Michelle Halford is the interior stylist and writer behind The Design Chaser blog, which she founded in 2012. A year later she started The Design Chaser feed on Instagram, which now has 135,000 followers.
Here she shares her advice for small business owners wanting to build an audience on the platform:
• Instagram is such a visual tool and first impressions count. Often you'll make a snap decision as to whether you want to follow someone by scanning their overall feed, so it's important you hone in on how you want to portray your brand, and a vision for the overall look and feel of that. You want to create a look that's consistent and attractive. For example, my focus is on Scandinavian interiors and design, a monochromatic palette and high quality imagery, so when anyone who loves all things Scandinavian looks at my feed it will be a no brainer for them to follow me.
• Find your voice. The communication style on each social media platform is slightly different and on Instagram, I liken it to talking with my friends. You want your tone to be natural, authentic, and never feel forced. Even though you might be promoting a product in a post, you still want to show a bit of your personality and something about yourself so you're relatable and likeable; people want to know the person behind the brand.