According to a friend of mine, Instagram makes ugly photos look amazing with filters. Not sure where he got that idea from but I think it came from his own experience with his photos.

Jokes aside, can small businesses do well on Instagram? If so, who are they?

After searching high and low, (and by that I mean Google), tweeting and asking my friends, I found a few of them which really impressed me.

Who are these small businesses and their owners whom are using Instagram right? How can a small business owner take advantage of Instagram?

 1. Elsie Larson

Elsie is the co-founder of Red Velvet, a business she started with her sister and best friend 10 years ago. Followed by over 58,000 users, Elsie shares beautiful photos about fashion trends, behind the scenes photoshoots, her personal life, and many more.

2. Spy House Coffee

Spy House Coffee is a chain of restaurants in several locations. On instagram, they share daily shots of things happening around them.

You’ll see photos of their baristas, events, and even a photo of their lovely dog too!

Besides that, they hold interesting contests through Instagram as well. This is a photo pulled from their account.

 3. Ava Kitchen & Whiskey Bar

Ava Kitchen & Whiskey Bar is quaint restaurant in Houston. They update their Instagram account some 4-5 times a week by sharing beautiful and scrumptious photos of the FOOD that they serve.

Every photo makes me hungry just by looking at it.

4. Mayhem Studios.

Calvin Lee aka @mayhemstudios is a friend and a phenomenal master branding expert and one of the top influential users on social media. He knows branding and he brands his award winning design company well on all social networking sites including Instagram. Calvin shares photos of people he meets, his friends, food, etc. Most of his photos are personal which allows you to get to know him better.

5. Shop a trend

Shopatrend is an online site that sells women’s clothing and accessories. Despite having just a small number of followers on Twitter and Facebook (less than a hundred), they have more than 6,500 followers on Instagram. They share the latest fashion trends such as clothing, accessories, and women’s products that generates an average of 150 likes-per-photo.

Instagram marketing takeaways/ideas for small businesses:

1. Follow your customers on Instagram if they are there.
2. Hold a contest/giveaway and using #hashtag on Instagram
3. Love your customers? Print Instagram photos from your customers and put them on your store or your website.
4. If your fans are sharing your photos online, share their photos with your followers.
5. Snap photos of your customers/team members and post them on Instagram.
6. Make your Instagram personal too, not just about your business.
7. Use hashtags! its important.

Do you follow your local business or any businesses on Instagram? What do you think? Share your thoughts below.

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