Advertising on Instagram — What You Should Know
With more than 500 million users (more than 300 million of which are daily users), there’s no doubting Instagram’s appeal. If you’re looking to advertise via social media, Instagram could be the right vehicle to get your business noticed – especially as the service has recently introduced tools specific to business advertisers like you.
Here’s a quick look at the basics of Instagram.
· For many social media-savvy shoppers, Instagram is tops. Instagram follower numbers for global brands in 2015 were almost five times higher than during the previous year, while during the same period counts on Twitter and Google+ merely doubled, according to a 2015 Forrester study.
· The numbers tell the story. Instagram is considered the “king of social engagement,” with a per-follower engagement rate 58 times higher than Facebook and 120 times higher than Twitter in 2014. If you’ve been relying on the latter two services, you’re not reaching a huge chunk of potential customers.
· Brands are only recently catching on to the power of Instagram.Many businesses have focused their efforts on Facebook and Twitter, but wonder why their posts don’t get the likes and retweets they were expecting. Paying attention to Instagram now may give you a leg up on your competitors.
What should ecommerce business owners consider before beginning an Instagram campaign?
· Put your website’s link in your Instagram bio. Traditional Instagram posts can’t contain clickable links, but most Instagram users know to look for a live link in the bio section of an Instagram profile.
· Know your #hashtags. Relevant hashtags easily drive traffic to your account, so study your competitors and see what’s trending.
· Explore Instagram Advertising. In the past, advertising on Instagram has been more of a grassroots effort, requiring users to work on promotion exchanges to drive traffic and sales. Via Facebook’s self-serve advertising platform, you can create Instagram campaigns that will give your visitors and followers that direct link within individual posts that contain ads, with tools such as “Shop Now,” “Install Now” and “Sign Up” buttons. Like Facebook ads, you will have the ability to target specific audiences, measure your reach and set a budget. While Instagram Advertising will come at a cost, it may serve your business’ needs better than the familiar, free methods.