Using Instagram to Promote Your Dive Business

If your social media activities are limited to Facebook, consider adding an Instagram account. The popular photo sharing app is easy to use and can help expose your business to a new demographic. Use Instagram to upload recent scuba class photos, your favorite underwater pics or marine life, and save time by automatically publishing your Instagram posts to your Facebook page.

Here are a few more good reasons to try Instagram:

• Instagram users tend to be younger than the average Facebook user, they are also 25% more likely to earn a high income.
• Instagram recently hit 300 million active monthly users – surpassing Twitter.
• The best reason? Instagram will actually show your posts to all your followers (unlike Facebook).

Still not convinced? Check out this article.

Ready to get started?

1. Sign up for an Instagram account and choose a username that represents your business and is easy for customers to remember, spell and search for.
2. Add a profile photo (use your logo if possible) and a link to your website. Your profile image will appear as a small circle approx 150 x 150 pixels.
3. Link your account to Facebook and/or other social networks.
4. Each time you upload a photo, you’ll have the option to share to Facebook or whatever other social networks you’ve linked. You can also choose not to share on social and the photo will post only to Instagram.

Posting to Instagram

You can take a photo using your device’s camera, or use a picture already saved to your phone. If using a photo from your gallery, remember that Instagram sizes photos to perfect squares. Horizontal (landscape) photos be cropped.

Instagram best practices

Interact! Just like Facebook, you can receive notifications when customers interact with your account. For example, you can receive an alert when:

• A user likes or comments on one of your photos.
• A user @mentions you in a comment.
• When your photo is posted to the Popular page.
• When your account is tagged in another user’s photo

To receive notifications: click on the Settings wheel while viewing your profile. Scroll down and select Push Notification Settings. You can also edit your Share Settings from the options panel. To change the way you receive notifications from Instagram, exit the app and access the Settings location. From there, find Instagram in the Notification Center and configure your app preferences.

Use tags  such as #photooftheday #tbt #scuba #scubadiving. There’s no need to overboard with hastags, two or three are ideal. Tag your best scuba diving images #PADI and you could be our featured photo of the day. See recent favorites at: paditv on Instagram.

Include a location in your post, it can increase engagement by 79%.

Grow your followers
Search hashtags, location and Photos of You to find others’ posts about your business. Attract new followers by liking and commenting on their images.

Add Videos
You can record and post video clips from the Instagram app. To record video, press the camera button and and choose the video recorder option on the right. You can film one long video (or splice several short clips together). To create multiple clips, lift your finger off the record button. If you aren’t happy with a previous clip, delete it by pressing the delete arrow.

Looking for Instagram Inspiration?

If you’ve created your Instagram account but aren’t sure what to post, start following some of these dive shop and dive industry accounts to get ideas.

Divers@Sea (Georgia)
Orvil Clark (Oahu)
Dive in Ecuador
Project AWARE
Force E (Florida)
Sidey the Shark (Maldives)
SD Expeditions (San Diego, CA)
PADI

Check out the Instagram for Business blog for examples of how brands use Instagram.

If you’re just starting out in the world of Instagram or want to improve on your existing successes, book onto a PADI Business Academy to learn more about harnessing the power of online marketing, or, speak to your PADI Regional Manager.