Instagram Tips from Subscription Box Business Owners

I started my business' social media on Facebook 8 years ago. When Instagram came out, I resisted at all costs. I was wary of learning a new platform just to have it go away. I held out for a few years. Once I realized it wasn't going away, I needed to dive in and learn.  

As more and more people start to use Instagram more regularly, businesses are following suit. With nearly 80% of IG users interacting with businesses, and 50% making purchases after seeing products on Instagram, we need to go all-in on the opportunity to engage and build relationships while earning social proof.

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Instagram is so much the same as Facebook but oh so different. Lately, I have felt the "Facebook Fatigue" and really put more attention into IG. There is so much to learn, but don't let that overwhelm you. It's great because it has so many features to make social media fun and user-friendly.

After an IG training in my membership this week, I asked some of our IG users to share some of their top tips for Subscription Box business owners. Of course, I sprinkled in a few of my tips too!  

Reels

Instagram Reels is one of the platform's newer features that will help business owners grow their reach! It is similar to TicTok, where users can share 15sec video clips set to music and is a fun way to engage with subscribers.

One thing I always try to remember-- when adding text to your IG Reels, keep it on the middle section of the frame, so it doesn't get cut off in the feed. Text at the top and bottom of the frame won't be seen from the post feed.

IG Reels Tips from Subscription Box Business Owners: 

"After you add music to the Reel you can lower the volume and record a voice over. It's like a mini commercial." - Patrice Jupiter @bathandbeautybox_

"Scroll 5-10 minutes through Reels to find inspo! Look for what's trending or what song/audio that you like. 

Save the audio, and when you are ready to make a Reel, you have saved songs to choose from that you know you already like instead of scrolling endlessly, then add content that matches your niche/box. 

Don't overthink how it looks, have fun with it, and don't forget to use as many hashtags as you can (up to 30) in the caption or 1st comment (has the same impact no matter where they are located)" - Kelsey Krimmer  @mompreneur.box

Stories

Instagram Stories are a quick and easy way to share your brand personality with day-to-day happenings in your subscription box biz with your followers. These short clips disappear after 24hrs and will pique interest, keeping users returning to see what you share next.

The best tip I have for stories is for those of you who don't have the swipe up feature in stories just yet-- Ask your viewers to DM you a keyword and set up a "Quick Reply". 

Quick Replies will allow you to craft a reply message with whatever links you want and all you have to do is start typing the quick reply keyword and the whole message will populate for you! Settings>Business>Quick or Saved Replies

My Launch Your Box members had some great IG Story tips to share:

"Be sure to make your Stories interactive. There are so many opportunities - think polls, questions (and share the responses), countdowns, etc." - Natalie Taub  @nrtdesigns

"Use the cc CAPTIONS feature when you share clips of yourself speaking. It'll transcribe the audio and auto-add closed captioning/text of what you're saying to the Story. Perfect for people watching your stories without sound." - LaShayla Simpson  @lashaylamonique

"You can use tools like Canva and InVideo to create amazing images and videos for your Stories." - Denyse  @theinspired_planner

"Always share your Feed Posts to your Stories. Use a sticker to hide part of the image so people click through to see the full post. This helps your post get higher reach." - Jess Kroez  @wildchildimagination

"Easily hide your hashtags in your Stories by changing the text color to a color that matches the background, shrink the text down and hide them in that color." - Jenn  @lobeloveco

"Be Real. Show behind the scenes chaos." - Shawna Armendariz @gypsyfinnstx

"You can add text to your Stories that scroll, it moves back and forth and even jumps. Basically, it animates depending on the font you choose. Click the buttons at top and play with to see all the animations" - Catherine  @shabby_lane_nolensville 

Story Highlights

Unlike Instagram Stories that disappear, Highlights are Stories you can save in curated categories on your profile for followers to come back and watch anytime. This is a great location for your most loved box openings featuring all your amazing products. 

Make sure to create branded story icons in Canva. Keep your brand colors and images all in the same format for a clean look!

IG Highlight Tips from Subscription Box Businesses:

"Make sure to use the story highlights and categorize them in a way that's easy for strangers to use. And add to stories and highlights. It's so simple but so effective! 

I get so much business from this!" - Natalie Bradley @nataliebradleyhome

Engagement

We know it, but it really can't be said enough... Making genuine responses to comments on Instagram is crucial! It's more than just for the algorithm-- it's plain old quality customer service and the best way to build those relationships with online customers.

Creating posts that encourage engagement is the key to IG. Use Stories for engagement as well as the static feed. You can ask questions, take a poll, get feedback, etc. All the engagement in your Stories will help your feed engagement too!

Engagement Tips for Subscription Box Businesses on Instagram

"When other people mention your box in their Stories, share them to yours and then add them to your highlights.

Respond to all comments. Ask questions in the comments and of other people to get the conversation going.

Serve your audience first. Make genuine connections and comments with no expectation of a purchase.

Make thoughtful connections on larger accounts that your audience follows." - Holly  @BroccoliBoxes

"Respond to comments with at least 4-5 words, not just a 'thanks' and a smiley emoji . Instagram likes to see real conversation happening in the comments and will take this as a sign that your audience finds your post valuable." - Cheryl Ham  @hypnoticyarn

Posts

That esthetic grid of on-brand photos you see visiting your favorite influencers and businesses...Instagrams static feed posts need no introduction. 

What I love about the feed is you don't have to post multiple times a day, you can, but you don't have to! IG places your posts in the feed even when they are a few days old! 

It's amazing not to have to post so much on IG! Spend that extra time posting in the Stories!

There are many great social media scheduling apps, but I like to keep things in-house with Facebooks Business Suite.

My LYB members have some great IG Post tips to share: 

"Schedule them ahead of time, block out an hour or so each week to get a full week of posts planned out. Planoly is free and FB has an option as well for auto post." - Candi Wong  @designsbywildside

"Plan them out in a place like Trello. You can put pics, captions, and hashtags and then just copy/paste. Keep captions short because lots of people won't read it all." - Melissa Witte  @myfavoritehappybox

"If you have a pet/animal/child (use child with caution), you can make it a mascot for your business. Even though it's not related to your business- for example I have highland cows, and post a photo of them every morning. And use the hashtag #highlandcowsofinstagram 

I've ended up with a few followers that love to see them everyday and a couple of customers too.... My followers expect it now." - Suze  @suzelakedesigns

"Keep your posts tidy! Post to your feed, then share it to your story with added elements like text and graphics, but also post to your story with a plain image.

Then you can add your plain image into your highlights.

Any extra posts that don't fit your main business on your feed can be archived!" - Branda @2sewtextiles

Guides

Instagram Guides were rolled out by the platform at the end of 2020 and are perfect for subscription box businesses to curate a flow of posts full of helpful resources and product tips for users to flip through.

IG Guide Tips:

"Create a Guide with your products. Create a guide with OTHER people's products or services (related but not competing) that your audience would benefit from." - Holly  @BroccoliBoxes

Subscription Box Business Instagram Profile

The best thing you can do for your business is to make your Bio and your Feed clear. If a stranger landed on your IG, would they know exactly what you do or what you sell? If it's confusing, you will lose that follower.  

Name, Description, and Posts all have to flow together cohesively!

IG Profile Tips

"Don't use LinkTree. Create something similar on your own website. Then, you're sending traffic to your site and not someone else's." - Holly  @BroccoliBoxes

Coming up with content to post can become a daunting task, check out my blog What to Post on Your Business Social Media Page for some great ideas that have helped me become more consistent on Instagram and Facebook.

Try out some of these great Instagram tips for Subscription Box business owners to grow your audience and make sales!