Instagram is one of the most popular social networks in the world. In April 2017, Instagram announced they had 700 million monthly active users, which means there are more potential customers now on Instagram than on any other network besides Facebook. As such, Instagram offers a unique opportunity for enterprises to reach their target market easily.
If you need more convincing, check out the top-6 reasons why you should start doing business on Instagram right now!
1. Dominate your niche
Getting noticed on Facebook can be challenging for small businesses because of severe competition in the site search function. However, the fact that only 9% of U.S. small businesses are using Instagram means there is a lot of market left. Businesses taking advantage now can establish their audience before the competition becomes too fierce on Instagram.
2. Augment your brand with visual content
Visual content on Instagram lets you decide how you want to showcase your brand image. A huge advantage to sharing eye-catching images on Instagram is the wide range of filters to convey your emotions beyond the original image and message. For example, if your business has a vintage focus, you can use certain filters to add antique effects to highlight your intent. Photos also reveal a whole new perspective of your business. Whether they’re behind-the-scenes images or before-and-after images, sharing these images can really enhance your brand image.
In addition to this, Instagram enables you to upload photos and videos, which can be easily shared to other social media sites (as well as being embedded into your website or blog). That’s convenient!
3. Easy to attract many followers
First, people will follow you whenever your business is doing something that can provide a benefit to them by posting images like infographics, inspiring quotes, graphic coupons, behind-the-scenes images, videos with short tutorials, or behind-the-scenes clips can elicit views and engagement.
Second, you can use trendy hashtags to attract like-minded people to follow your Instagram account.
4. Your posts have a good chance of getting seen by your followers
Unlike Facebook, which only shows your posts to a small percentage of your audience, Instagram posts can show up in the feed of every single follower. This assures you that your content (especially your branding content) will actually get seen. Images are shown in chronological order, so as long as you’re posting regularly, your posts will have a higher chance of getting seen by your followers.
5. Instagram has some of the highest conversion rates among popular social networking sites
While direct sales usually aren’t the primary benefit of using social media, there is no doubt that having high conversion rates is an unexpected bonus. According to Shopify, the rate at which Instagram visitors go on to make a purchase when visiting a site is 1.08%; this means that for every 100 visitors who find your site through Instagram, 1 will make a purchase.
Instagram is also a very interactive site, which allows you to connect directly with your audience. Asking questions and getting feedback is really easy to manage on Instagram and can really help you target your posts.
6. Drive traffic and grow your business
On Instagram, you cannot share active hyperlinks in your comments and captions, but instead in your bio. Make sure you use this wisely! Then, in your comments, tell people to click on the link in your bio in order to direct them to the page you have linked there.