Today, we have over 25 million Instagram business accounts. In addition to this, statistics indicate that over $7 billion was spent on Instagram marketing last year—and this is an indication that businesses need to invest in this marketing channel.
However, some businesses have not yet considered using these marketing channels—and most of these businesses claim that they don’t have anything to post. However, that’s not true—at all! Whether you are the traditional B2B Company or the trendy B2C Company, you should capitalize on the opportunities that come with Instagram marketing.
You should never believe that you cannot find something interesting to post on Instagram. You just need some little strategic planning and creativity, and you will be good to go with your Instagram marketing.
There following are 9 reasons why you should use Instagram for your business, regardless of the industry you are in.
Instagram for business: Your Customers Expect It!
If you own a business, there is one thing that you should expect—your customers you search for your business on Instagram. Mostly, they will use your business name, or a hashtag related to the business or location. But, not finding your business will not be a good experience.
Yes, you might not be planning to be very active on Instagram—but you should still consider creating an account. Then, you should proceed to make sure that the account bears your business name, and has the contact information, as well as a few posts showcasing your brand.
At the end of the day, you don’t want your clients not to find your business or find your competitors in the process of searching for your business on Instagram.
An Instagram Account Is a Trust Signal
When you create an Instagram account, and then you get it verified, it shows your customers that your business is real, transparent, and reputable. If you specifically do online business, creating an additional account where your clients can get to know your business better is much more valuable.
Users and Customers Can Tag Your Business
For example, you offer exceptional service to your customer, or the client is very excited because of the service or product you offered to them. There is a high possibility that they will share that story on Instagram, and this is very valuable to any business.
That’s now what many businesses would love to be tagged in, as it will appear in their Instagram account at the end of the day. However, no one can tag your business if you don’t have an Instagram account—and you will end up losing a valuable opportunity.
Instagram Allows You to Tag and Sell Your Products or Services
If you sell services or products, being able to share Instagram videos and photos with a direct link to the products or services will greatly benefit your business. You should capitalize on this feature, and to do that, just create a product catalog on your Facebook page—this is where Instagram will be getting this information from.
Direct Customers Back To Your Website
Instagram does not only showcase your products or services—but it can also showcase your infographics, white papers, blog posts, as well as other content posted on your website. This marketing channel has proved to be effective when it comes to directing traffic back to your website.
It’s possible to toggle sharing to Twitter or Instagram directly from your Instagram account or use the dashboard that lets you post the same content to various social media channels—thanks to a few clicks.
Online Reputation Management
Having an Instagram account is a must for any business that wants to maintain its online reputation, as well as boost its SEO strategies. Online reputation is essential for any business, and because of that, you need to be attentive to what shows up whenever someone searches for your brand name or business.
Apart from your website, social channels also do show up on the first page of SERPs. Because of that, you should make sure that you create an account for each social network using your brand name. You should do that, even when you don’t plan to use the accounts on a regular basis. The idea behind this is to control the SERP by creating content and profiles that direct people back to your brand.
This way, in case you get bad publicity online, your social accounts and website will have a chance to fight back for your business to rank above the negative content.
Other businesses are already on Instagram
Failing to have an Instagram account gives your competitors an upper hand. If you don’t know what to post on Instagram, just check what your competitors are posting, and you will have an idea.
Networking
Instagram is an amazing networking tool. It allows you to comment, like, and message other like-minded individuals or businesses, and create a relationship with them, which can lead to meaningful interactions. This way, in case you will want to reach them in the real world, you will have already created the relationship on Instagram.