thread Re: Live Q&A: Ask Instagram Experts Anything, Hosted by Square Appointments in Archived Discussions (Read Only)

Live Q&A: Ask Instagram Experts Anything, Hosted by Square Appointments

katieand — Mon, 15 Jul 2024 19:35:12 GMT

In December, Square Appointments integrated with Instagram to help you more easily turn followers into customers. You are now able to add a Book button to your Instagram business profile, allowing customers to instantly book an appointment without ever leaving the Instagram app. (Click here for setup instructions)

We’ve brought over Instagram experts to answer any questions you might have on how to best use the business tools available on Instagram, or more generally, anything you might be curious about related to growing your business on Instagram. Our group of experts from Instagram’s Business team will reply to all questions right here in the Seller Community on Feb 28th from 3pm - 4pm PST.

Example questions:

How can I call attention to the Book button on my business profile?
How do I grow my followers on Instagram?
How many times should I be posting on my business profile?
Do hashtags really matter?

*Note: We're accepting new questions until Tuesday February 26 at 12pm PST so add them before that time!

Booking connected to Instagram

lashedbykym — Mon, 18 Feb 2019 06:26:12 GMT

I wanted to know how can I display my policy on my booking link page when people press on it and book through Instagram?

How many times should I be posting on my business profile?

Mattv254 — Wed, 20 Feb 2019 14:13:05 GMT

How many times should I be posting on my business profile?
how to reach people in the area?

Re: Live Q&A: Ask Instagram Experts Anything, Hosted by Square Appointments

Llush06 — Wed, 20 Feb 2019 14:45:13 GMT

Hey There !

I am a newly licensed Cosmetologist specializing in Makeup Artistry. Lately I've been having trouble reaching a bigger crowd. I have content to post but I haven't been consistent. Are there any tips on keeping a steady flow of posts ? Also, what are some common/popular hashtags that can help expand outreach as well ? Lastly, what are some tools that could help make my page a little more visually appealing ? If you're able to take a look at my profile, its "lainalush". I look forward to your feedback, Thanks !

Location?

cfalkbarber — Wed, 20 Feb 2019 15:43:01 GMT

This reply was created from merging an existing thread: Location?

How do I add a location for my business on Instagram? Also how do I add book appointment feature to my page?

Re: Live Q&A: Ask Instagram Experts Anything, Hosted by Square Appointments

JosephGilbert — Wed, 20 Feb 2019 15:04:38 GMT

Hey, katieand! Thank you for sharing this opportunity!

I’m curious of a few things. Is it best to use 30 tags and 20 mentions in every post, and should those tags be in the caption or comments.

Also, what penalties does Instagram have in effect for accounts that don’t post frequently?

Re: Live Q&A: Ask Instagram Experts Anything, Hosted by Square Appointments

deboraham12 — Wed, 20 Feb 2019 16:25:42 GMT

What is the best strategy to have people near my business see my feed besides running an ad?

What’s the best time to post business on Instagram to draw more followers as a licensed cosmetologt?

Beauteecouture — Wed, 20 Feb 2019 16:45:23 GMT

What’s the best time to post business on Instagram to draw more followers as a cosmetologist?

Trying to draw more followers or followers that are interacting with post!

Is there a reviews button available?

Veneciabeauty — Wed, 20 Feb 2019 17:14:27 GMT

Is it possible to get a reviews button on the Instagram bio page?

Thanks!

Instagram

blessingshair — Wed, 20 Feb 2019 17:18:06 GMT

I have recently renevated a new salon and we have our instagram page up and running with our new location listed. However, our previous addresses have all our photos that we have been tagged in still under the old address. Before using instagram our customers were tagging us and we had no idea about instagram at that time. We have been in business for 20 years and have two previous locations. How do we merge our photos to our current address or how can we change the location address to reflect our current location? Some businesses dont have instagram but customers still tag them and I believe this is what happened to us. We have followed all the instructions on changing our location on our account but when people go to search for us by our name instagram shows our current instagram page as an option but three other location addresses also pull up (as well under Places) and it confuses our customers as we are no longer at those addresses and we want the photo's added to the correct site. Any help with this will be much appreciated.

Re: Live Q&A: Ask Instagram Experts Anything, Hosted by Square Appointments

thesunnyside — Wed, 20 Feb 2019 18:22:54 GMT

What are some effective ways of using Instagram to build business and gain awareness?

How to transfer my business posts from Facebook to Instagram

Nirvana — Wed, 20 Feb 2019 18:57:51 GMT

Sometime back, my business posts got transferred to both my personal and business Facebook. How do I transfer it back to Instagram and how to stop my business posts from going to my personal Facebook account

Re: Live Q&A: Ask Instagram Experts Anything, Hosted by Square Appointments

Mishawna — Thu, 21 Feb 2019 22:33:27 GMT

I am a hairstylist using my personal IG page (mishawna.romero) to build a hair clientele. I do not want to switch to a business profile because I get more clients when I use the personal profile.

