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Nobody sets out to fail while starting a business. But the grim reality is that sometimes, it happens. Business owners may lock horns with failure if they don’t plan or carry out their strategies effectively.

 

Running a business on Instagram definitely requires adequate planning, just like managing an offline business. There are essential elements of digital marketing that you must introduce into your plan to have a successful Instagram business. 

 

For one, your audience is very key to your progress and if you sleep on them, then you may be leading yourself to loss. 

 

To help you avoid making mistakes with your Instagram business, this article will let you know how inadequate audience knowledge may run your business down.

3 Main Reasons Why Some Instagram Businesses Fail

1. Failure To Understand Your Target Audience

 

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The most likely reason you brought your business to Instagram is to have a wider reach. But what use is a wide audience range if you don’t understand their needs? 

 

It’s a necessity to know what your customers are looking for in a product or service. Do they prefer a different type of packaging? Do more people like their coffee chilled or hot? Are your products better suited for an older or younger demographic? Is your product specific to a gender? What is the online shopping behavior of your target audience? 

 

You should ask yourself questions like these and carry out surveys about what your audience needs.

 

So, what should you do about this?

  • Pay Attention to Your Analytics

Studying your Instagram analytics is a concrete way of assessing your audience. The analytics let you in on your audience interaction, their age range, location, gender etc. 

 

You can also check out metrics such as engagement rates, likes, shares, and comments. The analytics will guide you in understanding the behavior and make up of your audience. 

 

From all the information you gather via your analysis, you can improve your Instagram marketing strategy and grow your audience.

2. You Don’t Have a Brand Personality

Your brand personality includes the behavioral, intellectual or emotional characteristics attributed to your brand. It is how your audience perceives you and it sure plays a role in your success.

 

Most Instagram businesses don’t have a brand personality. They don’t take out time to craft one and don’t even try to show their audience their uniqueness. 

 

What’s the solution to this?

  • Know and Show Your Brand’s Uniqueness 

Customers are looking for brands that provide outstanding services. Brands that are above average and show unique qualities take the cake. A copycat brand will remain mediocre unless it scales up. Search out ways to make your brand distinct from others and let you audience know exactly what makes you outstanding.

  • Improve your Brand’s Reputation and Integrity

Your brand reputation is paramount in gaining more customers. Customers with bad experiences from a brand will not be quiet about it.  And once word about your dishonesty gets out, it’ll affect your business. Potential clients will withdraw from doing transactions with a brand that lacks integrity.

 

  • Make Your Bio Clear and Complete

Image source: Instagram| @pizzahut

 

Bios are the first introduction to an Instagram page. It’s your quick chance to pitch your brand to visitors with just 150 words. If it’s vague or incomplete, your visitors may lose interest and go no further.

  • Ensure Your Instagram Account is Public

This should go without saying but a private Instagram account will limit your brand and reduce opportunities. It’s like a roadblock. Why? 

 

Non-followers will have no access to private accounts. As such, they won’t see what your brand offers. It makes your account difficult to follow because you’ll need to approve follower requests first, and that could take awhile.

  • Improve Interaction With Your Audience 

A huge part of building a great brand personality involves interacting with your audience. This is how you know your audience and improve your services. 

 

For better interactions, reply to DMs and comments. Also like or share followers’ posts. Do giveaways and contests as this can bring in new followers.

3. The Content Factor

 

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Every one of your followers tapped on the follow button so that they can have access to your content first hand. It will come as a rude shock if you fail to deliver just what you promised as a brand. 

 

Your content should be top quality and engaging regardless of whether you buy Instagram likes or followers. If your business is not gaining traffic or making a profit, you may want to redesign your content strategy. 

 

Here are other content flaws you should take care of ASAP.

  • Unfocused Content

If your posts rarely speak about matters that concern your brand or niche, chances are that your followers will disappear. 

 

For example, presenting your Brand as a travel brand will attract travel lovers. However, if you stop dishing out travel content, you may lose your travel audience. Your post should focus on your niche more regularly.

  • Repetitive Or Boring Content 

 

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A boring post is one thing that will quickly drive away your followers. Some of your followers could be looking for energizing information after a hard day at the office. They can stop caring about your brand if they visit Instagram and are greeted by a dull or repetitive post from you.

 

Repetition in content posting makes your page appear spammy. And what happens to spam accounts? Usually, they are reported and blocked. So be careful not to submit stuff that is boring and repetitious.

 

  • Your Content are Too Promotional

Don’t get so lost in the throes of making more money that you begin to make your posts look too promotional. It gives your audience the impression that you are just there for the money. 

 

Show interest and provide value to your customers. Do these by posting helpful tips and tricks alongside promoting your products. 

  • Your Posting Times are Unfavourable

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Not many people are aware of this issue, especially those new to Instagram. Your followers are likely more active at a period of the day as opposed to some other periods. It is, therefore, your job to find out what this peak time is and adjust your posting schedule accordingly.

 

It is by doing this that your content will reach your followers just in time for engagement. Use Instagram analytics to study when your audience is most active and post at such times.

  • Your Post have Poor Media Quality

Image source: Instagram | @maxieelise 

 

Instagram is a visual platform. It thrives on beautiful photos and videos. In fact, many Instagrammers come online just to feast on those gorgeous visuals.

 

By now, you should already know how posting low-resolution or pixelated images is doing your business a disservice. You will not captivate your target audience with poor-quality photos. 

 

Besides, the details of your products will not show properly if your images are blurry. So, do invest in quality photography for your Instagram business.

  • You Have an Inconsistent Posting Schedule

An Instagram account with an inconsistent posting schedule will hardly get a high following. Making posts only when you feel like it will dwindle your audience’s reliance on your brand. 

 

As such, it is necessary to plan a posting schedule and stick to it. You can use Instagram on your PC to help you better organize your content and schedule posts via the Facebook business manager.

  • You Use a Poor Hashtag Strategy 

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Hashtags have a reputation for boosting engagements. The right hashtags on your feed posts or stories will lead your target audience to you. 

 

One thing you absolutely need to do is avoid mindless addition of hashtags to your posts. Be sure that your hashtags are related to your niche. Scout for hashtags from your audience, see what hashtags people in your industry are using and try them.

In Conclusion 

If your Instagram business is struggling to survive, maybe you should consider looking into your audience. A poor understanding of what your target audience needs and how to keep them could be the problem. Do well to create an appealing and trustworthy brand personality. Finally, your content strategy should be valuable and entice your audience into sticking with your brand.