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How to Use Instagram as a Painting Contractor

4 tips to boost your brand and generate quality leads

As a painter, finding new quality leads is the lifeblood of your business. One way to find a larger audience and generate leads is by building a well-managed Instagram account for your business.

Meta—which owns Instagram—has found that Instagram is used by 83% of people to discover new products and services, and by 80% to decide whether to buy a product or service. In fact, Kassity Moore—founder of Ohio City Painting in Cleveland, Ohio—says that roughly 95% of her business’ estimates have come as a result of Instagram.

“The value of my customers and the value of the jobs I’m getting have enhanced dramatically from showing people who I am and what I do on social media,” Moore says. “I’m getting clients who want me specifically. I’m selling myself before I ever show up to an estimate. So my success rate on estimates has been so much higher now that I’m really present on social media.”

Instagram can be an ideal platform to showcase your work and attract new customers. Here’s four tips for using Instagram successfully for your business.

Tell a story with visuals. Instagram is primarily a visual-focused social media platform, so share photos and videos that tell your business’ story. That could include sharing team pictures, highlighting before-and-after photos of past projects, or giving behind-the-scenes looks at your process. Let followers see who you are and the quality of your work firsthand. 


Tag your posts to reach new audiences. Tagging your posts lets people beyond your followers find your content. Use geo-tags to mark your location and get the attention of local customers in your area, and use popular hashtags (like #propainter and #paintcontractor) to help people find your content. You can also tag, share, or engage with Instagram accounts of your business’ favorite brands—such as Sherwin-Williams or Purdy—to engage their audience and attract them to your page.

Find inspiration. Sometimes it’s hard to continuously come up with new pictures or videos to post. When you hit a creativity wall, take a step back and try to imagine what you would want to see. What kind of pictures or videos do you find interesting from other painters? Feel free to take inspiration from what other accounts are doing, like the Sherwin-Williams Paint Pros account (@swpaintpros). Even if it feels weird to borrow an idea, you and your team will put your own unique spin on it, and that’ll be enough to make it original for your followers.

Respond to feedback. Instagram rewards accounts with high engagement, and one way to drum up your engagement is by replying to every comment. In the Sherwin-Williams PRO+ Business Training Series episode “Social Media 101,” Alista Media founder Jordan Simmons says replying “shows the algorithm you care. If the algorithm sees you’re posting and interacting with people, it will reward you [with a larger audience].”

Conclusion

It won’t happen overnight, but following these tips will help you to grow and build your Instagram presence—which should ultimately help generate more leads. For more tips, check out the Social Media for Painting Contractors guide published by Sherwin-Williams.