Instagram is one of the biggest social media platforms ever. With over 1 billion monthly users, there aren’t many better platforms to use to try boost your business’ social media presence.
But it’s not as simple as it may seem. Gaining traction on Instagram can be a long and tedious process. These social media sites are built on algorithms, and everything you see on your feed is based on so many variables. There are, however, ways around the countless search filters and preferences that sites like Instagram implore for their users. Believe me, you’ll want to know about these before you get your business on Instagram.
Some of you are probably thinking to yourselves, “My business wouldn’t benefit from the kind of audience that Instagram attracts”. You picture a typical Instagram user to be a 16-year-old, sat in their room, mindlessly scrolling instead of doing something productive. Why would they be interested in order fulfilment, financial advice, furniture, or any other industry that doesn’t come across as “cool”? Well, the truth is, they wouldn’t. They wouldn’t give it a second look because, as you’re probably thinking, it’s not something that would ever interest that demographic.
A very reasonable question. Business owners often think that their time is too valuable to be spent on creating posts for social media. This is often a complete myth, especially for small businesses because Instagram is used by a massive variety of people from all across the globe. Social media also provides opportunity. Traditional advertising just doesn’t work anymore for anyone who’s business isn’t already very established. That’s why you see a large majority of start-ups putting the effort in to get themselves noticed on Instagram, Twitter, etc. It’s the best way to get yourself noticed, and there are so many ways to get your business out there.
The term ‘influencer’ gets thrown around a lot these days, and as much as the culture is critiqued by society, there is no doubt that being an influencer means that your opinions and interests are often mimicked by your followers – and that is exactly why you, as a business, should consider investing in influencers. A brand deal would give your products/services a bigger platform and a wider audience to reach out to. One great example of this are the countless clothing brands that make deals with numerous influencers (Boohoo, FashionNova, PLT). They will reach out to individuals with an online presence and offer them products and payment in exchange for promotion on their page and/or story. These posts are then viewed by the influencer’s follower base who, due to their adoration of the influencer, are more likely to purchase products. The below link is to a post from Love Island’s Jack Fowler, and is an example of a brand deal he has recently done with a company.
JACK FOWLER (@_jackfowler_) • Instagram photos and videos
It shows how he uses his social media presence to promote a brand. It’s subtle. It’s just like any of Jack’s usual posts, but the brand is linked in the caption, and he is endorsing their products by wearing them in the post. This advertising style is very effective as it attracts the market with example, rather than information. If you were to tell someone about the T-shirt, instead of showing it, no one would buy it. It’s all about finding the right way to promote your business, and making sure that the business is always at the heart of any advertising.
If you’re not already aware, Instagram is used abundantly by popular businesses or people who accept paid sponsorships to post on their pages. This is usually done by emailing or messaging the account owner(s) to negotiate, and once an agreement is reached, they will post a paid advertisement on their page for all of their followers to see. One example of a majorly popular page that regularly posts paid advertisements is the US-based company WorldStar. WorldStar are, by nature, a current events news page, as well as a Hip-Hip record label, which means their outreach is huge. This is proven by the fact that they have racked up 31.7million followers on the platform as of 29/07/2021!
As you can imagine, this means that any product or service advertised on their page is viewed by millions of people, providing a massive platform for any business. Now, these advertisements are not cheap at all; some pages like WorldStar can charge tens of thousands of dollars for a single post, however there are countless pages with a substantial follower count who are actively posting paid advertisement. With a little bit of research, this could be a very effective way of building your business’ presence on Instagram.
To sum it up, Instagram is a massive opportunity for a business to expand its customer base as it is accessed by a wide variety of people from all walks of life. It may not be as formal or professional as LinkedIn or Twitter can be, but there is definitely still the potential to succeed if you put the right amount of time and effort into it. If you’re still struggling to see how Instagram would benefit your business, then I’d recommend taking a look at other business pages on there. Business from all sectors use Instagram to promote their products and services, and there’s no reason why you can’t do the same!
Quite a lot of food for thought here, let us know what you think in the comment section down below.
From The Team @ Cloud9 x
