Social media is the new marketing channel businesses can’t do without. Some of the social media sites commonly used for marketing include Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Snapchat.
Instagram, now a subsidiary of the social media giant, Facebook has already surpassed the 1 billion mark of active users daily. While this number does not measure up to Facebook’s daily users, Instagram is already a ripe social site for the marketing of your business.
It’s not like everything is guaranteed to work when you take your business on social media. Many other businesses are still trying are still trying hard to find their way out and stay afloat. That being said, businesses have a tough call in figuring out what social site works best for their business model and marketing strategy.
So, why do I recommend Instagram?
Apart from Facebook, Instagram is the fastest growing social networking site. This stems from the fact that it has been developed into a versatile social media site that combines amazing features from other sites.
For instance, Instagram has got Facebook’s newsfeed feature that comes with no political connotations. It can also archive video content just like YouTube. Some face filter features associated with Snapchat can be found in Instagram as well.
The list isn’t exhaustive without mentioning IGTV. This is a new video feature introduced by Instagram that counters the need for YouTube videos. It comes with a vertical video that runs for more than 60 seconds.
As of today, statistics from Social media examiner reports indicate that 69% of marketers would want to increase their advertising expenditure on Instagram. On the same note, 74% of users showed interest in learning how to use Instagram for marketing their business.
Instagram has metamorphosed from being a mere photo and selfie site into attracting big business brands that command thousands of followers.
Ways you could use Social media to leverage on your business
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Location tagging
Instagram allows its users to geotag their locations. As a brand or business owner, you want to make the maximum advantage of this service to let your followers know where your business is located.
For every Instagram photo or video, you upload, ensure that you geotag the city or town of where your business is located. This should be done using your Instagram business account.
Location tagging of your business’ town, helps Instagram users in the given town to know more about your business. That way, it’s easy to reach out to them with every Instagram post about your business.
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Maximize on the use of hashtags
Hashtags are a common feature on Instagram. They help users to categorize their posts according to a given topic or subject line.
Businesses on Instagram could use several hashtags to achieve a wide organic reach. The trick lies in having a mix of hashtags that are commonly used and those that are less saturated with content.
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Use of stories tools
Instagram now has a feature for getting constant engagement on your content. This feature helps you to interact freely with your audience. You can access this tool by tapping into the newly introduced –Questions and Poll feature. It helps you to introduce an interactive session into your content.
For your business to move to the next level, customer feedback has to be incorporated into the decision- making process. Only then will you have addressed the pertinent issues affecting your customers.
Picture a scenario of a content creator introducing a question and answer session (Q & A) to his audience. Maybe you are trying to explain a service or product spec to them. Q & A session enables you to solve their problems.
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Use of Instagram video feature IGTV
Social video marketing has thrived on a number of video marketing platforms such as vine, YouTube and Periscope. Instagram seems to be adding up to the video marketing networks if IGTV is anything to go by.
IGTV is a video upload future on Instagram that allows users to upload content in form of vertical videos. It still a new feature in use. Social media influencers have used it to edit and repackage content into videos that are more than the standard 60 seconds.
Businesses and brands on Instagram can leverage IGTV to create professional videos that mirror the quality of their brands. IGTV also allows businesses to create live stories that can be archived for a period of 24 hours. With videos, businesses can now acquire free Instagram video views-one time trial.
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Content sharing through User-Generated Content
Instagram has over 1 billion users. The good news for businesses is the fact that this large figure contains millennials, Gen Z’s and other brands in different industries. Just like Twitter ’s retweet option that allows its users to share content, Instagram users can now benefit from such like a feature.
UGC or User-Generated content allows Instagram users to share stories of other individual users on the platform. For instance, if your friend or follower tags your account in his/her story, you are at liberty to add their story to yours too.
This is good news for businesses on Twitter. Simply put, UGC helps market businesses with a large following by giving their followers the option of tagging businesses or brands they love their products. Definitely, this offers a nice bonus to companies using the Instagram platform.
Conclusion
The digital space has never been so ripe for business. 69% of marketers are now excited about Instagram and want to increase their advertising expenditure on the networking platform.
Naturally, this is would have been expected as Instagram daily users have clocked over a billion mark. It’s hot on the heels of its parent company Facebook.
With the different social networking sites at our disposal, businesses could be left spoilt for choice on what platform can best serve their marketing needs.
They need not worry as Instagram now incorporates features from other social networking platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, and Snapchat. Businesses could leverage on the new Instagram features to boost their marketing strategy that will ultimately increase their ROI.
Some features businesses could use on Instagram include hashtags, stories tools, and IGTV.
More on this topic: Ways to Succeed With Instagram as a Business