Most people are aware of the value that Instagram holds for marketing and advertising. The social media platform has been around for over a decade and has managed to retain its popularity and relevance quite impressively. However, though business owners understand the general value of Instagram, they don’t comprehend the specifics of this value nor why each benefit is important for a company, especially in 2021.
Instagram has over 800 million users, making it clear that part of its value is in the potential reach that companies have on the platform. Brands and marketers have to capitalise on not just the growth in the popularity of Instagram, but also its selling feature and emerging social commerce trends. They must also learn how to masterfully use photos for marketing on Instagram. Before we dive into the specific benefits of Instagram, let’s take a look at a few tips for using photos on Instagram for marketing.
4 tips for using photos on your business’ Instagram account
The below tips may be basic, however, business owners commonly do not implement them, leading their photos to not only not be optimised for marketing but also, appear unprofessional.
- Use photos on Instagram Stories
- Collect user-submitted photos, don’t just use professional photos
- Use interactive branded hashtags under your posted photos
- For casual photos taken with your phone, avoid zooming as this compromises quality
4 benefits for marketing on Instagram
- It’s visual
Humans connect through visuals. Instagram is a primarily visual social media platform that allows you to connect with customers through photographs. While you may think that we are stating a fairly obvious fact here, it is in fact, extremely important to note.
Instagram was developed around the sharing of photos and videos, not text and links which is at the centre of other platforms. Visual content is more engaging than text, giving marketers one of their first incentives for utilising this platform.
Photos give your company and marketers an opportunity to do more than show pretty pictures of your company or products. Instead, you can, through pictures, evoke the feeling and vibe of your company, showcase your team and products in action and draw attention to positive feedback from customers.
In short, it’s a much more effective method for drawing your audience’s attention to what you want them to see.
- Engaged traffic
Traffic coming from photos is extremely engaged which doesn’t only improve your post’s performance (Instagram’s algorithm boosts posts with a lot of comments), but it also raises your brand’s awareness. If a customer already follows you on Instagram, they are more likely to see your page, posts and consume information that reminds them of why they purchased from your brand if your page is boosted through increased engagement.
Instagram also gives you many opportunities to drive your engaged traffic. Hashtags, videos, stories and hosting giveaways and contests are all easily implemented methods that you can use to increase engagement on your posts and drive traffic to your brand website/page.
- It’s likely that your customers are already there and looking for you
Believe it or not, not every business is on Instagram. If you are one of those businesses, then you may be missing out on connecting with your customers on Instagram.
Regardless of the industry that your business is in, your customers are likely on Instagram and may possibly be searching for you. Customers tend to look for business pages to give them background on the business, more information about their products and to stay in the loop with promotional offers. By not being present, you are missing out on a valuable opportunity to reconnect with your customers and remind them of your business.
- Understand the performance of your strategy and content
An important part of utilising Instagram for marketing is ensuring that the strategies you or your social media marketing agency implement are effective for your business. Instagram provides feedback on your ads and data on how your posts are performing. This avoids you from marketing blindly and investing in methods that do not work for your brand.
Social media marketing agencies can up your Instagram game!
We hope that by explaining the benefits of Instagram as well as identifying a few tips for using the platform, you are more informed of its value. Admittedly, it can be tricky to consistently stay on top of Instagram’s trends and updates. Optimally managing your social media’s account is a job in itself, which is exactly why social media marketing agencies across Australia offer this service. A social media marketing agency is the right resource to level the playing between you and your competitors, create innovative and effective social media posts and advertisements and propel your company to the next level.
