You might have already heard different theories on why Instagram is good for business. But how can you know for sure that it can be helpful for your business, without trying and potentially wasting your time?
Instagram is undeniably one of the most important social channels around, and we’re positive that any marketer not yet using it is missing out on something big. Whether you manage the social media of a big corporation, a small business, or you’re using it to promote your own personal brand, incorporating Instagram into your marketing strategy is a must! Not really sure why Instagram good for business? Just take a look at the following 6 points to find out.
People love stories. We grow up with fairytales and happily ever afters, we become engrossed in following the twists and turns of celebrity news, and we’re drawn to people with a natural gift for recounting dramatic or funny events. Storytelling is simply part of human nature. And from a business perspective, telling an interesting story is a great way to create an emotional connection with your audience.
Sharing visual content is the best way to let your audience know what you’re about and build a relationship with potential future customers and ambassadors. A customer rather than product-centric approach has long been the standard approach in marketing. With this in mind, it’s important to avoid an Instagram feed that pushes products. Instead, focus on feelings! Embrace the potential that Instagram offers to encourage an emotional response to your brand, and you’ll see a positive impact on the success of your business overall – from visibility through to sales and returning customers.
Photos are the most-engaging content on the Web, with visual posts producing 650% higher engagement than text only posts. It follows that Instagram is a great platform to engage your fans and keep them coming back for more. Using Instagram to test what resonates with your audience visually will help you develop your branding across the board, and you can incorporate the imagery you use on Instagram into your other marketing channels, such as your blog and email newsletters.
With over 700 million monthly users on the platform, Instagram offers businesses a huge potential audience. When posting on Instagram, hashtags are the best way of getting your content out there and in front of the right people. Just be sure to use relevant hashtags that your target audience are actually searching for. You can also create targeted ads to reach even more potential customers, if you’re willing to invest a little time and set aside some budget.
Instagram actually has the highest average engagement rate of all the main social channels, beating Facebook and Twitter. In fact, it even has a higher brand engagement rate, which shows the audience on Instagram is more open to branded content than they are on other platforms.
A good starting point for generating engagement is to follow people talking about your brand or your products and comment on their photos and videos. You can also start conversations using your own hashtags and inspire your followers to join in. Remember, engaging your fans is not only about publishing photos and videos of your products – you actually need to connect with them! Also, It can be tempting to use bots to comment and like on other posts so that you increase your own likes and follows, but there are lots of reasons not to automate engagement! Real engagement is the most important metric to focus on, as real engagement translates into real sales and loyal customers!
As a smart marketer, you probably already monitor conversations about your brand and products on social media. You keep track of your mentions on forums, blogs, Facebook and Twitter. But do you know what people are posting about your brand on Instagram? Whether or not your brand is present on the platform, people will still use it to talk about your products and services as they do on other social media channels. They’re already publishing pictures of products they buy from you, recording videos, and commenting on each others content about your brand. You can’t (and shouldn’t!) just ignore this feedback. It’s essential to both understand how customers perceive your brand and also to identify brand advocates. Instagram is a goldmine of useful insights into your customers, so utilize it!
You might not use Instagram as a marketing channel yet but your competitors probably already do. So use the platform to follow their activity to see how they interact with their community. What content do they post? When? How often? How do they engage with their fans? Do they have an Instagram contest running? By answering these questions you will be able to discover some best practices in your industry and define your own creative strategy.
So, there you have it! Hopefully you’ve gone from asking ‘Why is Instagram marketing important?’ to ‘How can I build a brilliant Instagram marketing strategy’. Well, I’m glad you asked! Check out the 30 days of Instagram guide below for everything you need to know about marketing your brand on Instagram!
Also read: Social Media Marketing – Make Your Business the Talk of the Town
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