In this new article, we are talking about the benefits of using Instagram marketing and explaining why you should and how you can tap into Instagram.
Let’s get started
7 Game-Changing Benefits of Using Instagram Marketing
Instagram continues to grow in popularity since Facebook bought it for $1 billion in 2012.
Currently, marketers are taking advantage of Instagram’s huge popularity and fan base to connect with buyers and other marketers and grow their businesses.
The question is: Are you on Instagram?
There are more than 25 million brands on Instagram and more than 200 million Instagram users visit at least one business profile every day.
Are you being found on Instagram?
Well, perhaps you aren’t yet on the platform because you are unsure of its benefits so, in this article, we are going to share with you the 7 amazing benefits of using Instagram marketing.
We hope after reading the benefits of Instagram marketing, you will be convinced to jump into the bandwagon.
Instagram Statistics You Need to Know
Before we get into the meat of this article, here are a few Instagram statistics we thought you should know.
- Instagram boasts more than 1 billion monthly active users
- More than 25 million brands have active Instagram accounts and over 80% of Instagrammers follow at least one brand.
- 9 out of 10 popular brands are on Instagram
- 90% of the top 100 brands in the world are on Instagram.
- More than 200 million users visit at least one business account on Instagram daily.
- More than 500 million Stories are created on Instagram every day.
- 63% of Instagram users access the platform at least once every day and 42% check their Instagram account almost the whole day every day.
- Instagram has a potential advertising reach of over 3 million people.
- 62% of people say they get interested in a brand after seeing it in Instagram Stories. New to Instagram Stories? Here are 20 ideas to help you get started.
From the figures, you can tell that Instagram doesn’t show any signs of declining in popularity.
It’s getting bigger and popular every day. And if you aren’t using Instagram marketing, then you are giving your competitors the edge.
But…
Join the conversation - We are talking about Instagram and the benefits of using Instagram for marketing!Click To TweetWhat is Instagram marketing?
Instagram marketing is the practice by which brands use Instagram to connect with their target customers and promote their products.
Instagram is a global platform that allows brands to humanize their content and presence, showcase products, recruit new talent and inspire their growing audience all via their marketing efforts.
How much does Instagram marketing cost?
An Instagram campaign can cost you around 20 cents and $2 per click.
You can also use the cost per mile (CPM) method to run ads which can cost you around 5 dollars per 1,000 visitors.
Why is Instagram important for marketing?
Instagram helps brands to connect with customers and promote their products, particularly via Instagram stories and reels.
These features are a way to get up close and personal with your target audience.
With the ability to mention accounts, add stickers and shoppable tags Instagram has become a great marketing tool to promote products and to interact one-on-one with your audience.
Not convinced why you should use Instagram marketing for your business?
Here are the 7 reasons you should start using Instagram marketing now.
1. People Love Stories and Instagram Allows You to Tell Them
When promoting your brand, the first and most important thing is to connect with your target customers emotionally.
Given that people love stories and Instagram allows you to tell your audience interesting stories about your brand, you can rest assured to win their hearts here.
Tips on how to use Instagram Stories to build your audience
Observe the required video length
Instagram allows users to post videos up to 15 seconds long in their Instagram Stories.
To use Stories like a pro to build your audience, you should shoot portrait, short videos.
Remember that users are viewing Instagram Stories on mobile devices.
Use natural lighting
Lighting is what makes successful photography and it can make or break your Instagram Stories.
You don’t have to invest In costly professional lights though.
Just use natural lighting.
Shoot videos immediately after sunrise or one hour before sunset, photographers call it the golden hour.
Use the gadget you have
When it comes to shooting professional videos, you may be tempted to think that you need a fancy camera but that’s not the case.
You can still use your smartphone and shoot great videos.
If you use your smartphone, make sure to use your native camera.
Avoid taking videos directly on Instagram since they produce lower resolutions and are not easy to edit in the app.
2. Instagram is a Video, Photo-centric Platform
Instagram was created as a photo-sharing app and this is what sets the platform apart from other social networks.
The good thing about Instagram is that it allows you to share stunning photos and videos of your brand accompanied by text.
You must be aware that visual content is the most engaging on the internet currently producing 650% more engagement than text-based content.
It’s said that images are easy to remember than text.
Instagram is also a powerful social network to connect with your audience and keep them around for longer.
You can use Instagram to experiment with what your audience likes then implement the same on your other channels such as blogs and email newsletters.
3. Reach a Huge Potential Audience
Numbers don’t lie.
Instagram has over 1 billion monthly active users currently (Stats of 2020).
