Socially Speaking: How Instagram Can Benefit Your Marketing Strategy

Instagram was launched in October 2010 and quickly grew to its current population of 200 million monthly active users. There have been over 20 billion photos shared and over 1.6 billion likes. 60 million photos are shared on Instagram every day. So how can Instagram benefit your marketing strategy? Below are a few tips to use Instagram to boost your business image.

1. The first thing you need to do is acquaint yourself with Instagram and how it works. The Instagram help page  (https://help.instagram.com/) has very detailed instructions on how to get started and how to build your Instagram account.

2. The key is to balance fun images with messages from your business. Remember, Instagram doesn’t allow clickable links in the posts’ captions or comments. The only clickable links are within the bio of a user’s profile. So the images are used to enhance messages and promote a brand.
   
   
3. Use vibrant images to delight potential customers. These images should be used to attract your target market and to pique curiosity.  Instagram can be effectively used as a pathway to a product page, or a description of services.
   
   
4. Leverage photo contests on Instagram. Use hash tags to organize submissions and an RSS feed to view and follow new photos as they are added. This will generate additional interest and get existing customers and influencers excited. It will also provoke interest from potential new customers by leveraging the network of existing ones.
   
   
5. Make sure to network. First make sure you are engaging with other Instagram users. Comment, like, and follow other users. Try and keep relevant hashtags specific. If you are using certain brand specific/relevant hashtags on Google+, Facebook and Twitter, make sure you are using the same ones on Instagram. Also make sure to use industry-related hashtags. Reward your loyal followers. Some businesses have rewarded followers with tickets, passes, coupons, and discounts.
   
   
6. Show Off your Employees. Use Instagram to post pictures of your employees to showcase their work and your brand. This gives a behind-the-scenes look at your company and is also great for morale. It gives you a chance to celebrate them and show them that you value them. It is a public way to show off their skill sets and acknowledge their milestones.
   
   
7. Quantify. Want to know how a certain image resounds with your fans? There are image analytic tools such as BlitzMetrics and Curalate to help to provide qualitative insight on images posted on Instagram.

So What? These are just a few insights on how to leverage your business Instagram to increase brand awareness and promote your products and/or services. If used correctly, Instagram will successfully enhance your business and provide a canvas for brand creativity and increase awareness for your business.

Blog image courtesy basketman/freedigitalphotos.net