3 Reasons Why You Need to Use Instagram for Your Business
Instagram has grown from a novelty social networking site into a strategic marketing tool over the years. With over 700 million active users on the platform, it is a powerful marketing tool – if you use it correctly. Recent Instagram updates now include stories and video, on top of the growing number of advertising tools that is available on the platform now.
If the 700 million active users that are available for you to tap is not enough to make you consider Instagram as part of your overall marketing strategy, here are 3 reasons that might help you in making that final decision.
Human Beings are Visual Creatures
65 percent of the population are visual learners. This means that most of us are more attentive to visual aids, but more importantly, it also means that we absorb and comprehend visual information than text. As a highly visual social network, it makes perfect sense by why more people and more people are moving to Instagram as their primary social network of choice.
But it’s not just about grabbing your audience’s attention. Studies also show that people retain only 10 to 20 percent of written or spoken information, but we can remember up to 65 percent of visual information. This means that visual content will also help you create a lasting impression on your users through social media or online marketing.
Visual Content Triggers Emotions
We all know of the popular phrase: A picture is worth a thousand words. People resonate with this phrase because we have all experienced how it feels to be captivated by a single image, photo, or painting. It is the primary explanation why paintings and masterpieces by artists from long ago can still capture our hearts and stir different kinds of emotions at a single glance.
Instagram can be a great help to bring out the right type of emotions in your audience. You can do it through images and videos, or even by capturing a snipped of your day on Instagram stories. Because that’s the beauty of visual materials – you don’t need a lot to get your message across. A single image or 1 minute video is sometimes enough for your audience to understand you and your brand.
People Like Stories
I love a good story. Everyone does. This is one of the reasons why we love reading books or watching movies and tv shows. We like having a story unfold in front of our eyes. We like seeing the entire journey and not the just result.
When it comes to your marketing strategy you want to spread the right message to the right audience. And it’s not just about what you say. Your brand and story should be ingrained in every single thing you do. Your brand is in every detail of your business operations. It’s in your logo, your website, your social media, and even in your employees. Each of these pieces all embody a part of your brand that make up one story.
Instagram will help you tie all these things together in a nice bundle. You can share images that have your logo or are designed in your color scheme. You can share quotes and important numbers that highlight your company’s performance or the need for certain products or services through the right visual aids.
Share your customers’ and employees’ experiences on Instagram and tag them on it. You can share pictures about what you are doing in the workplace on a regular day and the employees whom you spend time with on a daily basis. Or share an inspiring story from one of your customers. This help your story unfold outside your own because now it includes the stories of individuals outside your immediate network.
Instagram is Simple and It Works
I like Instagram because of its simplicity. You share a picture, people comment on it or hit the like button and just like that – you create engagement. You didn’t need to think long and hard of what to say, you simple took a picture of yourself or what you’re doing and it becomes part of a bigger story.
The platform is also very simple, especially because it’s limited to mobile devices. You can see a surplus of stories on your feed and are limited to several options. Continue scrolling through your feed, comment, like, or click. The limited options available give you a better chance of gaining engagement. If they like what they see – they’ll click on it and if they continuously like what they see from you, then, they’ll follow you.
Instagram can do wonders for your brand and your company. Try it out with a few well-planned images and videos, and see how it works for you.
