Instagram isn’t a static platform. What works today may not work tomorrow and what works tomorrow might not work today. With that being the case, there’s a lot of old trends still being used today that simply don’t work, and haven’t for a long time.
In order to help you organically grow your firearm related business, here’s 5 things not to do on Instagram. Most of these can be applied to every business, an asterisks (*) will indicate that it’s exclusive for firearm related accounts.
Links In Descriptions
As more people visit and engage with your account’s page, your content’s distribution will increase.
Pricing*
Absolutely do not post any photos, descriptions, or comments that contain the price of an item. Don’t even illude to the price of an item, don’t even write your description as if an item is for sale.
Instagram can read your photos. It can tell whether or not a person is in the picture, what type of person it is, and it can read any viewable text. If you post a picture of a firearm with a price tag, there is a high chance that sooner or later the platform will delete the post, and put a strike on your account.
(I have seen Instagram removing posts that were 5 years old and in compliance with the [then] Terms of Service.)
Instagram is an anti-gun platform. It doesn’t care if you’re a registered FFL dealer or an accessory dealer. If the platform sees a price tag in the comments or description of a firearm related post it will delete and strike the account that made it.
Write your Instagram posts to show off a product as if it were your own and nothing else. If a customer asks for pricing, tell them to message the page, or to call your business for information.
Hashtags In Comments
Per the official Instagram Creator account, the algorithm cannot read hashtags in your comments. It can only read hashtags that are placed in the description of a post. You can test this by searching for a hashtag in the app; only photos will show up. Comments and stories do not appear in searches for hashtags.
Posting your hashtags in the comments is a wasted effort, put them in the description before making your post, and you should see a noticeable increase in reach if you aren’t shadow banned for spam.
Tagging Accounts*
Instagram is like high school; the cool kids don’t hang out with the losers. If a cool kid is seen with a loser, they’re deemed as a loser. That’s Instagram when it comes to tagging accounts in descriptions.
By tagging a shadow banned, or restricted account, the algorithm will directly associate your posted content with that account. In turn, the algorithm will penalize your account by limited content distribution. To play it safe for your page, don’t tag any companies in the descriptions of posts.
Instead, utilize the “tag” feature for the photo, and tag accounts there! In testing I haven’t seen this affecting content performance in a negative way. While marginal, doing this will actually increase your reach. It puts your post in the other account’s “tagged feed”, which gives you some access to their following!
Links In Comments
Links in comments don’t work. They can’t be copied, they can’t be clicked. They’re an annoyance for users that show them the account manager doesn’t know what they’re doing; much like posting links in descriptions.
If you’re trying to direct someone to a specific page on your website do one of the following:
- Have a LinkTree in your bio and guide them to that
- Have them message the page for more information
- Message them the link yourself
If you run a smaller account 1 & 3 are recommended.
Bonus Tip
The 5 things not to do on Instagram above are all solidified. They haven’t changed in nearly a decade. As I said in the beginning though, Instagram isn’t a static platform. It’s constantly evolving to keep up with the times; such as heavily promoting Reels to compete with TikTok for the youth’s attention.
If you’re serious about promoting your business on Instagram, it’s important to follow the Creator account as well as the head developer Adam Mosseri. These two accounts will keep you in the know of what’s currently trending or changing with the platform.
Need help with marketing for your firearms industry business? Check out The Coutts Agency!
Need Help With Marketing?
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