Instagram has been taking the internet marketing world by storm recently. What started out as a fairly simple photo manipulation and sharing tool has grown into a full blown social media marketing phenomenon. Many ecommerce sites are supported by their Instagram followers and traffic alone.
So what has made Instagram such a powerful marketing tool in such a short space of time. The simple answer is the size of its user base. The app started out as a simple photo sharing tool. You take a photo on your smartphone, apply one of a range of filters that give it that unique and trendy "Instagram look" and upload it to your profile. From these simple origins Instagram took off, and now boasts nearly 500 million users.
The number one rule of social networks today is that more users means more profit. The acquisition of Instagram by Facebook, while initially of some concern to some users, has if anything accelerated its growth. If you can create a profile for your online business and grab the attention of just a tiny fraction of Instagram users with your photos, then that interest can quickly snowball simply via network effects into following that is massive compared to the size of the user base of a typical ecommerce site.
Clearly you need a source of photos and videos to post, so in order to tap into Instagram marketing you need a product which is at least partially targeted at the predominantly younger generation which make up the majority of the Instagram user base. But any business in the world of fashion, media, IT, gadgets, telecoms, travel, food, entertainment etc. etc. can do well from an active Instagram profile.
As with all social media marketing the hardest part is getting started, and the second hardest part is keeping going. You need to make a regular and permanent commitment to post to your Instagram feed. The more often you can post, and the more original, quirky and interesting you can make your posts the better.
Don't let anyone ever tell you social media marketing is easy, it most certainly isn't. But with the right commitment and attitude it can be incredibly successful. You have an opportunity to present your own brand directly, and personally to millions of customers. Successful marketing in this way requires a change in mind set, to a much more informal and personalised style of communication.
If you think that perhaps Instagram, or other forms of social media marketing could help your business, but you'd like some help getting started, then please give us a call.
