The Platform
Instagram is an extremely popular social media platform that allows users to take photos or videos from their smartphones and upload them instantly to their profile. From there, followers can engage with the images through sharing, commenting, and liking. The site is almost exclusively image driven, though you can add limited text to each photo or video. The platform also allows users to post their photos to other social networking sites, such as Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter.
Launched in 2010, Instagram grew rapidly, obtaining over 100 million active users by 2012. By April of the same year, Instagram was sold to Facebook for roughly $1 billion in cash and stock.
The Audience
Instagram currently has about 400 million monthly users and 75 million daily users, the majority of which fit into the millennial category. Overall, 26% of all adult Internet users are on Instagram. 53% of Instagram users are ages 18-29, 25% are ages 30-49, and 17% are ages 50+. The gender of users is split pretty evenly, with 49% female and 51% male.
Should You Use It?
Probably.
Unlike Pinterest, Instagram is open to a larger range of businesses. In fact, it didn’t take long for major brands to catch on to Instagram’s marketing potential. For example, Mercedes Benz saw a 27 point lift in ad recall due to their Instagram campaign.
The truly intriguing thing about Instagram is its engagement rate. Per-follower engagement is 58 times higher than on Facebook and 120 times higher than on Twitter. Not only that, Instagram users are 2.5x more like to click on an ad than with any other social media platform.
The only caveat is that you need to post frequently and stay engaged with your followers. So if you decide to use it, make sure you or someone in your company can stay on top of the account throughout the day. Outside of that, Instagram can be a real home run for businesses.
If you want to know how you can start using Instagram to market you business, contact WideNet today!
