Is Instagram Right for Your Business?

Instagram, the Internet-based free platform for photo sharing, is quickly rising in the social media ranks. With a fast-growing base of over 150 million active users, Instagram presents the ideal opportunity for highly creative marketing campaigns.

The benefits of Instagram marketing
Instagram’s key unique selling point lies in its simplicity: it features nothing but photos. Its photo editing features also allow you to apply various filters that can create a distinctly professional look and feel for any amateur photo.

Instagram can be used from a marketing perspective to:

• Make your brand more personable and engaging through behind-the-scenes photos, team selfies and by sharing images of inspirational or funny quotes in line with your brand identity.
• Promote your products and services directly and organically to your followers for free – something which is fast becoming a thing of the past on sites like Facebook.
• Develop creative promotional strategies, like sharing images with exclusive promotional coupon codes and customised hashtags, or hosting photo and caption contests.
• Enhance networking opportunities with your target demographic and keep your brand top-
  of-mind for potential and existing customers.
• Diversify and solidify your online presence beyond the ‘traditional’ social networks Twitter and Facebook.

Is it right for you?
There’s no denying the advantages of Instagram as an opportunity for inventive, engaging marketing campaigns, but is it the appropriate medium for your business? Figuring out whether or not your company could benefit from investing its time in Instagram largely comes down to common sense.

If you’re an investment brokerage or a law firm, for example, then Instagram would not be right for you and it certainly wouldn’t do much to effectively target your desired market. Alternatively, retailers, photographers, artists, and creative businesses like design or architectural companies, could reap significant benefits from having an Instagram account to showcase their products, skills and talent.

Before starting an Instagram account, businesses should also ask themselves whether this marketing approach would be in keeping with their brand identity and marketing goals. Would your target demographic use Instagram? Would purely visual marketing be relevant to your products or services?
These are important questions to ask, because if you’re going to start an Instagram profile for your business, it needs to be done well – haphazard social media marketing is guaranteed to backfire by making your brand appear less credible to your followers.

An innovative approach
Although having a ‘full-time’ Instagram account may not be necessary for some businesses, using Instagram to promote corporate events or activities could prove hugely beneficial. For example, AmazeWall’s live interactive Instagram feed can be featured on screens at your company events, generating awareness of your business amongst Instagram users without the need for a corporate account.

As with all online marketing, there are countless opportunities and approaches available to businesses of all sizes. To find out more on how Point and Stare can help you use Instagram to achieve your marketing objectives, contact us today.