In the era of selfies, Instagram is one social media platform which you don’t want to miss out on. If you are not into that sort of thing, you should still think twice before dismissing it, because it has plenty to offer, whether you are just using it to share fun content with your friends or to promote your brand or business.
For instance, back in 2017, Instagram’s ad revenue was projected to reach almost $4 billion. The same number is expected toreach over $10 billion in 2019.
Speaking of numbers, 1 billion people use Instagram every month, and in that aspect, only Facebook and YouTube are ahead of it. And on top that, Instagram users are very active, with over 500 million of them using the platform daily. That is a huge market, and because 88% of users are outside the US, you can pretty much reach anyone on the planet.
Since Instagram is useful for both business and pleasure, let’s take a quick look at why you need it, even if you think otherwise, and as well as what kind of ads your audience wants to see, if you are using it for business.
1. It’s All about the Visuals
While you can upload photos on Facebook or Flickr, Instagram is a much better option, not just because it gathers other people which are interested in eye-catching visuals and photos, but also because it’s so easy to use. Snapping a photo only takes a second, and then all you have to do is choose a filter you like and upload the photo you have just taken.
Whether you want to add a caption or not is up to you. According to Samuel Garland, who works as a marketer forAssignment Holic Service, Instagram has enabled them to reach nearly a third of their audience, which is made up of college students.
2. It’s Both Fun and Forgiving
Apart from the user-friendly process of adding filters and uploading your photos, what makes Instagram a hell of a lot of fun are its photo challenges. There are always more than few which you can take part in. Apart from entertaining yourself and your followers, getting on top of trends and using the right hashtags can help you reach an entirely new audience.
According toPapersowl review experts, another major reason why Instagram is popular is because it is forgiving, allowing them easy take their photos to a new level without much effort, and because it allows them to present themselves in a more favorable light.
3. It’s Great for Storytelling
Everyone loves a good story involving compelling characters, plot twists, and happy endings, and if you add a visual component to all of that, as Instagram does, you have yourself one of the best platforms for engaging any kind of audience.
When it comes to using Instagram for business, storytelling is one the least salesy ways to promote your brand or product and establish an emotional connection with your audience.
4. It’s Great for Marketing
We have already mentioned that Instagram is great for marketing, because its ads are much less intrusive when compared to those of other social media platforms. In case you want use Instagram for business, you should be focusing on the following types of advertisement:
Product teasers - advertising your products on Instagram, without annoying your audience, is almost a given, because they don’t have to look at your promotional posts if they don’t want to. But, if they do decide to check them out, product teasers will enable you to showcase your products in a visually pleasing and subtle way. And if you decide to offer a discount, you will definitely have their attention.
Sponsored posts - the great thing about ads on Instagram is that you get to decide how much you will spend on them. On of that, you can have the option of showing a single sponsored ad or multiple ones, thanks to the carousel feature. And you don’t even have to spend a lot of money on creating those ads, since you can use your existing posts for that very purpose.
Stories - Although they are only accessible for 24 hours, Instagram stories can be used as a slide show, which allows you to promote your products and tell you brand’s story in a relatively short and concentrated manner, while holding on to your audience’s attention. Plus, stories are very visible, since they are displayed a at the top of the timeline.
Conclusion
As you can see, Instagram is much more than a way for us to entertain ourselves and be social online. It can also serve as a platform where we can have our voice heard, as well as to reach a new audience, drive traffic, run marketing campaigns, and grow our business.
Author’s bio:
Justin is a blogger from Leicester, England, UK. When not teaching his little students and rooting for Leicester FC, he loves to share his thoughts and opinions about education, writing for college paper writing, essay writing service and blogging with other people on different blogs and forums. Follow Justin on Facebook and Twitter.
