How Does Instagram Work And Why Use It?
Having over 500 million daily active users, many businesses are now taking to Instagram to make sales and grow their sales. If you have a business and want to jump on the bandwagon of this ever-growing platform, you have come to the right place.
We have created an ultimate guide to making your business flourish on Instagram. This guide is divided into 12 lessons. We will teach you how to master an Instagram marketing strategy and take your business to new heights.
Buckle up for an informative ride! Let’s begin...
Instagram is a social media network that is built around sharing photos and videos that you’d like your followers to see. You can also shoot photos and videos in real time for your followers to view. More than 100 million photos are shared on Instagram daily. Millions of people visit it multiple times every day to keep abreast of their favorite content creators.
Instagram connects people with idols who they can look up to and inspires people to do something about their lives. Seeing positive and happy photos of the people they are following motivates them to do better in their lives.
How Big Is Instagram And How Can Brands Benefit From It?
There are 500 million active users on Instagram. 50% of Instagram users follow at least a business to get updated with the latest promos and offers from that business. 72% of teenagers use Instagram on their mobile devices.
More than 1/3rd of active users use the platform to buy something online . Most of them are women who love to shop. If your brand sells specifically for women then you are most likely to increase your sale if you use Instagram to boost your sale. Instagram is best for creating brand awareness which is beneficial for people who don’t know that your brand exists or those who have similar interest related to your brand.
Instagram has millions of users and its possible to reach nearly any kind of target audience. Most use Instagram to check on the people they are following. Second only to Facebook, Instagram is the most engaged social network. No wonder why Facebook bought Instagram. Browsing feeds on Instagram is fun and attracts the younger generation. That’s why they consider it hippier and trendier.
Brands can benefit even if 1% of the active users get to know about their products. One sure shot way to benefit is when the brands are aware and are consistent about what to post, when to post and how often and who their Instagram target audience is.
Instagram can be accessed using either of the two ways:
- Instagram Web App
- Instagram Mobile App
We shall explain how to use Instagram on the app as well as on the website.
Instagram Web App
Let’s navigate on our Instagram Web App. Once you are logged in on Instagram Web App, you can browse feed, add comments or like the post of people you are following. You can also view Instagram stories, photos and videos that your followers have shared. You can even follow more users on Instagram.
When you view any Instagram profile, you can also check the number of posts they have shared, number of followers they have and the number of people they are following.
The profile has three sections
- Posts: You may find their posts.
- IGTV: You may find the videos they have uploaded.
- Tagged: You see the photos and videos in which their username was tagged from others’ post.
Now let’s look at Instagram Mobile App
It has the same icons as the web app. News feeds, notifications and your profile. But there is one icon you won’t find in Web app.
- icon is something you will only find in Mobile apps. Clicking on this icon allows anyone to upload photos, videos on their Instagram account.
- icon allows you to send direct messages to your followers. More options allows you to mute messages, mute video chats, restrict, report and block accounts.
- icon lets you have a video chat with another person on Instagram. Another feature is when you click on the search icon you see the Shop option.
You can browse this section to know the products that people are selling on Instagram. If you click on one of photos, you’ll be redirected to their Instagram profile. When you click on photos, you’ll see the product photos and the price. When you click on the photo, you’ll see the product.Below there is a View On Website Option.
If you click on this, you’ll be redirected to the website. The link opened will be the web view of the website. You don’t need to open the web browser to get to the site. You can use the web view to purchase the products on this site itself. You can click the icon and go back to Instagram mobile app.
As you scroll down, you’ll be able to see the section View Shop. Browse them all to find products that you might be interested in purchasing.
Now that we have learnt the key difference between Instagram Mobile App and Instagram Web App, let us proceed to learn about the benefits of using Instagram for your business.
Benefits Of Using Instagram For Your Business
Instagram is free to use. Business owners or start-up entrepreneurs can easily market their brand on Instagram without having the need to shell out the money to promote their products.
One can simply download the mobile app or use the web app to register one’s account for free. One can easily set-up an Instagram account and start posting content for their brand.
