Instagram is not just a tool to make you excited about your friend’s holiday photos. While it isn’t pleasant to look at the photos of your travels as you work, the value of Instagram are numerous.
Consider the vast amounts of new products and services that you’ve probably found on Instagram via sponsored social media ads or your friends who tag brands you’ve never heard of on their posts. Sure, social media connects us, but what’s more difficult is making those connections available to your company’s most crucial assets – your customers.
While at the same time we are aware that how to manage and maintain an Instagram account is daunting. It requires a lot of time and attention to make it work, but drive sales.
Before you say-we just don’t have the resources-consider this information from an imminent PowerReviews beauty and health report. We found 35% of U.S. shoppers between the sought-after age of 18-29, use Instagram to search for or purchase beauty and health-related products.
In certain industries, cutting Instagram from your buyer’s journey can seriously limit your ability to attract new customers. So to help you get on the right track and get your business on the right track, we’re offering some helpful tips. Here are 7 benefits of Instagram that you may not be aware of:
1. More Consumers and Businesses Are Participating Everyday
With over 25 million businesses actively using Instagram to promote their products to their audience it’s not difficult to see why the majority of people use the app to shop. In today’s instant-access retail world customers want to see visuals that can help them make purchasing decision.
Not only do they want visuals, but they also desire this content from people just like them.
In fact in the PowerReviews Ecommerce Snapshot report found 72% of U.S. shoppers search for visuals of the product before buying. However the tiniest 3% of shoppers said they never look for visuals prior to making a purchase.
The growing community of Instagram actually helps brands and retailers leverage visuals to more accurately describe and describe their products. As the number of users increases consumers realize that Instagram can be an effective source of information about products and photos.
Your target viewers are already waiting to see your posts show on their feeds. Not only do you customers expect it and expect it, but Instagram has made their app more business-friendly in the last few years by introducing various linking, landing page creation and the ability to tag products.
Simply put, Instagram is giving you fewer reasons for your business not to sign up. Customer experience is vital to so many companies and retailers, which is the reason Instagram continues to push these features. The advantages of Instagram increase with the growth of its growing user base, and it’s time to join the platform or increase your marketing strategy.
2. Easy to Target (and Retarget) Your Audience
We understand that targeting the right audience is vital to the effectiveness of your ads. But how can Instagram help you reach your primary audience?
Well, if you’re familiar even a little bit to Facebook advertising, then you know the depth and power available to reach your target audience. Some of the targeting features include:
Location: Whether you’re aiming to the entire country or one specific city, location isn’t a concern.
Demographics: Do you want to target your ads to only 37-year-old women who speak Catalan? Instagram will pinpoint the language as well as gender demographics.
Interests: Base your ads on what your audience follows on Instagram in addition to other businesses that may be your direct competitors. It is also possible to base your interests on ads they click and apps they are using.
Behaviors: Define an ad’s viewers based on the actions they do on (and off) Instagram and Facebook. For instance, it is easy to be able to retarget customers who have visited your website before but never made a purchase.
People who look like you are part of a certain audience who are eager to see your content (and possibly purchase your products). This means that you can target advertisements to individuals who have a similar profile to those that follow you already or have bought from your site.
Visit the GOREAD website if you’re looking to add to your Instagram followers.
Instagram provides automated targeting, giving you a head start in creating an audience attracted to your brand. To learn more about the features take a look at our Instagram dimensions and sizes for advertising guide!
Understanding Your Demographics
One of the main questions businesses have is about their demographics, and the places they purchase their goods. For Instagram the majority of brands and retailers chalk it up as a game for young people.
But Pew Research recently found 40 percent of U.S. adults between 30-49 use Instagram and that an overall percentage of 35% use the app.
It’s essential to not only know your core demographic, but provide them the appropriate channels to shop for your goods. We already know that younger generations like Instagram, but targeting older groups that may be more relevant to your brand is essential.
3. Use All the Visual Marketing Features of Instagram
As we said, visual content helps shoppers purchase more detail and images of the products they are looking to purchase. However, that doesn’t mean you should just add photos or videos of your merchandise every day and make it a daily thing.
Retailers are becoming more aware to how and where they market to consumers on Instagram. Also, retailers and brands are creating better content on Instagram due to the fact that they’re focusing on the right Instagram dimensions and features that users actually enjoy.
For example, Overstock relies on Instagram Story ads to effortlessly move customers to the featured items in a matter of a few seconds.
In the course of changing their branding, Overstock created these video ads . The results were an 18% increase in return on the ad investment as well as a reduction of 20% in cost per click. The goal of creating engaging content is keeping the attention of customers prior to them scrolling or tapping across your content.
