A total of 700 million people use Instagram and 400 million of them use it every day, which makes it one of the most popular social media platforms today. It’s also a perfect place for businesses to connect with consumers.
Unlike Facebook and Twitter which are inundated with business pages and profiles, fewer businesses and brands have jumped on the Instagram bandwagon. Only 48% of brands actively use Instagram despite the fact that 80% of people using Instagram follow a business on Instagram! In other words, there isn’t quite as much competition, which gives your business an opportunity to stand out.
According to an infographic created by Citipost Mail (shown at the end of this article), the top brands on Instagram see an engagement rate of 4.21% per follower, which is 58 times more engagement per follower than Facebook and 120 times more engagement per follower than Twitter. In fact, of the Instagram users who see an Instagram ad post, 75% of them follow the call to action (e.g., visit the advertiser’s website). Furthermore, 60% of Instagram users have used the platform to learn about a product or service.
Bottom-line, Instagram users want to connect with brands and businesses on Instagram, and you need to be there, too! Keep in mind, Instagram isn’t right for every business though. The demographic profile of the average Instagram user leans to younger audiences (59% of users are between the ages of 18 and 29) and females (68% of Instagram users are female).
To help you get started on Instagram, the infographic provides a number of tips and steps:
- Create a recognizable brand profile image
- Use a profile bio that’s well-written and include a link to your website
- Like other people’s content
- Follow other people back who follow you
- Reply to comments and followers (be sure to thank them)
- Avoid hard sales posts
- Be creative and professional
- Size images to 1024×1024 px
- Post regularly (the top brands on Instagram post an average of nearly 5 times per week)
- Use at least one hashtag in every post (posts with one or more hashtags get 12.6% more engagement than posts without hashtags)
- Invest in sponsored Instagram posts (i.e., Instagram ads), which have an ad recall that is 2.9 times higher than Nielsen’s online average
- Hold contests and giveways and offer other special benefits to your followers (41% of Instagram users already follow or would follow a brand to get perks and enter giveaways, and 70% of Instagram users have entered contests on the site or would like to enter contests)
- Use geo-tags which can increase post engagement by 79%
Instagram marketing works, but it’s far more effective for some brands than it is for others. Consider who your target audience is and determine if it’s the missing piece of your social media marketing puzzle.
Susan Gunelius
Susan Gunelius is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Women on Business. She is a 30-year veteran of the marketing field and has authored a dozen books about marketing, branding, and social media, including the highly popular Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing, 30-Minute Social Media Marketing, Content Marketing for Dummies, Blogging All-in-One for Dummies and Kick-ass Copywriting in 10 Easy Steps. Susan’s marketing-related content can be found on Entrepreneur.com, Forbes.com, MSNBC.com, BusinessWeek.com, and more. Susan is President & CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc., a marketing communications company. She has worked in corporate marketing roles and through client relationships with AT&T, HSBC, Citibank, Intuit, The New York Times, Cox Communications, and many more large and small companies around the world. Susan also speaks about marketing, branding and social media at events around the world and is frequently interviewed by television, online, radio, and print media organizations about these topics. She holds an MBA in Management and Strategy and a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing and is a Certified Professional Career Coach (CPCC).
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