The Growth of Instagram and Best Practices for Your Business
All the buzz seems to be around social media platform Instagram lately. Though, it’s no surprise why. Instagram’s tremendous recent growth has caught the attention of many businesses hoping to take advantage of its marketing potential.
As of last week, Instagram announced that it had officially hit the major milestone of half a billion users. Considering the platform was founded only less than 6 years ago, this growth is incredible. On top of this, much growth in the platform has only really been in the last 2 of these 6 years. All age groups, from 16-24 to 55-64, saw an increase in users, with the 16-24 group growing the most. Since mid-2014 this age group has seen an increase in accounts by 20{bfa23e0adf5035fdfa71191ffe91e54dd073cdba85c1f10af47dda85ac37f507}, with now a total of 58{bfa23e0adf5035fdfa71191ffe91e54dd073cdba85c1f10af47dda85ac37f507} of people this age engaging with the platform.
Instagram’s current explosion should be taken seriously by anyone interested in effectively advertising their brand. Instagram marketing is proving to become more and more beneficial for businesses around the world. We’ve put together some tips on Instagram best practices that will let you fully harness the power of this social media site.
Good Visuals
First things first, Instagram was created to allow users to share beautiful photos and videos of their lives with followers. To best take advantage of Instagram marketing, your content needs to look and feel natural. Posting boring, unlively photos of your brand probably won’t get you very far unless your target market is boring, unlively people. Sharing content that looks attractive to potential customers is number one on our list of Instagram best practices. 
Beneficial
Knowing what your audience wants and properly delivering it to them is crucial for beneficial Instagram marketing. By finding a way to post more than just an advertisement, you can engage your customers to a new level. Creating posts that are inspiring and appealing is best for a successful campaign in the long run. Make sure that each post you share with your followers is going to somehow benefit your brand in their eyes.
Engagement
Engaging your audience is the next step to our Instagram best practices. Posting regularly is obviously important to keep the consumer’s attention on your brand. CoSchedule found that engagement is the highest on Monday and Thursday. On top of this, posting around 3-4 pm during the workweek is typically followed by lower engagement. It’s important to keep in mind that your brand is unique and different than others, and what might work very well for some businesses might not be the case for your own. New Instagram analytics should be viewed to help determine best engagement for your brand.
Other than just staying active on the platform, Instagram marketing revolves heavily around actually speaking to and interacting with your online followers. Replying to comments that they have left on your posts is a great way to show that you are interested in them. This easy response can allow for a much more personal feel around your brand, which is always a positive in the world of advertising.
Keeping Up
When it comes to our Instagram best practices advice, staying updated with the platform itself is the final big one. Instagram is a constantly changing application, and as marketers it’s important to keep up with these changes. The more comfortable you are with your advertising medium, the better your results will be. Just recently, a major design overhaul was completed on Instagram, including a set of brand new and important features. By staying up to date with Instagram, your marketing potential and results will follow.
