Social media is changing the way you do business. By utilizing these free platforms, it can help boost your business results and get your name out there. One social media platform you can't afford to ignore is Instagram. Statistics show that over 200 million users visit at least one business profile a day and that 1/3 of the most viewed Stories are from businesses -- and that business could be yours! 

According to a Pew Research study, Instagram is the third largest platform being utilized today, behind Facebook and YouTube! 75% of users between the ages of 18 and 29 are on Instagram and that is a big slice of your market! How would being on this app improve your business? Well, you can easily post, schedule in advance, promote to several communities at once, and you can share your Instagram posts to other social media networks. In short, Instagram is a big deal!

Being a visual site, the saying "a picture is worth a thousand words" definitely applies to this platform. But what about videos? It's important to use this feature to your advantage, as videos are said to increase revenue by 49%!

There's an old saying in sales, "People buy from people they like, trust and respect." Instagram is a very effective way of getting your prospective clients to get to know you, so they can learn to like, respect and trust you. It also gives you the opportunity to showcase and promote your associates, your services and your health insurance products. 

In order for Instagram to benefit your business in a positive way, you'll want to follow these tips:

1. Decide what ideas, thoughts, and feelings you want to communicate about you and your business.
2. Create an attractive profile by utilizing your bio, site link and story highlights. 
3. Frequently change the URL you show - link to your website, your blog, a specific landing pages that deal with policies you want to sell, an offer, news stories, etc. Make your followers keep coming back to your profile by constantly switching things up. 
4. Learn to use hashtags, how to tag other users, the benefits of following others and the photo/video uploading processes.
5. Partner with your insurance carriers and some of your clients to help expand each other's reach. 
6. Decide on the 'stories' you want to communicate with your followers - how friendly you all are, how easy you are to work with, how client-focused you all are, how you find ways to maximize the 'value-for-money' side of policy cover. Then post photos and videos showing these things 'in action'.
7. Add a caption to each picture. People read them and it allows your personality to shine.    
8. Have your colleagues post pictures of office celebrations, something good they did for a client, etc, to add a 'behind-the-scenes' feeling to your office. The more potential clients who link 'health coverage' to nice, friendly, fun, helpful, interesting, professional people - the more likely they will ask you for advice and help, so the more likely they will become clients.
9. Have your clients do the same sort of things - and share them with you. The best sales person is an existing client!
10. Run contests. It can be something simple - if we get 100 followers or likes on a post, we'll have free coffee and donuts every morning for a week for everyone who visits. It can also be more business oriented - for example, comment questions about your policies and one participant will win a gift card, etc.

Now that you're a pro on Instagram, check out our Twitter social media guide to help you continue to grow your business and your social media presence!