant impact on the financial section.

2. A competitor has copied your product or service.

Do you have intellectual property protection (patents, copyrights), and is it economically feasible to go after the perpetrators? If yes, there will be legal expenses, and revenues may decline with the increased competition.

3. The economy has changed (inflation, recession, unemployment rates), impacting potential customers’ ability to buy your product or service.

This will negatively impact your revenues, and depending on your staffing, adjustments may be needed there as well.

4. You land a major new customer, or an existing customer cancels a big contract.

The first is good news and might require more resources than originally planned, but the latter is not good at all and will require you to come up with a fresh approach.

5. A major vendor has cut you off or changed their terms and conditions.

For example, they previously allowed a 30-day grace period but now require cash in advance. If you are cut off, you must scramble to find a replacement. Maybe you stop buying from a vendor due to quality and dependability issues, or your business has outgrown a vendor’s limited services.

6. Regulatory changes impact your business.

One potential change in many states is the imposition of sales tax on all internet sales. The possible result? Online sellers and brick and mortar stores with the same prices — and no competitive edge.

7. You lose a key staff member, which affects productivity.

Reduced resources means either your business must reduce its size or you need to find alternatives.

8. You are ready to take your business to the next level.

Obtaining growth funds from a bank or angel investor requires a more sophisticated plan. Even if you do not need additional funding, a business plan based on an estimated $50,000 business might not be adequate to support a $300,000 one, which may need additional employees, for example.

Whether one of the previous reasons dictates an update or not, make it a practice to review your business plan at least once a year and plot your activities for the coming year. Do this as part of your annual planning and budgeting process at the end of your fiscal year. If you previously had your forecast in a full year increment, this time do it quarterly, and next year monthly.

Who Should Update Your Company’s Business Plan?

You probably prepared the original business plan yourself, since you were likely the only employee. If you have now grown and added staff, try to involve them so there is buy-in. That way, when it is time to implement the plan, your staff will be on-board and the activities will go smoother.

Don’t Have a Plan to Update?

It is never too late. Visit www.secretsofbusinessplans.com for information about The Secrets to Writing a Successful Business Plan: A Pro Shares a Step-by-Step Guide to Creating a Plan That Gets Results.

Key Lessons

  • External and internal events can trigger the need to update your business plan.
  • Business plans should be reviewed and possibly updated at least once a year, especially for younger companies.
  • Updating your business plan is more focused and fun than the writing the original one.
  • Involve staff in the updating process.
  • It is never too late to create a business plan.

Next Steps

  • Determine if any of the triggering events have occurred in your business
  • Schedule an update of your plan by the end of your fiscal year.

Next month, we will look at creating a business plan for a nonprofit.

Hal Shelton’s business planning skills were developed as a certified SCORE small business mentor, corporate executive, nonprofit board member, early-stage company investor, and author of The Secrets to Writing a Successful Business Plan: A Pro Shares a Step-by Step Guide to Creating a Plan That Gets Results. Suggestions for additional topics are welcome; email Constant Contact or Hal directly from his website: www.secretsofbusinessplans.com.

If you’ve ever been fishing, you know just how important the bait is.

You can’t catch fish without bait, and the bait determines the kind of fish you catch.

The same is also true for the content you create for your website or blog. You need bait to get noticed and get bites in the form of visitors, shares, and backlinks!

The headline, or H1 heading, is the juicy little worm on your article’s hook, which is at the end of your content marketing strategy’s line and reel. You’re the one doing the fishing, and your readers and prospective customers are, guess who…the fish!

Each and every one of your website’s pages or blog articles is a different line in the water. Depending on what type of fish you’re trying to catch, where your fish are, and what they eat, you will utilize different types of lures and/or bait from your tackle box, different depths, along with different locations to fish.

OK, enough with the fishing analogy, let’s take a moment to learn a little more about headlines.

What exactly is a headline?

Web page headlines are just like the headlines of print newspapers and magazine articles, except they’re on web pages. They’re typically the leading line in the article (two words: head, line). Technically speaking, the headline text is wrapped by HTML tags to create a heading element. These tags range from H1 to H6 and determine the style of the text.

Today we’ll be focusing on the most important heading tag, the H1 heading, or the main headline on a blog article. Here’s an example of an h1 heading/headline.

Headline example

Why H1 headings are important for SEO

The H1 heading is the most important heading for search engine optimization because it’s the highest level heading that shows what your specific page is about. Search engines generally give this heading more weight over other headings, so it usually improves your search engine ranking when you properly optimize them with the right keywords and use them in conjunction with the other on-page SEO techniques.

It’s very important that your h1 headings are intriguing, valuable, helpful, or a combination of any of those. Doing this will make your content stand out in the organic search results and drive more qualified traffic to your website. It will also help you from a co-marketing standpoint because you’ll share guest article ideas with your partners leading with these headlines.

