Instagram uses imagery to convey messages and stories, not only on a personal, but also on a #business level. As celebrities such as Taylor Swift rack up over 52 million followers, and Prince sets up his own “Princestagram” account, businesses can also take advantage of the benefits.
[bctt tweet=”the audience for your business is now much bigger than ever”]
Most people know that Instagram is owned by #Facebook and uses technology that leverages the best of Facebook’s ads infrastructure. That means reaching a whole new level of potential customers and sales.
However it is easy to fall into the trap of posting product photos and customer images. Using Instagram needs some deeper thinking to make the most of the features. A few weeks ago, we talked about emotional connectivity, and the same philosophy applies here. People come to Instagram for visual inspiration, and the best way to hook people in is developing the emotional connectivity to the brand, so let’s look at a few tips:
- Telling the story about a product or service is more likely to appeal than an image of the product. Using a healthy balance of relevant images to rouse the emotion you want to your potential customer to feel is absolutely vital. Capturing a one-off moment, or photos of a feature of a deconstructed product can work well;
- Posting frequency – you don’t want to saturate your followers with posts every day. Choose what is the most relevant and inspiring content, create a schedule and keep to it when posting;
- Track what is working well using Instagram’s tracking features and use the feedback to your benefit and keep images aligned to the interests of your target customer;
- A joint Instagram and Facebook approach – Create Instagram videos, and share to business Facebook pages and boost them into paid media. This enables brands to reach Facebook’s 818 million monthly active mobile users, which, at the moment, is six times bigger than Instagram’s 130 million audience;
- Advertisers also have access to new ad formats that help them achieve a variety of objectives, allowing people to learn more about something that interests them or even shop for a product right from Instagram. Carousel ads give brands more flexibility in telling their stories by allowing people who view their ads to swipe left to see additional images and link to a website of the brand’s choice.
Also remember, Since September, Instagram advertising is not only linked to a select group of US brands there is now capability in 30 countries, as companies can advertise on the platform with a “self-serve” option, with further international expansion planned in the near future. That means the audience for your business is now much bigger than ever, and that’s something to take advantage of!
