As visual content becomes more popular on Social Media, it becomes increasingly important for brands to create and take advantage. This move to visual social media means that more companies are starting to communicate visually and more directly with their customers.
One of the most popular visual platforms that allows you to do this is Instagram. Instagram has over 150 million users and is one of the most-used platforms that allows you to share photos, as well as short videos, with your followers.
What’s even better? Now, Instagram has created profiles specifically for businesses. Companies that have Facebook business pages can easily set up a business profile on Instagram because the specific criteria for each are the same. Having a business profile is great because it offers extra buttons, which allow users to easily connect with and contact the business, all from the profile page.
When the ‘Contact’ button at the top is tapped, a menu pulls up the options to get directions to your business, call, or send an email. Pressing the ‘Get Directions’ button pulls your business location up on a map, so the client can easily navigate to your business.
Categories have also been added to the business profiles, which offers a quick way to inform users of your industry.
All three of these features display your business in a professional way that confirms that it is a valid business, provides an efficient way for users to check out what you guys are doing and, most important, to contact you at the click of a button!
While these are great reasons for why your business needs to utilize this platform, below we’ll talk more in depth about more benefits and what we love about Instagram for business.
Increase engagement and connect with customers
Having an active Instagram account with interesting content can earn you crazy levels of engagement with your audience. Social media sites like Facebook and Twitter may come to mind when it comes to connecting and engaging with customers online, but Instagram actually has one of the most active and engaged user bases. In the study from Forrester Research found that Instagram produces 120 times more engagement per follower than Twitter. With such high engagement, Instagram is the perfect platform to connect with prospects, listen to their feedback, and build relationships through the discussions you’re able to start. You can even use Instagram ads to connect with users across multiple channels and increase engagement.
Fuel your other marketing channels
One of the great things about the photos you post on Instagram is that it can easily be shared across all of your different marketing channels. Within your Instagram Settings, you can enable social sharing to Facebook, Twitter and more, so that your photos will share automatically when you post them to Instagram.
Generate sales
Visual platforms like Instagram for business are doing more than just generating engagement, they are also driving sales. Creating and posting professional-looking images to promote your products and highlight your services has never been easier or more affordable. Be careful not to fill your feed with product photos with captions asking people to “buy now” or “shop online.” Instead, look for creative ways to display your products and services and let the images speak for themselves!
Display Instagram photos on your website
A great reason to use Instagram photos on your website is because they add variety, with dynamic content that’s constantly changing. Also, Instagram photos are much more authentic than generic photos because they show a real peek into the life of the brand or culture of the company. The best way you can display Instagram photos on your site is in a dedicated gallery either on the homepage, or on a product page.
Analytics
Instagram for business offers analytics similar to Facebook insights. The analytics report important information about post engagement and follower demographics so companies can develop more appropriate posts for their audiences. Business profiles also include follower demographic analytics, which show the location, gender and age of their followers. This can be very helpful – for example, the location information will provide a users’ time zone, so that your marketing or social media coordinator can post during peak times based on where a majority of your audience lives.
Another valuable insight is the impressions per post. Businesses can now see which posts were the most popular and engaging over a preferred period such as a week or 30 days. You can also click on individual posts to see the specific impression numbers. This information is an important factor when creating new content, as it helps to show specific trends and preferences with your audience. These metrics are an awesome guide for your overall content strategy and help your business reach its social media goals.
Are there other benefits your company has seen while using Instagram for business? Let us know your favorite in the comments section below!
