Sign Up Your Business for an Instagram Takeover
Guest Blog By Abby Moreau
Loudoun County Chamber of Commerce
When it comes to promoting your business in Loudoun County, the opportunities can be overwhelming. It seems as if there are so many good routes to take to promote exactly what it is you do or sell, and many of these come with a price tag.
One of the best and most affordable (and by affordable I mean FREE) opportunities is with Loudoun Economic Development. Utilizing the Instagram takeover, businesses can reach more than 2,500 people in Loudoun County (and beyond) through the @LoudounBiz Instagram page.
If you haven’t done a Takeover Tuesday, I have to ask you: why the heck not?! Consumers and other folks in the business community would love an inside glimpse into your business.
When I follow businesses on Instagram, whether they are gigantic corporations or small mom and pop places, I feel much more of a connection to the company when I know who is behind the camera.
The glitz and glam of a photo shoot are great and the final result is always stunning, but I really want to see what happened behind the camera:
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Did the prop accidentally melt under hot lights? Or did the adorable baby in the shot have a crying fit right before the beautiful final shot was taken? Believe it or not, that’s Instagram gold.
Potential customers love to see these types of behind-the-scenes sneak peeks that humanize a company. That way, when the actual campaign or product comes out, they feel more connected to it.
Here at the Loudoun County Chamber of Commerce, we’ve taken over the @LoudounBiz Instagram three times and each time we do it, it’s more fun! We have specifically positioned ourselves to take over the Instagram account when we are promoting something or want to give followers a behind-the-scenes look at an event.
We did this for our Restaurant Week and, most recently, our Small Business Awards. It was so much fun engaging with people throughout the day so they could really see what goes into the production of a 550-person event.
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Starting in January 2018, Loudoun Economic Development will actually be looking for businesses to do takeovers from Tuesday through Saturday, posting once or twice each day. This new focus will allow potential customers to see you through the course of a week and get even better acquainted with your team.
My best advice is to roughly sketch out the pictures and videos ahead of time so that you aren’t scrambling for content each day. You want it to look natural (not staged), but not messy!
And remember, it’s not all about the glitz and glam; show them the true side of your business (like your pajama pants on bottom with a suitcoat on top for a Skype call if you work from home)!
If you’d like to join more than 150 Loudoun businesses and resources who have already taken over the @LoudounBiz account, please check out the overview page and then email Brian Tinsman.