All social media network’s start with humble beginnings and Instagram is no exception. A simple photo app with some great filters to enhance your images, impress your social circle and boost your Instagram marketing. The company focused on the demand for visual engagement on social media and create a whole network based on images. There was an immediate appeal from photographers with prior knowledge of adding filters and it quickly inspired a young generation to embrace the technology too.
Today Instagram has grown to 300m+ active daily users and was acquired by Facebook in 2012. A clever move from Facebook to snap up the competition and make it their own to ensure they retain market share. As with most popular social networks, there are marketing opportunities and Instagram marketing has evolved significantly.
Instagram Stories
This is the latest development from Instagram and was born out of inspiration from Snapchat, another popular social networking app. Snapchat users are familiar with this concept. They add their photos and short videos to their ‘story’ feed throughout the day and this is available for 24 hours for their followers to view It makes sense for Instagram to copy this style and you can even add text and further filters to your photos.
From a marketing perspective, business users can document their story in an engaging way. For example, a company selling a food product may attend a food and drink event with lots of customers trying their product and providing instant feedback. They can take photos and videos throughout the day, using the event’s hashtag in their posts and add to their story. Their followers can see the usual feed but the most engaging content is highlighted above for the stories so they will appear here and attract more attention to themselves. Those featured in the photos/videos are also likely to ‘heart’ or interact with the posts.
Business Profile
Instagram is also rolling out a new Business profile, which enables you to link to your Facebook page and import a few key details. For example, if you have a restaurant then you can pull through the address details and contact number. This will place a button on your profile – ‘Contact’. This means that customers can quickly get directions or call you to book.
To switch to a business profile, you need to click on ‘Settings’ and then ‘Switch to business profile’ but if it’s not there yet, don’t worry. Instagram is slowly rolling out the feature and so it will only be available to small number right now. Once you can make the switch, it also brings in an insights feature, which is useful for measuring your analytics and impact of Instagram marketing.
New logo
I saw a new shop opening the other day, which had new signage on the front, including their social media icons. However, they still had the old logo for Instagram. People still recognise this but it’s worth noting that it changed recently and it’s probably best to update your website and other media that contains the old logo.
Be as creative as you can be with Instagram and you’ll boost your brand awareness to a new level.
Jon Exton