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As visual content becomes more popular for both organic and paid social media marketing, it also becomes increasingly important for brands to create and leverage. This shift to visual social media means that more and more businesses, big and small, are starting to communicate visually with their fans, followers and customers.
One of the most popular platforms that will enable you to leverage the power of this shift is Instagram.
With over 150 million users, Instagram is one of the best and most-used photo sharing platform, enabling you to share photos, as well as short videos, with your followers. There are over 55 million photos shared on Instagram every day (source: Mind Jumpers) which is another great reason why your business needs to utilise this platform.
There are lots of perks that Instagram can generate for your business, so let’s have a look at the top 6 key benefits.
Depending on the quality of the post, branded updates on Facebook and Twitter are sometimes overlooked by the user. However this isn’t true for Instagram users; having an active Instagram account with useful and interesting content can earn you crazy levels of engagement with your audience. Latest study by Forrester found that Instagram content generates 58 times more engagement per follower than Facebook and 120 times more than Twitter.
Starbucks visual content always sees huge engagement on Instagram;
With branded content being more popular for generating engagement, one of the key benefits of Instagram is that it can help you build trust. People buy from people and Instagram will help you to create that emotional connection with your audience. The great thing here is that it allows you to share the day-to-day experiences of your business in an informal and casual way – therefore giving a personal feel to your business.
Behind the scene photos and employee images tend to rank well on Instagram, especially if you’re a specific service provider. Such photos can make your company more attractive and trustworthy which in turn can have a positive effect on your bottom line.
Although you can’t add clickable links to every Instagram update you publish, Instagram can be a powerful source of traffic. Plus with the higher levels of engagement than on Facebook and Twitter, creating and maintaining a strong profile could be hugely beneficial for your site’s visibility.
There is still far less competition on Instagram than on Facebook or Twitter. An American Express survey showed that only 2% of small businesses are currently embracing Instagram, giving them an advantage over their competitors. Plus the businesses that incorporate Instagram into their marketing strategy will more likely reach their target audience far easier than with Facebook or Twitter where the competition is much bigger.
If you’re targeting people born from 1980 to the early 1990s (the so called millennial) then Instagram is the place to be as over 37% of people in this age group use Instagram (Source: JennsTrends) So if you want to reach and connect with the under 30 crowd you should definitely create an Instagram account. Having said that, Instagram doesn’t only work for youth-focused brands like Red Bull, brands like Ford and General Electric are gaining a great level on engagement on their Instagram profiles.
Yes, you’re reading it correctly; the great thing about Instagram is free advertising. You can showcase your products and services in action which generates huge exposure. It gives you a chance to show off more of what you have to offer.
You can easily create your new Instagram account in just two steps:
At the moment, you can only create your account by downloading the Instagram app to your phone. Once installed, click on the Icon and sign up using your email of Facebook profile. Don’t forget to use the same brand name as you have on other Social Media networks.
Get the setting rights. Before you share your first photo or video on Instagram you need to fill out all the information Instagram is asking you – such as a short Bio, website URL and a profile image or logo.
It’s crucial to integrate it with your other Social Media networks:
Search for relevant and interesting photos and start following people
If you’re just starting on Instagram, here are a couple of content ideas to get you started. The key thing to Instagram success is to be active and spontaneous. This means that your photos don’t have to be of high quality, instead they should capture the emotion.
You can post photos and videos of:
Before you start you can also have a look at some of the big, as well as small companies, which are successful on Instagram.
As you can see, Instagram offers an excellent opportunity for your brand to diversify your content as a means to broaden your online reach. If you haven’t created an Instagram account for your business, it’s best time to do it now, so you don’t miss out on the 150 million strong user base.
If you have, then good. But, if you don’t then you could be missing out on the benefits mentioned above. Here at Koozai, we provide our clients with effective Social Media management which can help you reap the benefits that Social Media has on offer. If you have any questions please get in touch – we will be more than happy to help.
