You’ve certainly heard of it or you may have a personal account of your own.
The phenomenon of Instagram (affectionately known as “Insta”) is a staple in the social media world, with larger corporations now garnering a large following through their Insta’ visual galleries.
However, if you’re a business that isn’t quite convinced as to how this platform can help you, then pull up a seat my friend.
You’re about to get an education that’ll have you reaching for your phone in no time!
Dawn of the smart phone
First things first, the smart phone.
More people spend their time online with the aid of a phone rather than a desktop.
Think about it; commutes to work, lunch time browsing, photo-sharing with friends, most of these activities are undertaken with a phone due to portability and convenience.
Furthermore, the average amount of time spent online is 90 minutes a day, meaning a whole new arena for companies to showcase their brands to millions of people worldwide.
Not tapping into this goldmine would be an utter waste.
Brand that content!
While purists wouldn’t call Instagram an e-commerce platform (however more and more small businesses are using it indirectly as such to advertise and sell their products), it does offer something that could potentially drive sales in future. Branding.
Social media marketing sits in a completely different ballpark from traditional marketing because a business’ success directly correlates to the trust it gains from its audience.
Gone are the days where people simply buy products on a whim.
Our well-informed generation is adamant on researching before they take the plunge on a service or product.
That’s why branding is so important.
Not only does it express the values and personality of a company, but it provides a “social” arena for your audience to get to know you and potentially purchase from you once a relationship is created.
TIP: No one likes to be sold to, so be sure your content isn’t bombarding your audience with sales info, but rather adds value to their online experience.
In time, they’ll approach you when they’re ready to commit to purchasing.
A place for visual creativity
This may be no surprise to you but 90% of human learning is done visually.
We process visual imagery 60,000x faster than text with the last 10% of our learning coming through our other senses.
This was Facebook’s key driver in purchasing Instagram in 2012, knowing that Facebook’s content heavy nature may not have translated well into mobile, which was growing exponentially at the time.
With this in mind, Instagram offers account holders the challenge/opportunity to create unique and engaging visual content that grabs viewer attention as well as expresses their brand’s identity.
You create your own success
No, this isn’t a self-help final paragraph about the universe and how Instagram is a divine deity that will bring success.
What seems to be a hindrance to many companies starting an Instagram account seems to be a perception their products aren’t interesting enough to gain followers.
While it is wise to ask a specialist as to how Instagram can truly add value to your company, don’t write yourself off straight away!
Some brands with Instagram success are based on products that in of themselves aren’t particularly interesting or visual, however, their marketing team has created a lifestyle or interesting storyline behind their brand, grabbing audience attention and engaging with the masses, “creating their own success”.
Here are a few case studies to prove this point…
Dcmism: This is the account of a puppet maker… not terribly interesting at first read, but Dcmism’s account is full of images documenting his creative lifestyle made possible by his work.
Fun and odd images ensue, all of them interesting.
With a following of nearly 10k, this is definitely an example of a small business’ success in marketing themselves online.
We work: As is a shared office space service that rents facilities to small businesses.
While the creative spaces utilized by their clients are definitely featured on their account, there are only so many wall and floor pictures a person can take.
Wework instead features stunning architectural images for edifice aficionados as well as interior design inspiration.
With a variety of visuals which contain some sort of a link to their business activities, they’ve broadened their market to more than just corporate groups, but designers, musicians, and bloggers who may want to have a function in a Wework space.
Humans of New York: A professional photographer from New York, Brandon Stanton had initially created this account a photo-journal to showcase his skills, but with a running theme of portraiture of strangers.
The account has exploded since its inception in 2010, garnering Stanton 5.7 million followers, showing how a good idea can be the lucrative backbone to your business’ account.
Perhaps your small business’ daily activities could lead to interesting content that may attract followers, or your creative team could design a themed account that has some link to your firm.
If you’re not sure where to start, we offer free social media audits where we can come up with a game plan that could boost your accounts and consequently, your overall success.
Contact us below, we’ll get the ball rolling for you.
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