We live in a world where visual media has taken over; and why not? Visual media is exciting, entertaining and engaging. With 40 billion pictures shared to date and 400 million active daily users, Instagram has risen to become one of the most used social media platforms. When used correctly, the social platform can produce amazing results for your business. In this article, we’ll show you what your business can gain by using the photo sharing platform.
- Instagram is the king of engagement
Instagram has the highest engagement rates around as shown in a report by Forrester Research. According to the report, with an engagement rate of 4.21%, Instagram generates 58 times more engagement per follower than a similar type of content on Facebook or Twitter. An exceptionally active user base means you can build relationships and connect with customers better than you normally would on other platforms.
Encouraging customers to follow you on Instagram could make it highly likely that your customers will keep coming back, especially if you get your strategy right. It goes beyond posting pictures and having users like your posts or make comments; you can drive more engagement by following industry influencers, liking and commenting on their posts, and sharing their content. When you engage with others, it only makes it likely that they’ll reciprocate.
- Learn about your customers’ preferences
Instagram presents you with a rare opportunity to have highly personal interaction with your clients. This is a direct benefit of the high engagement levels of the social network. If you have a new product or are working on a new project, you can share photos with your audience and get to know their thoughts on what you’re doing. This can go a long way in helping you make decisions and understand what your customers like or don’t like.
- Reach new audiences and build your brand
The nature of the social media platform makes it easy for new people to discover your business without you having to do any extra work. All you have to do is remain active by posting relevant, relatable photos that make your brand look good. Instagram users are hooked because they love to look at beautiful photos so take advantage of that. You can create a unique brand aesthetic that your audience will continue to associate with your brand.
- Connect across channels
With Instagram, you can boost cross-channel engagement and connect with your customers across several channels. You can use a plugin that lets you display Instagram photos on your website to encourage visitors to check your Instagram page. Your website should capture your unique brand identity and have a personality like the ones you can build with Umbrellar Cloud hosting’s web builder. This same brand identity should be reflected on your Instagram page and all other social channels. You can adjust your settings, so pictures are automatically shared on Facebook and Twitter when you post them to Instagram.
- Use content provided by your audience
As a result of Instagram’s highly engaging nature, you can get a sizeable chunk of your content from your audience, whether you’re sharing photos of customers using your product or videos of customers reviewing your service. This is where you ask customers to hashtag or mention you in pictures of them using your product while you share them. Who wouldn’t like to be featured by their favorite brand? It’s also an excellent way to foster a more intimate connection with your customers.
- Advertise and drive revenue
Instagram lets you advertise your product or service using pictures, slideshows, or short videos. You’ll be able to create ads with Facebook’s Power Editor and leverage data from Facebook to advertise on Instagram. This is because many customers connect their Instagram and Facebook accounts, meaning you’ll be able to create more targeted ads.
According to a report by Shopify, Instagram delivered an average of $65 for each sale referred from the platform, while Facebook and Twitter delivered $55 and $45 respectively. The trick is not to badger your audience with continuous messages to “buy now” as they already have enough of this on other platforms. The way to go would be to create ingenious ways of showing customers your products and encouraging them to buy.
If you haven’t started an Instagram page for your business, you should now. Check what other businesses within your niche are doing with the social platform and learn from them.
