Instagram launched in October of 2010. Two months later, its community was already 1 Million strong. The usage and spread of Instagram has been on the rise ever since.
Over 60% of the Instagram community is located outside of the United States. Currently there are 150 Million Monthly Active Users and the numbers keep growing everyday. On an average approximately 16 Billion Photos are shared on a daily basis and this platform sees 1.2 Billion Likes and 55 Million Photos shared every day. Since the numbers are in millions and billions the potential of reaching out on Instagram as a social platform to reach out to your customers cannot be ignored.
Big brands swear by Instagram to visually lure their users right from Oreo to Nike. The 3 most popular brands being Nike, Starbucks and NBA with Nike having over 19 million posts with #Nike hashtag.
Here are a few tips to Instagram to your users better.
1. Use hashtags to share content
Hashtags (#) are the best way to find other Instagrammers who are talking about a specific topic, brand or startup. Follow the conversations and develop unique ways to engage. Also, don’t underestimate the power of creating your company’s own unique hashtags when you post images of your products and services.
For instance, We have created our own unique hashtag #SellMojoproductoftheday to promote the products of our SellMojo stores.
Posts with many relevant tags have the highest effectiveness. Encourage customers to use the same hashtags when they share brand related images. Hashtags can help businesses by making it easy for people to find images related to the brand, improve content reach and engagement, and make Instagram content go viral.
2. Create a story through images
The best way to get customers to remember your brand is to create a deep emotional connection. Businesses can post images of existing products and services, share event pictures, and take customers behind the scenes of product launches. Creating a compelling story gives customers a glimpse inside the world of your brand — creating higher intrigue and interest. What is even better is that you can use one of the Instagram filters to give your image that exact feel and get that instant connect with Instagrammers.
For instance, Oreo’s Instagram profile creates and shares images that a lot of creative Oreo fans make and this makes their brand highly interactive.
3. Timing is what matters
Select the best times for posting and sharing. That is when you can get the most amount of comments and likes on your photos. The most popular time to post a photo is either on Wednesday or Thursday during from noon to evening. Furthermore statisitcs show that a photo is the most active during the first 3 hours. Almost 40% of all comments happen within the first hour, the other 60% of all comments on a photo happen within the first 3 hours.
4. Create and share videos
Instagram being a visual medium is all about images and videos. With the introduction of videos in the recent times you can capture moments on Instagram with videos which would let you be more vivid, artistic and creative with your images. Allowing you to share 15 second long videos sharing videos on Instagram makes sharing videos effortless.
5. Get everyone involved
Getting followers on Instagram will only be possible when you can get people talking about it and interacting with your brand. The best way to do this would be to start from the employees of your company or organization. Employees are an important asset for a business when it comes to social media. The best way to create legitimate Instagram activity is to encourage your employees to be part of the conversation. Encourage employees to follow your brand, like and post images, and to comment on them. A constant employee involvement can give customers a closer look at your company culture and create a community for everyone to share ideas.
Take away tip:
20% of all users Instagram are also on Facebook. You just need to connect two accounts and your Facebook friends will see it and they can start following you on Instagram. Usually 3-5% of your Facebook friends will start following you on Instagram. You can start to post a status update on Facebook asking people to follow you on Instagram and it could increase that number to 5-7%.
You can also see our Instagram profile here!
SellMojo is a unique social commerce platform, offering businesses the opportunity to sell to their customers with fun, accessibility, and ease within Facebook. SellMojo combines the best parts of an online store platform with a social shopping experience and helps you set up a Facebook Store.
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