Is Instagram Right for Your Brand?
April 15, 2015
Whether you’re a budding brand looking to expand your social reach or an active consumer of social media yourself, chances are, you’ve seen a brand you like or admire taking up space in various social media channels. Brands across every industry are rushing to establish a presence on all platforms – Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and more.
But before you sign up for every account on the market, take some time to review and determine the best attributes of your brand. Is it visual? Would it be served well by video coverage? Do you have a compelling, likeable spokesperson? You don’t need to be everywhere – some brands thrive on photo-based platforms like Instagram, and some do better interacting with a more business-focused audience on LinkedIn.
Is Instagram, the latest, greatest and most popular social media app, right for you? It’s been steadily increasing in popularity since its launch in 2010 and has since become a ubiquitous name – and more and more brands are jumping on the Instagram train. Users of the photo-sharing app can upload pictures and videos for followers to “like” and comment. Hashtag use is optimal – completely searchable and an ideal way to get a larger sphere of engagement. While photos are accessible on web browsers, the app itself is only available on mobile devices.
The demographics of Instagram’s users are also worth noting – the audience is significantly younger than Facebook and Twitter users. In fact, Instagram has edged out both these social media powerhouses in prestige – recent studies show that 83 percent of U.S. teens in upper-middle class households use the app. It is more gender balanced, and it’s inching close to Twitter in terms of total users – there are currently more than 200 million Instagram users. More than half of teens and people in their 20s use the app – in fact, there are more than 100 million daily active users, 1.6 billion daily likes and 20 billion shared photos daily. Users spend an average of 439 minutes per month on the app.
So what does this mean for brands? Instagram is a hotbed of social engagement. Users are 58 times more likely to like, comment or share a brand’s post than Facebook, and 120 times more likely than Twitter users. It’s the best social and mobile platform to reach brand audiences willing to engage.
Brands who find success with Instagram harness visual imagery – think restaurants sharing photos of its star dishes and retailers showing popular products. Amsterdam Falafelshop, for example, shares photos of its falafel sandwiches. The brand also shares customer photos and utilizes hashtags to find other fans of Amsterdam. The personal nature of Instagram also gives users the opportunity to see your brand in a more transparent light – a “behind-the-scenes” look. Client Coconut’s Fish Café makes a point to share pictures from different perspectives – not just the food, but also the people that make the brand so special.
Remember: a picture is worth a thousand words. If you think your brand could benefit from increased visual interaction, a larger, more youthful social network and strategic social media marketing strategy, check out All Points Public Relations’ social media services here.
