What is Instagram?
Instagram is a social networking app made for sharing photos and videos from a smartphone. Similar to Facebook or Twitter, everyone who creates an Instagram account has a profile and a news feed. When you post a photo or video on Instagram, it will be displayed on your profile. Instagram is extremely popular amongst people our age and is a way to stay connected with everyone around you in a way that is unique and creative. You can caption these pictures as well which is a pretty large aspect of the application. These captions provide insights to the picture and even provide the user with a chance to be even more creative.
Ways Instagram can help your business:
- Show off your products or services. Take pictures of cool new products as you get them in, or share pictures of your most popular products. Or, if you run a service business, like a hair salon or a restaurant, take the time to take photos of your work.
- Go behind the scenes. Take pictures and videos to show how your products or goods are made, especially if the process is unique or interesting, or something your customers ask about often. This will not only provide interesting content for your Instagram account, but will also show your customers and followers exactly what goes on in the background.
- Include your employees. Make your brand's Instagram page more personal by including your employees in your posts. Share pictures of your team members hard at work or having fun at company outings.
- Ask your customers to show off their photos. Put your Instagram handle and custom hashtags on your products or promotional materials to encourage customers to tag you when they share photos of your product, service or work. This way, other users who want to know where it came from can find you easily. Just make sure you're checking them out, liking them and commenting on them, so they continue to do so.
- Post exclusive deals on your Instagram. Give back to your Instagram followers by offering them discounts for following you. Share an image with instructions on how to use the deal — for example, you can create a coupon code for use at your business online, or ask users (when they're paying for a product or service) to show they follow you. This will make your followers feel special, and likely get them telling their friends about your business, too.
Personal Experiences:
I am definitely a habitual user of Instagram I typically check my Instagram multiple times per day just to see whats going on. I follow all different types of users ranging from my friends to clothing companies to professional athletes. From my perspective I think its imperative for a business to have a major Instagram presence simply based on the popularity of the application. According to EMarketer, In 2015, 32.3% of US companies with 100 employees or more will use Instagram for marketing activities. That number will jump to 48.8% in 2016. By 2017, 70.7% of US companies will use Instagram for marketing, edging out Twitter for the first time.“Now that Instagram is opening up advertising to all businesses, it’s not surprising that marketer usage will grow rapidly,” said eMarketer principal analyst Debra Aho Williamson. “Its close ties to Facebook are a key advantage.” When you combine these statistics with the qualitative factors such as popularity and creativeness Instagram provides, Instagram has a bright future in the realm of Social Media Marketing.
Articles that assisted me in the thought process or if you would like more information:
http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/7662-instagram-business-guide.html
https://www.lifewire.com/instagram-tips-and-tricks-you-didnt-know-about-4086542
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/10-things-didnt-know-instagram/
https://www.emarketer.com/Article/Number-of-Companies-Using-Instagram-Nearly-Double-Next-Year/1013122
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