Why your brand needs to be on Instagram

In the last five years, Instagram has morphed from a millennial hub to one of the most used and most frequented social media platforms in the world with over 1 billion users.

You may be thinking why would my business benefit from being on a photography lead app, created for socialising? Although this was the original roots of Instagram, it has grown and transformed into a huge and fundamental marketing tool for both B2B and B2C functions. It is much more than just socialising, here’s why.

Engagement

Instagram is a visually led tool that works in your favour. Its layout is simple and isn’t cluttered like Facebook and Twitter with copious amounts of wording, its low word-count aesthetic is visually appealing and in turn, keeps the focal point to the picture and drives engagement.

However, to harness maximum engagement, your picture must stand out in a busy newsfeed. Using quality photography that has a clear focus will be sure to gain attention. This doesn’t mean you need to have professional photography to get traction, but a clear, in-focus photo that showcases a product, team member or service will be sure to get noticed.

Landing Page

Instagram’s visually-lead landing page immediately gives viewers and potential customers the feel and personality of your business.

Without even having to read a single word, viewers can make snap judgements on whether they are interested in your product or service based on the colour scheme, layout and overall impression of your Instagram homepage.

The homepage should act as an eye-piece into your business and reflect your ideals and values alongside the product you offer in a way that flows smoothly.

You can achieve this by using a mix of branding and photography, for example, in a grid that follows a continuous pattern or perhaps using consistent photographic direction and style.

Your main aim is to try and reduce the bounce rate of your landing page. By creating something that is attractive to potential customers and makes them stick around, they could eventually be lead through to your website.

Ad Platform

Instagram uses one of the most complex and detailed targeting platforms in marketing. With the ability to preset who you would like to see your ad’s down to the age, gender, social habits and location it is now easier than ever before to reach your ideal customers.

Your Instagram ad can be 40x more effective than traditional marketing as there is now a powerful targeting process that can lead customers to checkout or contact information within a matter of clicks.

There is also the possibility to retarget people who have visited your website and can turn them from a cold lead into a warm one by capturing product interest when is it fresh.

Brand Loyalty

Once a customer has purchased a product or service from you and have followed you on Instagram, it increases the possibility of follow up purchases.

This is where customer engagement is key. Those who follow you can potentially be notified of every new product release or announcement you make. They then engage with this creating another potential lead.

This not only drives engagement and interaction for your posts but reduces the barrier between buyer and seller, meaning the buyer has now begun to build a relationship with your brand.