9 REASONS TO USE INSTAGRAM FOR YOUR BUSINESS

9 Reasons to Use Instagram for Your Business

Once just a simple photo-sharing app, Instagram has grown since its inception in 2010 to become a social media powerhouse with a large user base and a variety of advertising opportunities. Used well, Instagram is a tool that can help your business grow leaps and bounds, connect with your customers, and increase revenues. Here are nine reasons your business should prioritize having an Instagram presence.

1. Instagram has over 1 billion active users.

Instagram is one of the largest social media platforms on the planet, with over 1 billion active accounts. Of those users, 500 million look at the app every day. With that kind of reach, there’s truly no limit to the audience your company can attract, including all ages, locations, ethnicities, interests, and more.

2. Instagram lets you share Stories.

Instagram’s Stories feature lets businesses connect with their audience and customers on a more personal level than would be possible with feed posts alone. You can use this feature to share a behind-the-scenes look at a photoshoot, a before and after of a job well done, a day in the life of an employee at your company, or even a poll that lets your customers vote on their favorite color combinations for a new product. These actions are great for building brand awareness and establishing a feeling of familiarity and loyalty between you and your customers.

3. Instagram lets you advertise.

Though Instagram started as just a way to share photos, it’s now one of the most common platforms for social media advertising. You can use an Instagram ads account to promote your account, posts, or products to a wide audience and offers impressive tracking and analytics as well as the option to sync with Facebook. The platform makes it simple for first-timers to launch a campaign but also offers advanced metrics for large-scale marketing operations.

4. Instagram helps small businesses succeed..

In the past, large companies with ample advertising budgets have dominated advertising and the online space, sometimes even edging out small businesses in the process. The game has changed, and now even one-person operations can use Instagram to reach viewers, build an audience, and attract customers. Instagram lets the quality of your content, products, or services speak for itself, making it a great option for small businesses looking to grow their revenues.

5. Instagram can be its own revenue stream.

In the past few years, Instagram has introduced new features that make it an e-commerce platform in and of itself. Business accounts can create an online shop located on their profile and even implement shoppable posts where the products are tagged and linked in regular feed posts. A Business Insider study found that 72% of Instagram users have purchased at least one item on Instagram.

6. Partner with influencers.

The word “influencer” refers to someone who leverages a large and dedicated social media following to partner with brands and promote their products. This is a new form of advertising that lets businesses reach potential customers through personalities they already follow and trust. Instagram is the main venue for working with influencers.

7. Expand your reach.

Instagram lets you exponentially expand the reach of your posts through hashtags. As one of the only social media sites where hashtags are still heavily utilized, business owners can use these to get their content in front of new eyes (and even go viral!). Branded hashtags present an additional opportunity to collect content relevant to your business and encourage audience engagement.

8. Meet customer expectations.

These days, everyone is on Instagram. Even if you don’t advertise, customers expect you to be present on the platform and will search for you by name or service. If you don’t have an account, you’re losing out on a built-in audience and sales funnel. You could even be inadvertently leading potential customers to competitors’ accounts in the process. Even listing just basic contact information and a website on your profile can increase traffic.

9. Engage with customers.

On Instagram, customers can tag your business in stories or posts, and you can comment, share, or reply back. You can use your business account to respond to direct messages, follow some top customers, and form more personal relationships with the people who are excited about your product or service.

Get Your Business on Instagram with Skoshe’s Help

For 20 years, Skoshe has worked with small businesses to create and implement comprehensive online marketing plans to attract customers and increase revenue. Contact us today if you’re interested in seeing what our marketing specialists can do for your business.