To get the most value out of your Instagram posts, follow these steps:
Use large fonts: Don’t make it difficult for the viewers to comprehend your message on mobile devices. However, using too much text may result in your ad rejected.
Don’t waste time: There’s no need to perform a Faulkner impression. The last thing you want to do is to make your pitch two or three seconds into the advertisement. It is imperative to present the value prop immediately.
Be careful not to over-design: The point of your advertising should be to blend in with content from users. Sometimes , it is beneficial to use content that is not designed well.
Set up a clear route to follow: With Instagram shopping, users can look over products prior to transferring to your website. Create clear and seamless paths to stop any second-guessing.
4. Interact with customers where they Are
Over 800 million users use Instagram every month and over 500 million users log in every day. The time that is spent on Instagram is astonishing, and for brands and retailers, this is a network to interact and build relationships with your base.
This is evident since around 80percent of Instagram accounts follow the same business at least once. The visual network is perfect for companies who don’t want to be bombarded by sales copy, announcements and other forms of communication. It’s more effective, Instagram works like it is when you are following your friends. If you come across visual content you like, you’re interacting.
King Arthur Flour does a great job of highlighting content that could be mistaken for a friend or family account. And the greatest part is that it’s not trying to trick users, but simply blending the content that is to be found.
Instagram discovered that 60% of its users have found new products through the platform. It continues to be the platform for discovery and new product education. Therefore, why wouldn’t we use Instagram to do what it’s designed to do?
5. Develop User-Generated Content
User-generated content is an essential element of establishing trust in your products and brand. Why? Because people trust each other more than businesses.
Similar Ecommerce Snapshot report found 54% of U.S. consumers between ages 18 to 29 said that photos or videos are more useful than the retail or brand video content. Also, younger consumers aren’t the only group seeking content from users. Approximately half of those between the ages 30-44 felt the same way.
And on Instagram, it’s not only an untapped goldmine of content created by users however, it’s also easy to get it produced by your users. Brands like Southwest regularly promote user-generated content posted by their loyal customers.
It’s simple to request information via hashtags in order to create the content you want to share and get your fans involved. The best part is that you can collect and display Instagram user-generated content with the PowerReviews Visual and Social Suite to reinforce your product pages with authentic customer content.
Give customers a way to look at your product in the hands of consumers who are just like them. By doing so, you decrease doubt and boost confidence when it comes to purchasing.
6. Reveals In-Depth Insights About Your Audience
We’ve learned how important it is to know and learn your audience. In order to understand who they are, where they’re from and what they like and dislike, Instagram can help uncover this information.
Being involved with the online community helps you get a better understanding of what the people are talking about. By following the popular hashtags within your field, you’ll discover what people are discussing concerning their problems and concerns as well as their happy moments and triumphs.
The second reason is that Instagram is a great native insights into your community and followers.
With these insights you’ll get information on your followers such as their gender, age, and location and the times when they’re most active online.
Finally, Instagram also gives you insights to see your ROI on the platform. If you’ve used the ads manager on Facebook then you’ll know the value of the information it gives.
For each campaign, you can determine the reach, clicks sales, or conversions plus the total conversion value. You can break this into smaller chunks based on factors such as gender or location.
7. Always updated Marketing Features in Stories and Ads
Instagram knows that you’re trying to sell more products and raise brand awareness. They are aware of your objectives to improve your marketing strategy and the platform gives you the tools to succeed.
However, Instagram also knows their users. They know how people purchase items online. In fact 42% of women on Instagram across the U.S. said they love to shop and see it as to be a pastime.
That’s why major retailers like Dick’s Sporting Goods does stellar work on Instagram to make it easy to browse, click and buy. The social media platform has developed marketing and shopping experiences as a part of their platform to allow brands to advertise without impede the functionality of using the platform.
While at the same time it is possible to run Instagram Story ads allows you to include links and tag widows for more information quickly. The continuous updates targeted to companies make it one of the hottest spots for retailers and brands to promote their products.
Since the launch of this feature, more than 90 million users have been tapping on the tags on products to reveal more information every single month. In addition to ads that are shown in this feed, users can add hyperlinks with CTAs like “Shop Now” to encourage customers to exit their feed.
How can you make the most of these Advantages of Instagram?
Once you’ve mastered some of the advantages of Instagram What will you do with the tips? Rememberthat Instagram is among the best places to engage with your followers and connect through visual content.
Additionally, features for businesses such as profiles for business, targeted ad campaigns, extremely detailed information and shopping buttons in stories as well as in-feed ads can help you get the most value from this platform , while increasing your return on investment.