There are more than 25 million Instagram business accounts and more than $7 billion was spent on Instagram advertising last year so it’s clear that brands are investing their time and money in Instagram.
Here’s our simplest reasons why you should consider joining…
- Customers expect you to be there
No matter whether you’re a B2B or B2C, a vegan café or a local building group, there’s a place on Instagram for your business. People might find you by specifically searching your name or find you via hashtags relating to your business or location, but however they find you the good news is they have found you and chances are they want to engage with you in some way.
Even if you don’t want to be a regular poster on Instagram you should at least create an account so no one else (such as a competitor) uses your business name and add your website, phone and location. You could also add a few images that show the essence of your business, such as one of your logo, products, the team, where you’re based, any vehicles with branding on or even of something fun such as images of any cakes you’ve been enjoying in the office or if you have an office pet!
Bottom line is at the very least bag the username and add your contact details.
- Your happy customers can tag you
It’s always nice to know when people are pleased with your work or happy with one of your products. Being on Instagram means that if a customer wants to tell their followers about you and how impressed they are, then they can tag you using your handle (like a username) and you can a. feel pretty pleased that someone has enjoyed your product so much they took the time to tell the world and b. share with all your followers, some of whom may be future potential customers!
This type of review is social media gold and you don’t want to miss it.
- It’s another potential shop front
If your business is product based, you can share image of them which contain a link. This link will take users to a shop within Instagram which then links directly to your website to purchase. It’s a great way to lead more traffic to your website using aspirational images with all the product info included. You should be aware that this product info comes from catalogues you create in the Facebook business page so you do need to create this first in Facebook. It’s also worth mentioning that you need a personal Facebook page to create a Facebook business page.
- Your competitors are on there
By not being on Instagram and your competitors appearingyou’re immediately giving them an edge. It’s not just about the Instagram platform, it’s also the bigger picture. So when someone Googles your business it’s great for SEO purposes to be on Instagram because this profile will show in the results as well as your website, Facebook account etc.
- It’s free!
Why wouldn’t you? It takes little time to set up and gives you the opportunity to reach a whole new community of people who may not see your brand otherwise. It may take a little time to find your way with using it (see our articles on 27 hints when using Instagram) but as with any platform you’ll soon find your groove! You can of course pay for adverts (across Instagram and Facebook or either/or) which will achieve a greater more targeted reach.