It’s not a secret that social media can carry tremendous importance as a part of your marketing strategy. It allows you to reach millions (and on some platforms, billions) of people daily.
With this in mind, you may be wondering which social media platforms will be the best place for you to showcase your brand. That depends on your industry and your target market but many organizations see great results with Instagram marketing. Instagram is a social media network that may have been “late to the party” since it was founded 5+ years after Facebook and Twitter, but with the engagement growth it’s seen over the last few years, it has shown it’s not going anywhere.
Here are three reasons why Instagram marketing could be a valuable part of your marketing strategy in 2019:
Tell Me a Story
The story format on social media has grown popular over the last few years, especially on Instagram. After unveiling the feature just two and a half years ago, there are now nearly 500 million users adding pictures and videos to their Instagram stories every day. That is more than triple the amount of people utilizing Facebook stories.
Instagram stories are a perfect way to keep your daily audience engaged without overwhelming them with too much content in their feed. Stories disappear after 24 hours, so you can fill them with all kinds of fun behind-the-scenes moments within your business. Giving your audience a sneak peek at your brand helps build a stronger, more personal connection between you and your followers, which in turn, helps boost engagement.
#Hashtags
Building your digital audience can feel like it takes quite a bit of time, but it is worth it. A simple way to start building your audience is by using hashtags.
The awesome thing about using hashtags on Instagram is that you are able to use up to 30 in one post alone. This differs greatly from other platforms, whereas Twitter you only want to use three to four per post and Facebook where you want to leave the hashtags out typically. Although, with great power comes great responsibility, so even though you are allowed to use 30 hashtags on your Instagram posts, you should refrain from using more than 15 to avoid coming off as spam-like.
Do some hashtag research to find out what hashtags are popular within your industry so you can reach your target audience. Don’t be afraid to jump in on the popular ones like #MotivationMonday and #ThrowbackThursday every once in a while, but keeping it industry-specific gives you a better chance to grow your ideal audience.
Kids These Days? They’re on Instagram
By creating an Instagram account for your brand, you are allowing yourself to reach a younger demographic. 72% of teens say they use the platform, which has grown significantly from the 52% who said they used it back in 2015 (Sprout Social).
If that demographic doesn’t line up well with your marketing strategy, no worries. According to Statista, 71% of the 1 billion monthly active users on Instagram are under the age of 35, so it is no longer just teens that rule Instagram, but Millennials as well. On top of that, 80% of user accounts follow at least one business page on the app, so people are interested in seeing more than just their friends’ pictures on their feed.
Instagram has become one of the most popular social media platforms for businesses to “strut their stuff”. Research has told marketers for years that using visuals is more engaging for users than the latter, so this platform plays right into what consumers want.
We hope you enjoyed this brief bit about utilizing Instagram for your business. If you want to talk at length about social media and other aspects of your marketing strategy, we would love to talk to you!