10 Reasons Your Business Should Be On Instagram
Are you finding more people are telling you that you need to be on Instagram? Have you been wondering if there could potentially be an ROI with Instagram for business use?
There comes a time when a movement makes so much noise that you can’t help but pay attention to what’s going on. That point where you realize…this thing isn’t going away. I believe we’ve hit that point with Instagram and there are a few compelling stats to back it up.
1. Instagram Is Officially Bigger Than Twitter
Though Twitter isn’t too far behind, Instagram has taken a lead. Twitter has been struggling to keep up with Instagram’s growth since late last year and with IG passing the 300 million active user mark first, Twitter has a lot to be concerned about.
2. Engagement Is Up To 22X Compared To Twitter
Instagram’s engagement is incredible. Some of the highest stats I’ve seen in engagement show up to 22 times the amount of engagement on Facebook and Twitter.
3. Engagement Is 15 Times More Than Facebook
If you’ve been moaning about Facebook organic reach, you really need to get on Instagram. Data from the Pew Research Center has revealed that Twitter isn’t the only network getting beaten by Instagram for engagement with a whopping 15 times the amount.
4. Businesses On Instagram Are Seeing Increased Sales
Awareness is the obvious benefit of Instagram but are there businesses out there who are successfully integrating it into their sales funnel? Furniture retailer Z Gallerie increased print sign ups by 24% during a two-week run by putting a link to a form on its Instagram page.
How would an extra 24% in conversions improve your bottom line?
5. Adoption Is Rapidly Increasing
Last year, Instagram jumped in growth by 50% in a nine-month period. Someone call Malcolm Gladwell because I think we’ve found our tipping point. Instagram executives think the network will eventually hit 1 billion monthly active users and I’m starting to think that’s a very real possibility.
6. Locally Based Businesses Have Huge Opportunities
Unlike Facebook pages, you have direct access to your customers on Instagram. Twitter allows you to do this and has better options for targeting based on location (without ads) but if you know how to get around this on Instagram, you can get a serious edge against your competition.
Apps like Pixifly and Instaround allow local businesses to see what Instagram users in their area are posting so they can follow and engage within their community on the app.
7. Every User Is a Content Creator
If you think about it, Instagram has turned people into insta-content creators. Everyone has a high quality camera in their phone and many are getting more savvy with mobile based photo editing apps. Other apps like Wordswag make it incredibly simple for anyone to make eye-catching text-based visuals.
The benefit of this to you as a business owner is the fact that you can leverage this media-rich environment with contests that encourage customers to share content that’s relevant to your brand. If you want to learn more about how to do this for your business, check out the 14 Best Instagram Campaigns of 2014.
8. It’s Not Just For Young People Anymore
Are you guilty for writing off Instagram as a network that’s just for kids? Ya, me too. Times have changed and everyone’s starting to pile on the bandwagon. New data from Pew Research Center shows that Instagram has actually surpassed Twitter in popularity among US adults with 26% actively using the network.
9. Your Competitors Are Slow To Adopt It (And So Are You)
A recent survey showed that only 23% of US brands have an Instagram account; very low in comparison to other social networks. Understandably, brands have held out to see if Instagram was in it for the long haul and it’s become clear that it’s not going anywhere any time soon.
10. Users Are 6X More Active Than Facebook
Instagram isn’t just taking over engagement for Twitter, it’s beating Facebook by a mile too. In a recent study of 5,000 Instagram profiles, Quintly found the average Instagram post received 4.8 interactions (likes, comments, shares), compared with 0.72 for Facebook.
Recommended Blogs To Check Out
I’ve come to trust a few sources in my hunt for more knowledge on using Instagram for business and here are my recommendations:
Are You Taking Instagram Seriously Yet?
It’s becoming more challenging to argue the potential of Instagram for business, even if the monetization strategies are a bit fuzzy at this point. For an awareness perspective, Instagram is unarguably an incredibly valuable tool.
Are you using Instagram for business yet? Let me know what you think about it in the comments below.
