Social media is now an essential tool for communication in modern society. Over the last decade, the number of social networks has multiplied, and the technology has evolved rapidly to integrate with our daily lives. Among these social networks, Instagram has become one of the most popular channels among mobile users.
According to HootSuite, Instagram now has over one billion active monthly users. Over 40% use Instagram users to shop weekly. Finally, the vast majority of Instagram users follow at least one business. Instagram has become a key marketing element for businesses to promote brand awareness and drive sales.
What is Instagram?
Instagram is a mobile app for photo and video sharing. It allows users to share pictures and videos both publicly or privately on the app, as well as via other social networking platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter.
Why is Instagram Important for Your Business?
Massive Reach on Instagram
With over one billion active monthly users, Instagram has over 500 million daily users, with 90% watching videos every week. Consequently, Instagram can help you reach large groups of targeted users who spend a significant amount of time on the app every day.
Instagram Drives Sales
According to Instagram Advertiser Statistics, 50% of Instagram users are followers of at least one business account. As well, about 60% of them find themselves learned about a product or service on Instagram. Instagram also has a higher conversion rate versus the other social media platforms.
Creative Storytelling
Instagram is a visual platform. It allows you to be creative as a multi-media storyteller, and take advantage of photos and videos to showcase your brand personality for real. More than half of instagram's users say their interest in brands grows after seeing it in an Instagram Story..
Deeper Audience Engagement
Top brands on Instagram have an average of 4.21% engagement rate. In addition, Instagram Brand Stories have an 86% completion rate. In fact, Instagram is first place in engagement rate among all social media platforms.
How to Use Instagram Better
Although Instagram can accelerate brand success, competition on the platform is huge and fierce. Follow an intentional strategy to ensure your brand stands out instead of getting lost in the mix.
Include a Link to Your Site
Add your website link into your bio under username and description. It is a great opportunity to boost traffic to your site. Always remember to include a link to your online shopping site or targeted landing page with your posts.
Stay Consistent
Keep it consistent! Your name, images, and videos should follow a theme. Many top brands try to use same filters to their images to help create consistent brand personalities. It helps your brand look professional and recognizable.
Try Not to Hard Sell
Visuals help showcase your products without pressuring customers for buying decisions. Be creative with images when telling stories around products and brand. The hard sell can decrease credibility and push away customers.
Create Unique Lifestyle Photos to Represent Your Brand Culture
Add scenarios to your products rather than simple standalone images and logos. Situational, reality-based backgrounds, scenes, and models make products appear a natural part of anyone's lives, inspiring customers.
Offer Promotions and Exclusive Offers to Followers
Provide your audience bonuses for following your accounts. According to Iconosquare, 41% of Instagram users are willing to follow a brand for promotions, perks, and insider announcements. So give them the reason to follow and stick with your account.
Include Hashtags to Widen your Discoverability
Hashtags are the keywords used to identify specific messages and topics of your social posts. With over one billion photos shared on Instagram every day, Instagram feeds change rapidly. Hashtags are the only identifiers that make your posts discoverable eternally.
Share Your Followers’ Tagged Photos on Your Account
Reposting photos of your followers’ that are associated with your brand is an effective way to engage with your followers. Nearly two-thirds of Instagram users say that they feel honored when a brand mentions them.
Conclusion
Instagram is an effective tool for advertisers to boost brand awareness and increase engagement with customers. It is not only a platform to showcase your brand story, but also a channel through which you can interact with your followers and build customer loyalty.
However, Instagram, like many social media channels, is not a magical formula that builds customer relationships in one night. It requires efficient and consistent management of accounts each month, creating bonds with your audiences that build and sustain increased sales.