Aug
The key to a successful marketing campaign is to connect with your audience. So if your customers enjoy a particular activity you should be putting your message in front of them in a manner that they are happy to receive. Instagram is the mobile phone photography application that demystifies photo editing and is the fastest growing (and arguably the most fun) of the social networks available.
Originally launched in October 2010, it was for iPhone users only, more recently, in April of this year 2012 Android phones were enabled as well. Indeed its popularity has grown tremendously since it was first introduced to the public because of the fusion of photography and social media via the utilization of mobile phones. Additionally, as with all social media, its success is derived from the fun that users have when using it.
Is Instagram Marketing Worthwhile?
Well a lot obviously depends on your niche, and the product that you are selling. If you are looking for brand awareness then it’s a certainty, with 80 million users and a very fast growing user base it’s a good place to be. For direct sales it’s a little more difficult to make a hard sell, as you can’t have external links in the images and – as with all social networks commercialisation is frowned upon.
Making Your Instagram Marketing Plan
Of course there are also things that you need to consider when posting pictures. You have to ask yourself first what your goal is. This will help you decide on what to post and how to reach out to your target market. The next steps you ought to take will depend on how people react to your posts.
It is very important to have a sustainable marketing plan in order to achieve your goal. So based on your objectives, you want to create a marketing plan to suit your target audience. You can create hashtags, for instance, which you can employ for your products and services. Select what you want to focus on in the process. A big part of this is brand development. If you know what to concentrate on, you can carefully build your brand, push your products and services, and acquire fan-generated content.
One example that you can follow is that of Ben & Jerry or Sharpie. They have made use of Instagram to promote their brands by taking snapshots of their road shows and events and posting these for others to see. They also regularly post photos of new products. At the same time, they have allowed people to participate actively through taking and posting pictures related to their brand and also through contests. They use brand hashtags to encourage their fans to do these things and to spread the word about them as well.
A Personal Approach
Instagram sits at the intersection of Facebook and Twitter, and differentiates itself by being a mobile phone only platform. It shares common features such as user profiles wherein the username is included along with the photo’s age, captions, comments, and likes.
Consider how your brand is currently using these social media outlets – often Instagram can be used to add depth to your campaign, a comment on a clients Instagram and twitter feed is more effective in many cases than a direct email or paid advertisement.
The key for using Instagram for business is to keep it personal, and to interact with potential customers or clients through comments, likes, tags, and posts.
As Instagram is a mobile phone only device, this becomes a 24/7 activity, embed it as part of your lifestyle and take a genuine interest in your customers and clients to get the most out of the experience. It’s a bit cliché to say it, but there are no shortcuts with social media, you need to put in the effort to reap the rewards.
Making the Most of Snapshots
It’s so easy to take photos from your mobile phone’s built-in camera and post them on Instagram. Most cameras now have various different effects that you can also utilize such as zooming in and out, cropping capabilities, and colour splashes.
Cameras have become a mainstay of cellular phones because people around the world have become accustomed to taking pictures wherever they are. Mobile cameras provide great convenience, which is why taking these snapshots has turned out to be the third on the list of common cell phone activities. Studies show that almost a billion photos have already been taken with Instagram and around 58 of these photos are uploaded every single second. The great thing about this app too is that you can instantly post the pictures on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, and Flicker. You can even get the chance to connect with foursquare and also to indicate the location of the photo and tag it too.
In a nutshell Instagram as a business tool will only be effective if you use it primarily as a way to engage with your customers, and not to sell them products or services. It is a tool to build brand awareness and compliment your social profile, but you will find it ineffective as a tool for lead generation or profit maximisation in the short term.
Steve Stretton writes for Buy Instagram Followers an Instagram marketing agency in the UK where you can purchase Instagram likes to garner attention.
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