Try implementing these tips in some of your upcoming blog article headlines to hook your readers and reel them in!

Making your headlines intriguing

You only have a split second to grab potential readers’ attention with your headlines, so you should make them as interesting and intriguing as possible. Otherwise, you lose them and they’ll never make it through your article to your call-to-action.

Here are four examples how to make your headlines intriguing:

Tip 1: Tell a secret

Everyone likes to know that they’re getting some insider information from an expert, so next time, try letting them in on the scoop. For example, if you’re a golf professional you could write an article with the headline: “The secret to a perfect golf swing.”

Tip 2: Hop on the bandwagon

Your readers like to feel included in something, so bring them on board with a headline that shows they’re a part of a greater group. For example, if you’re a boutique selling messenger bags, your article’s headline could read: “Who else wants to know what bags are in vogue this summer?”

Tip 3: Don’t miss out

If you make your headlines urgent and timely, you can usually spark your readers’ curiosity. For example, if you’re a residential swimming pool installer, you could write your headline to read: “Only 5 more days to take advantage of our half-off summer installation special.”

Tip 4: Build a list

Humans naturally love and respond to order. Lists are a great way to leverage that love. You can use top 10 lists, best of/worst of lists, or any other list you can think of! For example, if you’re a professional photographer you could write your headline to read: “The top 10 most picturesque wedding destinations.”

Making your headlines valuable

There’s no substitute to paying it forward with valuable blog articles, and the headline is the best place to showcase the value. The more valuable information you provide free-of-charge through your blog posts, the more engagement you’ll see with your readership. Readers will share your posts via social media, resulting in more exposure and traffic.

Here are three examples of how to make your headlines valuable:

Tip 5: Show results

Make your headline all about the results your readers get by reading and acting upon your post. For example, if you’re a skincare expert, your headline could read: “Noticeable wrinkle reduction after only 5 uses of Product X – See the results.”

Tip 6: Save time

With everyone being so busy nowadays, saving a couple minutes here and there is really valuable to most people. Show the value of shaving some time off of a typically arduous task. For example, if you sell luxury sheets and bed linens, your headline could read: “Save 5 minutes making your bed every day with these tips.”

Tip 7: Save money

Value is sometimes conveyed through dollars and cents saved or earned by doing something. Use that to your advantage. For example, if you sell HVAC systems, your headline could be: “5 ways to reduce your household energy bill this summer.”

Making your headlines helpful

When people use search engines, most of the time they’re looking for answers to their questions and solutions to their problems. Sometimes the problems are complex, sometimes they’re rather simple. Sometimes the problems are directly related to the products/services you sell. If you can publish helpful articles with headlines and copy that are solution-oriented, you’re likely to get more traffic as a result.

Here are three examples of how to make your headlines helpful:

Tip 8: Teach a man to fish

When looking for problem solving information, what’s more helpful than a “how-to” article? These headlines are perfect for attracting an audience of do-it-yourselfers. For example, if you own a car-care product line, your headline could read: “How to properly wax your vehicle to get a perfect glossy finish.”

Tip 9: Be a good tipper

Headlines that contain helpful tips are an effective way to grab attention. Tips also save time so you could also file this one under the “valuable headline” category. For example, if you sell lamps, your headline could read: “5 helpful tips for choosing the right lamp for your living room.”

Tip 10: Fix a nagging issue

No one likes a thorn in their side. If there’s a persistent problem that you often hear about that you can quickly address, then do so with a helpful headline and article. For example, if you’re a marriage counselor, your article could be titled: “Stop fighting about money – Start living a happy life.”

You’ll need to continually test these different types of headlines to determine which are most effective at generating traffic, leads, customers, shares, comments, and other types of engagement. No two audiences are exactly the same; they might share a lot in common but they’ll all respond differently. Use a tool like BoostSuite to start testing your pages’ headline effectiveness immediately. You can also share your awesome articles with other marketers in exchange for relevant backlinks!

By adding intrigue, value, and helpfulness to your web page headlines, you’re more likely to attract more qualified visitors from the organic search results. Next time you write a blog article, try using one of these headline tips, make it relevant to your business, and let us know the results!

Do you know of any other tips to writing awesome headlines to get your content noticed? Please share them with us in the comments!

About the Author: 

Ryan Kettler is Director of Communications for BoostSuite, the collaborative marketing tool for small businesses.

Ryan is an Internet marketing zealot, sports fanatic, devoted runner, avid golfer, beer connoisseur, and live music enthusiast. When he’s not helping BoostSuite customers he can be found running 5ks, sampling IPAs, and cheering on his North Carolina State Wolfpack.

Follow BoostSuite on Twitter and Facebook to stay up to date on the latest content marketing news and insights.