Support for small businesses has become more crucial than ever since the Covid-19 pandemic. One saviour for this has been Instagram, which is helping small businesses launch and reach their target audience. One business owner that knows this better than anyone else is Georgia Thomas.
Image courtesy of Pixabay
Georgia, 27, is the founder of House of Bijoux an affordable-luxury jewellery business that she formed after she was made redundant in the pandemic. Having started with no platform, she has been able to use Instagram to grow the business and reach its target audience. Despite fierce competition from other industries which are doing the same she has grown her platform which now has 11.4k followers which she gained within 7 months.
Here Georgia has shared her experiences and advice on how other small businesses can create a brand from Instagram and how they can utilise the platform.
Make it aesthetically pleasing
Similarly to fashion, working in the jewellery industry makes it so important to show your products through the best visual way possible. If your jewellery is beautiful, you don’t want your Instagram to let you down, it should bring your products justice and therefore you need to show your creativity in all areas of the business. The images of the jewellery that you upload should symbolise your personality and message the brand wants to portray.
I think it’s especially important to remember that having nice photos and a feed showing off your products will encourage your target audience to follow and engage with you. This can greatly improve your brand recognition and business success and thus have your business see greater rewards from an expanded audience.
Connect with influencers
Gifting and collaborating with influencers are great ways to get your small business in front of so many more people. When I founded my business, I used influencers to reach different audiences on different platforms. What I noticed with many celebrities was that their followers who were interested in the product that they were advertising, asked what they were wearing.
When an influencer responds to these comments and mentions your business, it can be a huge lift for your brand. It aligns you with their brand message. When Georgia Steele shared my products, I was over the moon, not only because it allowed me to reach a greater audiences, but also because I knew she genuinely liked the brand.
Consider what your audience want
It’s so important to pinpoint your target audience and ensure you appeal to them online. You need to be conscious of what matters to your audience and how you can reflect that. I wanted to show that House of Bijoux is an ethical brand and created a collection whereby 40% of the profits go to MIND charity. This has been a huge hit for my brand as mental health is something that my followers are extremely passionate about, and I wanted to connect with them on this.
Georgia has high hopes for small businesses which are starting out during the pandemic, and believes that with some work on social media, you can grow your business significantly, without any extra cost.
https://houseofbijoux.co.uk https://www.instagram.com/houseofbijoux/
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