With 1.2 billion monthly users, Instagram has become a crucial element to the success of any business. This platform helps businesses learn about their customers, promote products and services, build customer relationships, and drive traffic to websites. 

However, making the most of Instagram requires time and effort — resources that not all entrepreneurs have. You probably have too many things on your plate and can no longer take on another responsibility as significant as creating an effective Instagram campaign. 

Today’s virtual assistants are highly skilled and experienced in using Instagram to keep your business on top of its game. Hiring one guarantees your business’s online presence on Instagram and helps you save time and money in the long run!

What is an Instagram Virtual Assistant?

An Instagram virtual assistant is a remote employee who manages your business’s Instagram account. Their main responsibility is to develop a digital marketing strategy that enables your business to increase followers, engagement, and popularity on Instagram. 

An Instagram virtual assistant can take on different tasks, namely content creation, account management, customer support, and many others. These virtual assistants possess excellent oral and written communication skills, are highly organized, and have a background in traditional and digital marketing.   

What Can a Virtual Assistant Do for Your Instagram?

Boosting your business’s presence and engagement on Instagram entails a lot of work. For starters, you need to choose an Instagram aesthetic, respond to comments, plan your content, use the right hashtags — the list goes on. 

For entrepreneurs who handle different aspects of their businesses every day, completing different activities on Instagram isn’t always feasible. This is the biggest reason why letting a virtual assistant manage your Instagram profile is the best option. 

The right virtual assistant can do a lot of things for your Instagram, namely:

Create and Follow an Editorial Calendar

An editorial calendar helps organize content based on type, time, and date. Having one is vital in crafting an effective content strategy and ensuring that brands regularly share high-quality posts with their audience.

An Instagram virtual assistant has the experience and tools to create an editorial calendar, so you don’t have to. They can determine when is the best time to post the best type of content on Instagram to ensure that it reaches your target audience. As a result, your content gains more traction online. 

Manage Comments and DMs

Replying to comments left by customers on social media is important. According to research by Bain & Company, customers spend 20% to 40% more time with brands that regularly respond to social media comments. 

With an Instagram virtual assistant, you won’t have to be on your phone all day just to reply to comments and manage direct messages, as they can complete these tasks on your behalf. Their main responsibility is to manage your Instagram profile, meaning they’ll need to check notifications and respond to comments and messages the moment your profile receives any.

Conduct Research

Research is time-consuming but essential in creating highly effective posts on Instagram. How can you connect with your target audience if you don’t know who they are or what they want? How can you create “better” Instagram strategies if you don’t know what your competitors are doing?

An Instagram virtual assistant can conduct research about your target audience, competitors, current trends, and others. They know which tools to use to look for upcoming trends, current popular news, and any content that creates a buzz among your target audience. As a result, they can craft high-quality content that boosts customer engagement. 

Monitor and Engage With Audiences

One inquiry left on Instagram can turn into a disaster online and offline once left unanswered. Some people get so frustrated for not receiving replies that they’ll tell everyone they know about their experience. This can put a bad light on your business.

This is where having an Instagram virtual assistant is handy. They can help you set up feeds and alerts to monitor every time someone mentions your business, products, or services on Instagram. This enables them to act accordingly fast. 

Say, your virtual assistant received a notification about someone making false accusations about your brand and its offerings. The VA can respond to that comment in real time and correct those accusations. Their fast response will prevent those accusations from circulating online, allowing your business to maintain its online reputation.  

Build and Manage Networks

The Instagram profiles your business follows can impact its growth. By following industry leaders, you can gain insights that you can use in your business.

But instead of spending an entire day doing a huge purge on your business’s Instagram profile, let a virtual assistant do it. They can follow, connect, or unfriend individuals and brands based on your set criteria. This will make your business’s Instagram profile look stronger and more professional from a social proof standpoint. 

Create Monthly Reports on Metrics

Social media ROI is difficult to measure but necessary. Entrepreneurs need to set and define goals to determine whether their efforts on Instagram are working. Skipping this step will eventually drain your resources and cause your social media efforts to get stuck. 

Here are some of the most common Instagram goals you can ask a virtual assistant to track:

• Boost brand engagement
• Build a community around your business
• Generate new leads 
• Grow a large following
• Grow revenue by increasing signups 
• Increase brand awareness by measuring followers counts, reach of Instagram posts, and number of mentions and shares on Instagram
• Interact with ideal clients

Have your virtual assistant create a metrics report every couple of weeks or months. The report should track the number of likes, followers, mentions, and other stats on your business’s Instagram profile. You can use these reports to improve your existing Instagram strategy. 

Keep Profile Up-To-Date

An inactive social media profile can hurt your business in many ways. For one, customers might eliminate your business as an option (and choose to buy from your competitors), as a stale Instagram profile will make them think that your business is no longer operating. Inactivity on Instagram also impacts your business’s credibility. 

A virtual assistant keeps your business on top of things by updating your business’s Instagram profile regularly. Besides making sure that information on the profile is accurate, they’ll also post different types of content on your profile.

With an Instagram virtual assistant, your business’s account will be maximized to show products and company videos, share customer reviews and testimonials, and promote upcoming events. Having an active Instagram account will encourage customers to engage with your brand!

Run and Manage Social Competitions

Almost all businesses are on Instagram, which is why it’s important to come up with unique gimmicks to differentiate your brand. Offering social media competitions can help businesses achieve that goal but creating, running, and tracking one requires time.

An Instagram virtual assistant can take this task off of your hand. With their experience, they can easily come up with unique social media competitions that’ll encourage your target audience to share your content and engage with your social network. These competitions will keep your target audience excited and make your brand more fun.

Provide Customer Service

Top brands have been using social media to provide customer service. Your business can offer the same, but only if you have a virtual assistant. Social media, like Instagram, is accessible to customers 24/7, meaning someone should be available all the time to respond to queries. 

An Instagram virtual assistant can provide customer services on your business’s behalf. If you want your business to respond to messages or queries 24/7, look for a virtual assistant who lives in a country with a 10-hour difference from your business’s regular operating hours. In this way, your customers will receive a response even if your store is already closed.

Being able to provide excellent customer service through Instagram creates bonds and makes your brand more favorable in the eyes of the customers. 

Where Can You Get a Virtual Assistant for Instagram?

In general, you can hire a virtual assistant for Instagram by using online job platforms, such as Upwork, LinkedIn, Indeed, and Onlinejobs.ph, or through virtual assistant companies. 

Using any of these mediums to hire a virtual assistant has pros and cons, so weigh your options carefully. For instance, hiring through an online platform might be cheap but will require you to be more hands-on as you’ll have to take care of the hiring process. Hiring through a virtual company will cost you more but guarantees convenience as the company will handle the hiring process. 

Work with a VA Today 

Instagram has billions of active users, and saying “no” to using this platform means losing credibility, missing out on potential customers, and allowing your competitors to take advantage. 

Use Instagram to your business’s advantage by hiring the right virtual assistant. With their experience, training, and access to essential tools, they can help cement your brand on Instagram without wasting your business’s valuable resources.  

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