Instagram is quickly turning into a marketing tool for big and small businesses alike. This is because the platform has now accumulated more than half a billion users. Such a user base simply makes it possible to unlock a multitude of marketing opportunities.
Sure, Instagram seems to be the most happening social media channel. But to reap its many benefits, you will have to build a presence on it from the ground up.
As you find your way around the platform, you discover several tools that let you expand your reach, turn visitors into customers, and build your brand loyalty.
Whether you’re a small business or a large corporation, fitting Instagram into your marketing strategy is an absolute must if you’re looking to stay ahead of the curve.
Here are some Instagram Marketing Strategy you can effectively use to promote your business and increase your followers, sales, and customer base.
Strong Visual Design
Instagram’s intuitive visual theme ensures that businesses can promote and sell their products in an efficient and appealing manner. No matter what you’re selling, you can sell it better on a more visual centered platform.
Industries that greatly benefit from Instagram’s visual theme include local restaurants, photography services, auto dealers, jewelry manufacturers, fashion brands and many more.
Customers retain over 80% of what they see as opposed to 20% of what they read. This means that they’re likely to respond to the strong visual cues that brands put forward on Instagram.
Another important reason why visuals can be more efficient is that they convey stories better. Of course, users love stories because stories form the basis of human nature. By telling interesting stories that people can connect with, brands can leverage the power of visuals to build lasting customer relationships.
For example, instead of pushing promotional posts on the platform, brands can utilize Instagram stories like ‘behind the scenes’ clips, team introductions, or even talk about the making of your products!
Higher Reach and Engagement
Instagram has been expanding its user base since the year it had started. In fact, in the US alone, there are more than 60 million Instagram users. The app also records over 4.2 billion likes on a daily basis.
These stats simply indicate a limitless possibility of reaching your target customers across the globe. Here are more stats from popular brands to convince you how Instagram can make all the difference when it comes to your brand’s reach:
- Mercedes Benz saw a 54% increase in their website visits after running Instagram ads.
- Instagram ads helped Bloom and Wild increase their bouquet orders by a whopping 62%.
- The cheese company Philadelphia saw a 41% rise in their sales through posting images of their products.
When Instagram can act as a magic marketing wand even for large brands, you can only imagine the scope of reach it could bring home for you!
With greater reach comes a greater engagement. No social media channel provides engagement the way Instagram does. With a 53% growth engagement rate year by year, Instagram beats all the other social media platforms in this area.
Brands with higher engagement are likely to convert their visitors and followers into customers alongside boosting their brand loyalty.
Free or Economical Marketing
From the previous stats of brands like Mercedes and Philadelphia, one can understand how Instagram ads certainly do pay off.
However, not every business has to invest in ads, well, at least not when they’re just starting out. They can actually increase their sales simply through organic, free traffic.
When it comes to opting for paid ads for reaching your targeting leads, you can always work with Instagram ads that are not only cheap but are also highly targeted.
This means you can now get the most out of your online marketing campaigns with a limited budget.
Increased Popularity of B2B Businesses
When you think about Instagram, it usually looks like a platform that advertises for consumers.
What’s still not known is that Instagram is equally beneficial for B2B marketing. In fact, over 90% of Interbrand 100 companies today are present on Instagram and these companies use the platform at least once a week.
While these companies use Instagram to boost their presence, other businesses can reach these companies quite easily too.
By creating engaging content, strategically placing Instagram ads, and creatively engaging with customers, B2B business can thrive on this platform.
Instagram for Business also enables them to keep track of their daily analytics which can ultimately help them boost their reach and increase their engagement.
A storehouse of Insights and Feedback
Every efficient business understands how valuable feedbacks and insights can be for business. With separate tools for insights and higher scope for customer feedbacks, Instagram enables businesses to observe and learn more than they ever could before.
This can be done by monitoring online conversations about your brand and tracking brand mentions on social media, blogs, and forums.
It should be noted that people are going to talk about your brand whether you are on Instagram or not. The only difference is that a social media presence can give you the chance to track and respond to customer feedback.
It is especially important to understand how customers perceive you. Instagram helps you understand how your customers interact with you, what your target audience posts and how often, how you can best engage with them, and what kind of contests they would respond to.
This helps you constantly evolve for meeting your customer expectations, building brand loyalty, and attracting more customers.
To sum up, using Instagram as a marketing channel for your business can expand your reach, boost your engagement, help you track customer feedback, and ultimately convert your target audience to real customers.
