At present, Instagram has more than 300 million average monthly users. This kind of following has encouraged numerous brands to find different ways of interacting with the growing Instagram community. And it’s not just the numbers which are noteworthy; it is also the kind of people using Instagram that has a big influence on sales.
Majority of the instagrammers are keen shoppers! According to the Instagram study conducted by Iconosquare in 2015, 70 percent of the Instagram users would have searched for a brand on this platform and 62 percent follow a company/brand simply because have a liking for it.
Why Instagram
Ask any digital marketing expert and they will vouch for the great potential of Instagram as a successful modern marketing tool, relevant to all kinds of businesses. If a business is successful in posting the right types of images on Instagram, its followers will quickly absorb the marketing message with no need for any hard-hitting sales pitches. Instagram plays on the visual senses of consumers making it easier to get their attention than text advertising.
Another advantage of using Instagram is that though it may appear to be a casual and fun social media platform, it does have a professional, business-like feel to it. This is why it is being used by multiple businesses, big and small, all over the world for branding, advertising and marketing purposes. In fact, most businesses prefer Instagram over Twitter and Facebook for marketing.
Many leading brands are currently resorting to Instagram with a higher degree of sharing, likes and comments. This social media platform allows marketers to share success stories and experiences through visual contents which are more appealing than plain text.
Tips for Using Instagram for Business
Here are some quick tips to help you promote your brand and products on Instagram:
- Use Innovative and Professional Photos
Product images are critical to online shopping. Instagram takes the power of visuals to the next level and allows you to post high-quality images of your products and promotions. As a business, you should invest in professionally clicked product images. Also try and create more innovative posts for attracting greater attention from your target audience. Nearly 67 percent of consumers claim that detailed images offer more value than long product descriptions or user ratings.
- Get a signature look
Prior to posting product images on Instagram, spend some time thinking how you wish to position the products/services on your business page. Product placement, if done correctly, can be the driving factor behind your Instagram sales. For this, you must decide on the aesthetic you wish to have for your Instagram page.
When you’ve collected your product images, make use of internal filters offered by Instagram to lend a definite character to the images. Also, it isn’t always necessary to add a filter when using Instagram. Sometimes natural pictures of your products work best!
- Don’t forget to add hashtags to descriptions
On Instagram, hashtags play a major role in getting your products discovered by the target audience. In order to add the right kind of hashtags, you may utilize the Search feature of Instagram and identify the top trending hashtags, relevant to your industry and demographic. Use at least 3 to 5 such hashtags to boost your social media selling efforts.
All businesses can use Instagram
Instagram serves as a brilliant social network for promoting all kinds of businesses through dynamic visual content. In fact, a company can display its entire range of products via pictures and videos on Instagram. This platform also works well for purely service-based businesses as they could use innovative demo videos for explaining and promoting their services.