Showing posts with label instagram. Show all posts
Showing posts with label instagram. Show all posts

Wednesday 17 April 2013

Instagram Is Perfect For Brands . . . Get The Picture?

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and as if to prove the point, the Facebook-owned mobile photo sharing app that is Instagram, announced at the end of February (2013) that their active users have topped the 100 million mark.

Now under any circumstances this would be considered something of a major achievement, but the fact is, Instagram only announced in January that users had topped the 90m mark. That’s like – an extra 10m users in one month – wow, that’s not just a big deal, that’s an explosion!



So what does all this mean for you as a business owner?

“Uh-oh, not another blooming social media site I need to keep tabs on . . .”

Hmm. Something like that.

But much, much more than that, Instagram is a tremendous opportunity for savvy brand owners to explode their marketing output to a visually tuned-in audience.

As a platform for businesses, Instagram is a little different from Facebook and Twitter in that it doesn’t currently offer business-specific profiles or paid advertising options. That’s what makes it such a level playing field in terms of business users – it’s an invitation to get creative with your marketing. And this is something your local or online marketing consultants can help with.

While other social media platforms may be scrambling to deliver additional functionality to their users, its inherent simplicity is what’s makes Instagram’s premise ‘social networking genius in action.’

Indeed, Instagram may be first and foremost a social network, but it is also a photo editing tool too. Which means almost anyone can use Instagram’s technology to create stunning images which you can then share on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Foursquare, Flickr and in your emails too.

If you don’t consider yourself much of a copywriter, then Instagram is definitely one marketing tool that will demand a closer look. And even if commercial writing is your bag, I’m sure you will still appreciate the impact stunning image effects can give to your branding.

3 Tips for marketing success with Instagram:

  • Make sure the focus of your images is on telling a story, rather than delivering a series of product placement ads. Your story can be emotional, motivational, aspirational, or downright hilarious – but don’t, whatever you do, let it scream: “buy me now!”

  • Don’t post at less than three-hourly intervals else you run the risk of clogging up your users’ feed. It’s worth spending time getting really creative with your content so that your followers look forward to your next offering, rather than having people tutting: “not them again!”

  • Use a tool such as Statigram to help you use, measure and promote your Instagram activity. You can also use it to create a brilliant collage-type cover for your Facebook page.

So if you are in business – and particularly if you sell products or services relating to the design, fashion, or creative industries – then you’ll hardly need any further convincing that Instagram is for you. For assistance with creating some dynamic Instagram marketing, you need look no further than your helpful marketing consultant.

Bet I can guess where you’re headed to next . . .