To some, Instagram may seem like a platform where you go to look at pretty pictures all day. But did you know it can be a powerful money-making marketing tool that brings project opportunities for your decorative concrete business? What if I told you that by using Instagram correctly for your business, you can get discovered and dominate your market?
With just a few changes to your account, you can start driving more engagement to your page. This engagement drives trust and trust drives sales. If you follow at least one of my tips, you’ll see a dramatic change in your profile. If you use all of them together, you can turn your Instagram profile into a project-getting machine.
Optimize your Profile Bio
The first step in making over your Instagram account is to optimize your Profile Bio. Think of it as your business card. You can have a plain and dull business card, or you can have one that stands out from the rest.
Start with making your Profile Bio public so everyone can see your page. To show potential clients who you are, your bio should feature your logo not a personal picture of you. This helps people identify you quicker and helps with brand recognition.
In the bio section include who you are, what you do, who you service and the action you want your prospects to take if they’re interested in learning more about you. Add a link to your website, your phone number and your business email. If you have a storefront, list the address.
Your bio should present a clear picture of who you are and what you do. Your bio is your client’s first impression of your company. Use emojis to add emotions and get more engagement.
Create good content
When posting content, your most important goal is making sure you’re speaking to ideal clients. The best way to determine what ideal clients want is to ask current or past clients directly. Set up a call with your favorites and ask questions about your service, why they hired you and what they expected from you.
Another way to learn what your ideal clients want is to read your reviews. This will provide all the information you need to create the wording for your posts. Make sure you also understand your ideal clients’ hobbies, interests and group affiliations. Chances are you’ll have a lot in common with them which, in turn, builds trust.
Posting your content on a consistent basis helps bring more engagement to your profile. The more engagement you have, the more Instagram rewards you by showing your content to more potential clients. Likes and comments are good, but saves and shares are better.
Strive to create content that’s so good your followers will save it and share. Every share amplifies your content to a new audience, and a save means people will come back and see your content later.
Great concrete contractor feeds contain beautiful, clear pictures without any debris or construction equipment unless it’s part of the story. Branding your content with your logo will ensure your brand is always consistent.
Hiring a photographer for a couple of hours a month to photograph your jobs is a great way to secure tons of content for your feeds and get pictures with your team and clients. The photographer should also take pictures of your work’s details because this attention to detail is what sets you apart from all other concrete contractors.
Your work should be highlighted in your feed to showcase what you can offer to potential clients following you on Instagram. Investing in a photographer to take good pictures is an indispensable yet affordable investment.
If you feel like you don’t have time to post every day, plan your content in advance and use programs like Hootsuite, Plann or Planoly to schedule posts in advance. Set aside one to two hours on Sunday night and schedule all your posts for the week. Showing up consistently on Instagram will reward you with more engagement on your profile.
Talk to your ideal client through videos
Videos on your feed are viewed 60% more than pictures. You can create short one-minute videos that answer why, how and what.
For example, you can create videos explaining, “Why I started my decorative concrete company,” or “How spending a little extra installing Y product can save you a lot of money in the long run,” or “What you should know about installing a concrete patio in the summer.” Addressing topics like these get potential clients involved in knowing you, liking you and trusting you.
Another great performing video involves highlighting work you did for recent clients. Testimonials and reviews are always a wonderful source of content because they show potential clients they can trust you and the work you do.
In the concrete contractor world, videos and tutorials are a great way to get your content saved and shared. Video posts are sure ways to connect to ideal clients and ensure engagement on your profile.
Get personal on Insta Stories
As a rule of thumb to keep you front and present with your growing audience, you should post at least four Insta Stories or upload one 60-second video every day in your Instagram Stories. This alone will make your profile stand out.
Instagram Stories are the most personal form of communication on the app’s entire platform. In Insta Stories you can talk about something you’re grateful for or you can describe a great tool you use. This feature is more for what you think or like. You’re building a one-on-one connection with your audience and this builds trust.
A good way to do this is by using engagement stickers. Use the Poll sticker to ask “yes or no” questions, and the Questions sticker to get direct responses from your clients. Gifs and music add an extra touch to your Insta Stories videos. They catch your clients’ attention and entice them to watch what you have to say.
Mentioning other accounts on your Insta Stories using the @Mention sticker is a great way to tag the companies that make the materials you use. It might even prompt them to share your story on their accounts which drives more traffic to your page.
On Instagram, sales happen via Direct Message. Stories are the best and quickest way to get into another account’s DM. Posting stories that call your viewer to message you directly via DM is a sure way to drive clients into a position where you can talk about jobs.
Responding to stories on other accounts also places you in a position of trust because you build a connection with your ideal client in their DMs. It’s an effective way to start communication with a potential client.
Become your own producer on IGTV
IGTV is Instagram’s version of a video library, and it’s like TV. Videos on IGTV are especially great for decorative concrete contractors because they allow you to create longform video content. This is especially helpful when giving a tutorial on how to use a new product or showing a technique you created.
IGTV videos can also be great to show a time-lapse of a project you’re working on. Viewers on IGTV are looking for a more polished video than on your stories or feed. Editing your videos using apps like InShot and Adobe Premiere Rush will give you an extra edge over your competitors.
When formatting your IGTV post, you can add a link to your website in the description. Instagram limits its “swipe up” feature to accounts with at least 10,000 followers. However, regardless of the number of your followers, you can add a “swipe up” feature in your stories to connect to your IGTV videos.
Use #hashtags the right way
Using hashtags is inevitable when posting on Instagram if you want to expand your content reach. Instagram exposes you and your page to everyone that either looks up the hashtag or follows it on their feed. It’s great exposure, but if you don’t use them the right way, you’ll get lost in a sea of posts.
We like to follow a rule when using hashtags in our posts: Have a good blend of different hashtags with a varied number of posts. For example, if you add a hashtag that has a million posts, your post won’t reach one of the top spots unless it has a lot of real quick engagements.
Choosing a hashtag that has, say, 500,000 posts will give you a better chance of being seen. We recommend a good balance of hashtags that have between 10,000 and 700,000 posts and are relevant to your ideal client.
Locals will discover you when you use location hashtags. Say you service San Diego. You might consider using #sandiegolife (369k posts), #sandiegogram (197k posts), #sandiegoliving (483k posts), #sandiegohomes (69.5k posts), #sandiegomom (94.1k posts) and, if you just finished installing a decorative concrete job at a restaurant in San Diego, use #sandiegofood (201k posts), #sandiegofoodie (112k posts) and #sandiegofoodscene (10.1k posts).
Want to get discovered by more architects? General contractors? Construction companies? Spend some time researching hashtags and make sure they’re relevant to your audience. Using hashtags is almost like a radio station playing a jingle to entice you to tune in. Test, rotate, have fun and see what works for you!
When researching your perfect hashtags, create different groups containing five to 30 hashtag combinations. This way you can rotate them every time you post. You can post the hashtags in the caption section or the first comment. Posting in the first section makes your feed look neater and drives engagement as followers are curious to see the comment section.
Last, but not least, consistency is what wins on Instagram. Find your most engaged audience via your Instagram insights, see what days your audience is most engaged with you and, if you have a winning post that’s getting tracked, boost it by targeting people with titles or interests who you want as clients.
