by Seth Stacey
Why Instagram matters for small businesses in Alaska
Instagram is where a lot of people go to see what a business looks like before they ever walk in the door. They scroll your photos to decide if you're their kind of place. The coffee, the finished deck, the haircut, the view from the lodge.
On the Kenai Peninsula that matters twice. Locals in Soldotna and Kenai check you out before they try somewhere new, and people planning a summer trip look up charters, lodges and places to eat long before they get here.
Anchorage works the same way, just with more businesses competing for the same attention. The ones with a real, steady profile are the ones people remember.
What your Instagram profile needs first
Before you worry about posting, get the profile right. This is what people look at in the first few seconds.
- A professional account, so you get contact buttons and can see how your posts are doing
- A name people can find, like your business name plus what you do
- One clear line in your bio that says what you do and where, like "Custom cabinets in Soldotna and Kenai"
- A link to your website, so people have somewhere to go next
- A profile photo that matches your branding everywhere else
- Somebody who actually answers the messages
That last one matters more than people think. A message that sits for three days is a customer who called somebody else.
What to post on Instagram
Instagram is a picture first place. You don't need a professional photographer, but you do need good light and a clear subject.
- Show the work. A finished job, a new product, a plate coming out of the kitchen. People want to see what they're getting.
- Show the place. Your shop, your storefront, the view out your window. In Alaska that's a big part of why people come.
- Show the people. Your team, you at work, your customers with their permission. People buy from people.
- Answer the questions you hear all the time. If three customers asked it this month, it's a post.
Short videos, called Reels, get shown to people who don't follow you yet. That makes them one of the best ways to reach new people. A quick clip of the work getting done is plenty.
Two or three good posts a week beats ten rushed ones. Pick a schedule you can keep, even in the middle of your busy season.
Use your location
Tag your town when you post. Add a few hashtags that people around here actually use, like your town name or the Kenai Peninsula. A handful of local ones will do more for you than a long list of big generic ones.
This helps the right people find you, the ones who live close enough to become customers.
Instagram and Facebook work together
Instagram and Facebook are owned by the same company, so a lot of the work carries over. You can share a post to both, answer messages from both in one inbox, and run ads that show on both.
They don't feel the same, though. Facebook is where local groups and recommendations happen. Instagram is where people go to look. If you're already on Facebook, our post on why Facebook still works so well for small businesses in Alaska covers that side.
Keep track of what's working
You don't need a spreadsheet full of numbers. Watch a few simple things.
- How many messages and calls came from Instagram
- How many people tapped the link to your website
- Which posts people saved or shared
- How many customers say "I saw you on Instagram"
If a kind of post keeps bringing in messages, do more of it. If something falls flat every time, stop doing it.
Instagram is one piece of the system
Instagram works best when it's connected to everything else. Your profile matches your Google Business Profile and your Facebook page. Your posts send people to your website. The messages that come in get answered and followed up on, instead of getting lost.
That's what we help small businesses in Soldotna, Kenai, Anchorage and across Alaska put together with our social media work. We run a small business too, so we know what it's like to keep up with posting on top of everything else.
We'll never promise you'll go viral. What we will do is tell you the truth about where your profile is at and help you build something you can keep up with.
If you'd like us to take a look at your Instagram, reach out below. We reply personally.
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