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Now that you understand all that Instagram has to offer, it is time to grab the bull by the horns and use all these features to your advantage. Instagram is effective and productive only when it is correctly used and implemented. Simply making a profile and posting a picture or video each week will do very little to generate interest or engage followers, let alone foster sales.

It is only by posting useful content, that your followers will want to click the "like" button and have enough interest to visit your website where they can convert into customers. Brands like DVF, Nike, Michael Kors, and Dunkin Donuts are constantly promoting their business by posting interesting pictures and videos on Instagram. Pictures can be worth a lot more than a thousand words They can be your followers' window into your world or your door into theirs.

How to Get Followers

Your first step should be to get followers, more followers mean more potential business. Posting pictures or videos will not only give exposure to followers on Instagram, but also to those following you on other social networking sites.

Know Your Audience

You can't post cute pictures of baby feet with the objective of generating more sales for your office supplies. You need to understand exactly who your target audience is and what they're interested in.

You have a better chance of connecting with them if you have a good idea of who they are. This is where Instagram differs in personal and business use. When using a personal Instagram account, your objective is to let your personality show through interesting pictures, regardless whether or not anyone approves. With your business profile, it's not about what is personally relevant to you, but what is relevant to your audience.

This doesn't mean that your images or videos need to be static or boring; this simply means that you need to reflect your potential followers' preferences.

You can also get a good idea about your targeted audience by following and analyzing your competitors' Instagram pages. Go through them to see what kind of pictures and videos they have posted and what their followers are commenting. You can also use geotags to see what people are posting in your area, and what seems is to be trending on social media in general. At this point, research is paramount, and will enable you to plan your strategy accordingly.

Once you understand your audience and their preferences then start posting pictures accordingly. Simply posting images of your products or services will do very little to interest viewers.