My question is:

How do I get my name with my salon to come up when I 'Add Location'? When I try, only my name comes up & the salon address with it like this: Mishawna Romero

[Personal Information Redacted]

I would like it to say: Mishawna Roemero Hair at Salon Marchessa

[Personal Information Redacted]

For reference: Skincare by Lisa at Salon Marchessa

[Personal Information Redacted]

This is the esthetician at our salon, and her IG comes up how I'd like mine to read.

Thank you for this great forum!!

Re: Live Q&A: Ask Instagram Experts Anything, Hosted by Square Appointments

liriosorganics — Wed, 27 Feb 2019 20:37:40 GMT

Aloha!

This is a great idea! Can you please let me know where can I find the Square Appointments online booking site? I'd like to add "Book" to my IG account.

And how do I become part of the Seller's Community? I've been having a difficult time bringing my customers to our online store.

Thank you for your help!

Re: Square Appointments Integrates with Instagram

pazsintes — Wed, 27 Feb 2019 21:09:16 GMT

Which is the ideal final video resolution to be able to pay promotion for it on instagram? What about the ideal duration as well as the maximum duration?

Re: Live Q&A: Ask Instagram Experts Anything, Hosted by Square Appointments

thesunnyside — Wed, 27 Feb 2019 21:55:25 GMT

How often would you like to share posts? There are ways to set them on a timer I believe. If you use hastags you think will be good, once you begin typing it, Instagram will suggest some for you. For example #makeup #bookme (any makeup you may use). You could also hashtag the places where you work or will travel to. I am building as well. My handles are @sunnysidehealing and @asunnyaprilday. I looked at your page, maybe you could check out other MUAs that you enjoy their page.

Re: Booking connected to Instagram

IGBizPartner — Thu, 28 Feb 2019 23:00:33 GMT

Great question @lashedbykym! At this time, the only way to view the policy is for the clients to click on the link when signing up for the appointment. The full policy is also listed on your confirmation email, however there's no way to get it to show up on the booking site without having the client click to read it.

Re: Live Q&A: Ask Instagram Experts Anything, Hosted by Square Appointments

IGBizPartner — Thu, 28 Feb 2019 23:09:30 GMT

Thank you so much for your question @Llush06! We know growing a business and a presence on Instagram isn't easy, but you hit the nail on the head in your question ... it really boils down to consistency.

One way to keep yourself accountable is to establish a series for your content. For example, you could create a Tips series on every Tuesday, where you post a frequently asked question from your clients. Maybe it's a quick tutorial on how to apply false eyelashes. You could also ask your followers to post their burning questions in the comments of every #TipTuesday post, so you have a constant resource to tap for content inspiration.

Here are 5 best practices to consider:

Be focused. What's your account all about? Make it crystal clear what kind of content your followers can expect from your account. Is inspirational photos? Tips and tricks? Behind the scenes images? All three? If you're having a hard time finding your focus, use Insights (available for free with your Business Profile) to learn what kind of content resonates most with your followers.
Use the whole platform. Be sure to incorporate Feed posts, Stories, Live, and even IGTV as part of your strategy. Don't worry so much about having beautifully produced images and videos. Stay true to yourself and your business and let your real personality shine. Encourage your customers to share their posts and Stories, so you can re-share on your account.
Insights, Insights, Insights. Instagram Insights lets you learn more about your followers and about how your content is performing with your audience. You can also view insights for specific posts and stories you've created to see how each performed and how people are engaging with them. TLDR, with Insights, you can learn more about who follows you AND what kind of content garners the more interaction.
Keep Stories Simple. Don't overthink it! Go face first. Give people something to do with interactive stickers and polls.
Tagging is vital. From hashtags, Geotags, and even tagging the businesses and people featured in your content. Rule of thumb: be specific, not general.

Re: Live Q&A: Ask Instagram Experts Anything, Hosted by Square Appointments

IGBizPartner — Thu, 28 Feb 2019 23:15:15 GMT

Thanks for asking @JosephGilbert! 👌

First and foremost, there are no penalties associated with your frequency of posting. That said, we do recommend posting with some kind of consistency to keep your followers engaged with new content.

The components of a post (photos/videos, captions, hashtags, mentions, location tags) are excellent tools to achieve the ultimate goal and message you have for connecting with your customers. There's no exact science to how many hashtags and mentions to use but it's best to keep your tags as specific as possible. For example, if you're posting an image of a Labradoodle, use #doodles not #dogs. If you're tagging a location of a store, use 10 Downing Street, not London.

Re: Live Q&A: Ask Instagram Experts Anything, Hosted by Square Appointments

Llush06 — Thu, 28 Feb 2019 23:19:19 GMT

Thanks ! This was VERY informative. I'll make sure to use these tools a little more frequently.