Jaime HayWith over a billion users each month and half a billion each day, it is clear that Instagram is here to stay. Since its inception in 2010, Instagram has gone a long way, drawing the attention of many businesses. Since Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg purchased Instagram for $1 billion only 18 months after its creation, the platform’s popularity and functionality have only increased.
Businesses are increasingly responding to this fast-developing platform, and 90% of the top 100 businesses around the globe have an Instagram profile.
You may be wondering what’s in it for all these companies and enterprises to utilize Instagram regularly and whether it is for nothing more than to show off their brand in some fancy pictures. However, that’s not the case since some of the most successful companies in the world have shown that Instagram can be used to create leads, sales, and more.
Whether you’re new to the platform or simply want to improve your current account and attract more organic Instagram followers, you may be wondering how to get started. Below, we’ve compiled a list of the most useful features of Instagram for businesses and some tips on making the most of them.
Purchasing Ability
Did you know that more than a third of Instagram users have made an online purchase after seeing it on the app? Making them 70% more likely to make such a transaction than those who are not Instagram users.
More than a billion people use Instagram every month, and if only one-third of them purchase it after seeing it on Instagram, that’s at least 333,333,333 people. These are not simply passive viewers; they are Instagram users with a demonstrated interest in making a purchase.
In addition, 75% of Instagrammers who see an ad post do something about it, like visiting the advertiser’s website and liking a few posts. To increase the exposure of a post on Instagram, you may pay to have it promoted, by creating an ad. It’s estimated that 75% of Instagram users who see these advertisements interact with them by clicking on the “Shop Now” or “Contact Us” buttons.
Options for Precise Targeting
When it comes to social media advertising, Instagram’s ad platform provides some of the most cutting-edge alternatives accessible.
As was previously said, Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, acquired Instagram a few years ago. Advertising on Facebook can already be tailored to certain demographics based on their age, likes, and activity, and now that functionality has been extended to Instagram.
Aside from the aforementioned cold targeting possibilities, Instagram also has the same robust retargeting features as Facebook. In this context, “cold targeting” is reaching out to individuals who are unfamiliar with your company and brand. They need to be “warmed up” before they will make a purchase, much alone a repeat one.
Using retargeting, you may reach out to customers who are already familiar with your company and brand. When you use retargeting, you show ads to people who have visited your site but have not yet made a purchase or filled out a contact form, or whatever desired action you have for them. However, Instagram has all of these features and more.
Additional Functions for Business Profiles
The Instagram platform, much like Facebook, separates personal profiles from business profiles. Converting your account to a business account grants access to additional tools for advertising your company.
Access to account analytics, a call-to-action button for your page visitors, and the option to promote your content with advertising revenue are just a few of these benefits. It also makes it evident to Instagram users that the page they are visiting belongs to a company rather than a private individual.
Building a High-Quality Brand
Instagram is great since it can be used for paid advertising much like Facebook. However, Instagram allows you to get followers naturally, as opposed to advertising on Facebook, which is required if you want to increase the number of friends or followers on your company page.
As a result, rather than having to artificially forge a connection with sponsored commercials, a more organic one may develop between your company and its followers. Just as in a grass-roots movement, the more support you get, the more people will want to join your cause. This sort of natural, word-of-mouth-driven expansion of a brand’s follower base is invaluable, particularly in its early stages.
Knowing Your Customer Base
Keep in mind that your target market is more than simply a collection of numbers representing a certain age range or income level. Since a target market is made up of actual people, your marketing activities need to be adaptable and fluid as well.
On that end, Instagram is a fantastic resource for keeping up with the preferences of your diverse audience. You may see the kind of material they gravitate toward and those they ignore. You’ll be able to see their preferences on the following accounts.
Understanding these metrics is not only important for your Instagram content strategy but also for your whole marketing plan.
Aesthetic Value
Instagram’s emphasis on visual content is one of the features that sets it apart from other social networking sites. Instagram is unique among social media platforms in that it focuses primarily on visual content, such as photos and videos, that may or may not include accompanying text. This is to your advantage since the vast majority of individuals can recall more information from what they see than from what they read or hear.
Final Thoughts
It’s important to keep in mind that Instagram is a great platform for making meaningful connections with your target audience via visual content. You can get the most out of this platform and increase your return on investment (ROI) because of its business-centric features like company profiles, targeted ad campaigns, very thorough data, and shopping buttons in articles and in-feed advertisements. It is up to you to decide whether or not you will make use of them.
Hugh Hay
Patrick Soft