1. Increasing Engagement
Instagram has more than 500 million active users. People use it daily. With High User Engagement, you can easily reach out and connect with your customers. It helps you build a good relationship as you engage with them. It helps in understanding what your target audiences prefer.
You see it’s easy to convey your message through photos or videos. Instagram is mostly used as a visual platform to easily tell your viewers your message. Be creative with the images and videos you’ll post for promoting your products on Instagram. It must grab people’s attention as they browse through your feed.
2. Promote your business and generate sales
People who don’t know your business yet can be aware of your brand. Instagram will help you reach your target audience. When they browse your profile and see the products they might want to buy, it means you’ve targeted the right audience who are more likely to buy your products thereby increasing your sales.
Your followers can even promote your products for you. Their followers will know about your products. This will trigger a chain reaction and increase your reach manifold. You will reach a new audience outside your network.
3. Increase traffic outside your website
You can use your Instagram profile to send your visitors to your website. You can direct them with a link with a landing page where you can get their contact info. This will not only increase your website traffic but also let them give you your contact info. You can use the contact info to further market your latest products and services by sending them messages directly.
Types Of Instagram Users
Let’s talk about Instagram demographics that you can expect to be one of your target markets.
Most audiences on Instagram are younger people who like to share photos about their lives and want to see visuals from other’s lives too. Most of Instagram users are women. It’s a truth well known that women love to shop. So if you know that your target audience is women and you need to promote products like beauty products, clothes, bags and accessories, you are most likely to generate more sales.
Instagram can also be used to chat with other people. If you have friends around the world, you can use Instagram chat feature to send a private message to your friends.
Let’s look at some types of users that dominate on Instagram and have a huge mass appeal.
1. The Traveller
These are the people interested in travelling. They post a lot of photos wherever they go. This could be their vacation, their last abroad trip or any new places that they discover which they might want to share with their followers. Their passion is to go to various places and post photos and videos.
How can you use them? As a marketer you can use these people who are professional vloggers or travel enthusiasts who have built a huge following on Instagram to target their audience and reach to people who want to travel.
If you are promoting products that they could use in their travel such as backpacks, travel equipment, gadgets or accessories needed for vlogging or vacation getaway deals then their followers could become your target market.
2. The Foodie
Every post they share are photos of the food they are about to eat. From coffee to baked foods to dinner, their photos are perfectly taken shots to make you crave for the food and try it out all by yourself.
How can you use them? You can use these foodies who have built their own audience on Instagram to reach people who are interested in food content. Their followers can discover your Instagram account. You can reach out to a lot of people who have the same interests and generally use Instagram to search for recipes, new ideas and discover new food content.
As a business owner you can target their followers if you are promoting your food and increase your reach to these types of audiences.
3. The Fitness Guru
These are usually health conscious Instagrammers who post photos and mostly videos of their workouts in the gym or at home. These people have also built their followers on Instagram profiles. Their followers love to watch the videos from where they can learn how they can workout to make their body fit.
How can you use them? You can make use of these gurus to target the people and reach out to people who are interested in making their bodies fit and beautiful and healthy.You can target these types of users for business with products such as workout supplements, workout clothes and shoes etc.
4. Influencers
These people have built their own brand image. As you may have noticed they have tons of followers on their Instagram account. With every post they can easily boost their engagement. If they use products and share them on their Instagram account, most of their followers would want to buy and try out the products for themselves.
How can you use them? As business influencers can help your product reach more audience and further increase your sales, you can use these influencers to promote your products.
5. The Photographer
Most of their photos are professional looking images or videos footage. It can be their hobby or their source of income. Their content is always stunning and most of their followers love to see beautiful photos and look out for the video content they produce. Their followers could look for professional photographers or videographers who they can hire for special events.
How can you use them? If you’re a freelancer who’s looking for clients locally you can target their followers and promote your services through their Instagram bio.
Conclusion
Hope this brief introduction to Instagram has you intrigued. In the next few chapters we will take you through a marketer’s journey through Instagram. Helping you discover how you can Instagram to grow your business online.
Chapter 2 : How to create an Instagram profile and how to set it up See More