Using Instagram marketing allows brands to reach a huge potential audience.
But look, you must know how to make viral posts on this platform and one way to getting your content to reach your target audience is to use #hashtags appropriately.
Identify hashtags your target audience is searching for and accompany them with your posts.
Instagram also allows users to create targeted ads to reach even a huge potential audience if you have the time and budget, take advantage of this opportunity.
Don’t overuse or use banned hashtags though as doing so can hurt your marketing effort.
Also, don’t use irrelevant hashtags in your posts.
This annoys users who follow those hashtags and they can tell Instagram to hide the hashtags.
In short, give your audience what they want.
How to identify the best Instagram hashtags that generate higher engagement
Businesses in different niches have different relevant hashtags.
For instance, if you are a social media manager for a travel company, you can use hashtags like #whatsinmybag, #welltravelled, etc.
The same applies if you are in another business space.
However, if you want to spark engagement, you want to be more specific with your hashtags as possible.
But here is the challenge, finding hashtags your followers are already following.
Well, don’t sweat; follow these tips to identify hashtags that increase engagement.
Join the conversation - How to identify the best Instagram hashtags that generate higher engagement? #InstagramGuide #InstagramMarketing #InstagramHashTagsClick To Tweet
Spy on your competitor’s hashtags
No business exists in this world exist without a competitor and chances are that your competitors are using certain hashtags that are generating engagement.
Spying on your competitors’ hashtags may help you discover hashtags you aren’t aware of or even ditch those that aren’t bringing any value to your brand.
Check hashtags influential people are using
Influential people in your industry are using certain Instagram hashtags and you can take advantage of them.
Learn from them and increase your engagement rate.
You can use social media listening tools to discover what people are saying about your brand as well.
Take advantage of Instagram’s search function
Instagram’s search bar is a great feature to help you find the best hashtags for your brand.
Head over to your brand’s Instagram search bar and type in keywords related to your brand, then click on the Tags tab.
Instagram will display tons of hashtags related to the keyword and the posts that mention that keyword.
If you find that many people are using that particular keyword, it means there are plenty of posts.
Find those that are relevant to your brand and niche.
Use related hashtags
You will always see a list of related hashtags on any hashtag page at the right above the “Top” and “Recent” tabs.
Find relevant hashtags that are niche-specific.
Check on your most successful posts
Chances are that you already have hashtags that are doing well.
You can look into those posts with hashtags that are performing better than see whether you can see a trend with common hashtags you can incorporate in your new posts.
4. Instagram Allows You to Engage With Your Community
Of all the popular social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, etc.), Instagram receives the highest engagement.
Instagram has a higher brand engagement rate since users visit the platform to learn more about brands than on other networks.
If you want to spark engagement on Instagram, follow users who mention your products or talk about your brand then like and live comments on what they post.
In fact, you can create your own hashtags and inspire your followers to join the conversation.
Note that to engage your followers, you don’t just post photos and videos of your products, you need to connect with them, most Instagrammers make a mistake to automate engagement but concentrate on cultivating real engagement which is what attracts real customers and drives sales.
To really dig down on what is happening on your account we recommend using a 3rd party app or site to help you understand the engagement of your page to find out what is working and what is not working.
SocialFox is a great tool that will help you get a better understanding of your growing Instagram account.
5. Instagram is a Great Platform for Obtaining Feedback and Insights
Marketers are always monitoring conversations that touch their brands and products on social media to get feedback and insights.
They monitor Facebook and Twitter mentions with a keen interest to know what their followers are saying about their products or services.
But do you know that people are also talking about your brand on Instagram?
The same way people mention your brand on other social media networks is the same way they will do on Instagram even if you aren’t active or you don’t have an account there.
They are sharing photos of your products and having a conversation about your brand without your knowledge.
You don’t want to miss these conversations since they provide you with the feedback and insights you need to run your business the right way.
Instagram allows you to understand how customers see and talk about you out there.
Take advantage of the powerful tools out there to discover what people are saying about your brand.
6. Instagram Helps You Spy on Your Business Rivalries
Instagram is not only a powerful marketing platform but also a good place to monitor your competitor’s activities.
Your competitors are already using Instagram marketing to grow their brands why not keep an eye on how they are doing it so you can do it better and beat them?
There are many things you can learn about your competitors on Instagram.
For instance, you can learn the type of content they share, the time they post, the frequency of sharing, whether they run Instagram contests or no and many other things.
Equipped with all this knowledge can help you stay on the edge of your competitor and claim your space in the business world.
