It’s tough to keep up with the ever changing landscape social media marketing trends. Social media trends seem to change on a whim, but sometimes you can miss out if you are not paying attention.
One of the newest social media sites that has taken off in the past couple years is Instagram. Instagram is sort of a cross between Pinterest and Twitter. It is primarily an image- and video-driven site, although there is plenty of room for text.
The app has an aggressive hashtag search mechanism, and is designed primarily for mobile users. Instagram is working hard to maintain an almost exclusively mobile site, barring people from adding posts from their computers.
As small business marketing ideas go, this site is ideal for your B2C business. The concept behind the app is off-the-cuff image sharing. However, businesses can post vignettes of your products or services or even live-action “products-in-use” videos. There are many uses if you deal directly with the end customer.
Suggestions for Using Instagram
Here are some ways that you can use Instagram to promote your company, and gain followers as you go.
- Post images of your staff in action
- Show images of your process, how you get to the finished product
- Create vignettes of your product in use or in a useful setting
- Show images of people using, wearing or living in your products
- Post quotes or sayings that you like
- Post what your staff does during off time
- Show images of your regional area
- Create a “24 hours with me” set of posts
- Post images or videos of your customers at their companies
Depending on your industry, there are numerous other ideas that you can use, including creating images on Canva just for Instagram with your logo, branding or other inspirational ideas.
Why Do People Like Instagram
Instagram is less formal than many other popular social media sites. Because it is image heavy, you don’t need to do a lot of reading. It is great to look at in line at the bank or when you are waiting for your Starbucks in the morning.
Instagram is less commercial than Facebook. You cannot put any clickable links in posts, so your stream is only filled with images and videos. However, you can put a clickable link in the profile, which you can refer customers to in your CTA (call to action.)
Using Instagram for Content Marketing
If you have a product or service that will appeal to Millennials, then you should have a presence on Instagram.
Instagram is easily partnered with other social media sites including Facebook as well as embedded on blogs or sites.
To learn more about this content distribution channel, attend the Content Marketing Conference May 17 – 19, 2016 in Las Vegas.