Instagram has become a key channel to drive both online and offline traffic to small businesses. Sure, enterprise-sized companies dominate, but Instagram provides a platform to compete with the big guys.

If you’re like most small business owners, you’re thinking about doubling down on Instagram and focusing on video to:

• Attract local customers
• Sell directly to your community
• Generate foot-traffic and online traffic to increase sales

Before we get into the 7 ways you can leverage Instagram video, I’ll be breaking down the different types of video on Instagram.

1. Feed Instagram Videos

The first thing your potential customers will see when they visit your profile is your feed. This is why it is very important to:

• Have a well-structured feed
• Keep videos short and interesting
• Plan and schedule when you post to your feed

A well-made feed will incline customers to visit your page to check out your other content and even follow you.

2. Instagram Video Stories

Video stories tend to be more casual videos of daily life in your business. These videos allow your followers to see a glimpse of the personal side of your business.

Creating Instagram stories is a fun way to grow your engagement and build brand awareness, and if done right boost sales.

3. Instagram Live

Live videos are exactly what it sounds like, a live broadcast to your followers. It is a great way to connect with your followers in a direct way.

Followers can also comment in real time making it Instagram's most interactive video platform making it a very beneficial tool to receive feedback and insight from your own followers.

4. Instagram TV

This is the newest version of video content on Instagram, it has its own application which allows for longer videos while still using your Instagram account to broadcast to your followers.

The main advantage of longer videos is that it allows you to put more information making it more valuable and appealing to your followers.

Now that you know the types of videos you can see that there are countless possibilities for your local business to gain from Instagram Videos, but how does one keep an active local audience interested in their content?

7 Ways to Promote Your Local Business Using Instagram Video

1. Simply Create More Video Content

Instagram has been making a push towards video for a while now and it’s clear how important video has become for small businesses.

The great thing about Instagram videos is that they don’t need a ton of production. Instagram users like raw, unedited videos.

Once you have videos produced, you can repurpose them and post them in your feed as well snippets in your stories and IG TV.

Perfect Keto is a perfect example of a company producing simple videos that get a ton of engagement.

2. Collaborate with Instagram Influencers to Produce Video Content

Influencer marketing on Instagram is still one of the best ways to quickly build a following, social proof and sales.

Before I sold my ecommerce business, of all the marketing strategies I was using (PPC, FB Ads, Email marketing) - Instagram Influencers were the most effective.

You don’t have to collaborate with celebrity influencers that have millions of followers- go local. Micro influencers are actually a more effective way to sell products within your community.

Find influencers in your community (people with 1-10k followers) and simply DM them to collaborate. You’d be surprised at how many people are willing to work with you if you get your targeting right.

So how do you find them?

• Locate them using local hashtags that are relevant to your business
• Find similar accounts using the “suggested” feature on Instagram
• Spy on your competitors and see the influencers they are working with

3. Geotag your Video Posts

This allows people that search for content in your area to find your business, this exposes your content to a much larger local audience.

People looking for specific products in your area can do a search and are much more inclined to visit you if you are nearby. Here is an example of how it works:

Potential customers can easily find your business with a simple search as long as you add Geolocation to your posts and page.

4. Focus on Localized Hashtags

Similar to Geolocation this allows people to find your business based on localized hashtags. To do this successfully you need to add a hashtag with your local area on your posts.

To do this successfully you need to decide on how large of a local area you want to include, for example if you want to sell wine to all people in Amsterdam, you would add #wineamsterdam.

There are plenty of tools out there that can help you figure out exactly what hashtags to use to meet your needs. All Hashtag is a simple and easy to use one especially if you're just starting out

5. Include a Link in Your Bio

In your Bio you should include a link to your website making it easy for potential customers to find you. You can also include links to your other social media and some information about your business.

It is crucial that you do this to convert followers to people visiting your website and purchasing your products.

6. Maintain a Consistent Brand Identity

Consistency is an important element for maintaining brand identity. Your web presence and social media posts will be memorable and instantly recognizable. A neat trick is to structure your Instagram feed in a way that shows your brand identity.

Keep in mind that you should always post quality content that is relevant to your brand or industry. The amount of times you post on social media sites should also be consistent.

7. Strengthen Your Community by Reporting Local Content

Reposting local content of your followers, other businesses and even local celebrities can help strengthen your business reputation. By sharing this type of content, it makes your business more approachable.

You can work together with others and exchange reports to reach each other's followers, or simply attract people that normally would not check out your page.

This type of local marketing strategy is a must because it also saves you a lot of time while keeping your followers happy with content.

Are you Using Instagram Video Yet?

Let us know in the comments and feel free to ask questions!

Stefanos Bournias is an SaaS content marketing consultant.

You can reach him on LinkedIn.