7. More than 1/3 of Instagram Users Have Purchased a Product on Instagram
One thing that keeps marketers and brand owners awake is sales.
How many sales can we close before the end of the day?
How many customers can we win before we close the business?
What can we do to close more sales this year?
These and many other questions ring in the ears of marketers and brand owners every day every time.
And chances are that you are reading this blog because, at the end of the day, you want to know how you can increase sales.
More than a third of Instagram users have bought a product via the platform which means Instagrammers are more likely to do so than those who aren’t on the platform.
If there are more than 1 billion monthly active Instagram users currently, it means at least 333,333,333 Instagram users have bought a product online through Instagram.
That means using Instagram marketing can bring in more benefits than you can imagine.
And who knows, these people who have purchased a product online could be your next customers.
The good news is that 75% of Instagram users take the next step after reading an advertising post.
That means they either shop or contact brands and even if they don’t purchase a product on the first click, it’s easier to retarget them with ads in the future until they make a purchase.
Bonus: Instagram Marketing Enables You to Track Sales and Leads
A marketing strategy is successful if you can see a clear ROI. Instagram allows you through its Ads to track sales and leads given that it utilizes the same Ads Manager platform similar to Facebook.
This means that you can track clicks, leads, conversations, etc.
This allows you to see whether you are achieving your goals and at what costs.
What’s more, you can see where the results originate from and this equips you with knowledge about where to put your money.
Overall, Instagram marketing is beneficial because it allows brands to track metrics.
Benefits of Using Instagram Marketing – Bottom Line
There you have it.
7 game-changing benefits of using Instagram marketing.
Undeniably, building a successful Instagram profile can take time and a lot of hard work but the benefits are worth it.
We hope this article answers your question on why Instagram marketing is important for a business.
That’s all for now.
So are you taking advantage of all that Instagram has to offer?
Let us know in the comments section below.
Regards
Alice
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- 7 Game-Changing Benefits of Using Instagram Marketing - January 23, 2020
AstroTalk
Instagram Marketing is one of the most beneficial ways to generate business now-a-days. There are numerous users on instagram and you can use it for your customer acquisition.
cheryl manve
Hello Alice,
Instagram marketing helps us in connecting with our targeted people in a more effective way. And also we can promote our brand very well because there is a huge potential to reach active users. And yes video ads get more engagement compared to image ads. I totally agree with you. Just by using the related hashtags we can share valuable information. Expecting more articles like this from you Alice!
Lesly Federici
Hi Dexter and Alice
Interesting post. I suppose you can pick up tidbits of information just by looking at an instagram account, yes? Pictures tell a lot. But I don’t think you have to be “High stylish and glossy” – you can be yourself. Some things I have not considered, so thank you for this informative post
Lesly Federici recently posted…Engage or Die Said A Traffic Muse
Kathryn Maclean
Great article on a subject I need to learn more about.
I will put this on a Facebook page of mine for others and myself to reference.
Thanks for the info.
Kathryn Maclean recently posted…Branding Your Business Online
Google SMS
Great Post! I really like your blog, it inspires me a lot. Good Job and thanks for sharing.
Nicola
This is such a useful blog post – I have a product I need to market and I wasn’t sure how to make the most of Instagram. Now I know what I need to do!
Nicola recently posted…Build an Emergency Fund of £1,000 in Just Six Months
Bitcoin PTC Sites
Hi, Alice,
how can we easily redirect people to our sites? because we can not share links on instagram, just we can add the website’s URL in our profile.
is there any way to redirect a targeted buyer to a specific link.?
Martin
Hi Alice,
Great post there. It is really very much informative and I learnt some new way of marketing techniques through the post.
I really never thought of marketing on Instagram since I used to do that on like linkedin , pinterest and other sites.
Thanks for sharing.
Daniel Sperling
Wow, I don’t use Instagram myself. I might me stupid, but I always thought Instagram was mostly used by kids and teenagers. I definitely got that all wrong. I could try is out to promote my brand.
Thanks for making this social media clearier to me.
Renan
Great tips for Instagram. It really came to revolutionize marketing and it also helps us a lot. What would be the best way to direct potential customers to my website? Thank you!
Rana Rajput Status
It Was Great. I Am Very Satisfied With Your View And The Ideas And The Ideas That You Shared With Us.
Digital roy Academy
Impressed with your blog 🙂 really its a good tips and advice about marketing well-beings. Waiting for some more interesting contents like these. stay continued 🙂
gaylesbain
Great article on a subject I need to learn more about.
I will put this on a Facebook page of mine for others and myself to reference.
Thanks for the info.