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A SNAPSHOT OF INSTAGRAM FOR BUSINESSES
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. What Is Instagram?...........................................................................................3
2. Benefits and Importance of Instagram for Your Business ...................4
Brand Awareness ................................................................................................................. 7
Relationship Building ......................................................................................................... 7
Recruitment ..........................................................................................................................8
Public Perception ................................................................................................................8
........................................................................................................................9
Reach New and Current Audiences ................................................................................9
...............................................12
Account Setup....................................................................................................................12
Best Practices .....................................................................................................................16
Real Life Business Examples ...........................................................................................18
Instagram Recap ................................................................................................21
About OutboundEngine ..................................................................................21
About the Author ...............................................................................................21
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1. What is Instagram?Instagram is a social network focused on photo and video sharing that is entirely accessed through
a mobile app. Similar to Facebook and Twitter, you have a scrolling feed of posts from your friends,
businesses and people you follow.
However, unlike those two networks, on Instagram you can only post images and (more recently)
videos. Probably the most recognizable feature of Instagram is that every photo posted is in a nearly
square 4:3 aspect ratio, similar to Polaroid images. It is the #1 photo-sharing platform in the world.
After launching in October 2010, Instagram gained a million users in only two months and reached 10
million users in less than a year. This caught the eye of Facebook, which acquired Instagram in April
2012, less than two years after launching.
Today, Instagram has 300 million
monthly active users who post over 60
million photos a day.
It’s the third fastest growing social network, up 64% since Q1 of 2014, and its largest demographic
range (ages 16-34) makes up 71% of its users. Needless to say, Facebook made the right move in
acquiring the company early.
While most businesses default to using Facebook and Twitter, Instagram is becoming a more common
third choice of social network for businesses from a numbers standpoint, as well as utility.
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2. Benefits and Importance of Instagram for Your Business
The biggest reason that businesses use Instagram is because helps to tell the story of their brand. This
story can come together in different ways, too. Perhaps you take a literal approach like BMW does,
showcasing its cars, old and new, in a variety of ways that inspire and build desire.
Or perhaps the approach to your storytelling is more emotionally inspired. Red Bull is a good example
of this, filling its Instagram feed with images that evoke high-energy emotions from extreme moments
in life. It’s less about the company’s drinks and more about making the Red Bull brand synonymous
with a high-adventure lifestyle.
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Even if your business doesn’t sell a physical product, you can still tell the story of your brand in other
ways. GE is a great example of this. While they could use their account to showcase their consumer
products, they instead tell the global story of their brand through innovations and design aesthetic.
Businesses that use Instagram are typically in the B2C space. Companies like Starbucks, Nike, Adidas,
Gucci and other consumer products always top the list of most followed brands. These companies
have success from their brand recognition and from the luxury of having a very visually focused
business that works nicely on Instagram. However, this doesn’t mean that businesses outside of the
transactional consumer space should shy away from Instagram.
For a lot of companies, Instagram is the perfect network for displaying the fun, personal
side of your business.
A s a m p l i n g f r o m t h e G o o g l e I n s t r a g r a m a c c o u n t
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Improve Brand AwarenessLike most marketing related activities, increasing and improving brand awareness is always near the
top of the list. Take CBRE, a global commercial real estate firm. What could be a very boring, corporate
Instagram feed is instead a beautiful showcase of architecture from around the world.
Relationship BuildingInstagram is a cool way for brands to build relationships with their current and potential customers.
Friskies cat food as a product isn’t that interesting, but by reposting photos of cats from other
Instagram pages, Friskies immediately creates a strong relationship between a consumer product and
consumers.
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RecruitmentShowing off just how cool your company is behind the scenes can positively shape the opinion of
an outsider looking in. Just take a look at Google’s Instagram page and you’ll feel like filling out a job
application.
Public PerceptionWhile Oreo is a known consumer product, by itself, it might not have much of an appeal as a brand
with a personality. However, with its Instagram account, Oreo has crafted an artistic, modern and fun
brand image, showing off their cookie creativity.
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Brand AffinityWhen you’re FedEx, you already have global brand awareness, strong customer ties and a pretty
decent public perception. That’s when you focus your marketing efforts on building strong affinity
for your brand. Looking at FedEx’s Instagram page, you can really feel level of closeness and
understanding of its brand and mission.
Reach New & Current AudiencesLastly, Instagram is a great way to stay in touch with past, current and potential customers. Whole
Foods does a great job of balancing photos that are relevant to current customers with ones that new
customers will enjoy.
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Storytelling and the other benefits of Instagram aside, at the
core of it all is a very simple, easy-to-use app that gives you
the ability to capture a moment on the fly, make it look good,
and post it to Instagram, Facebook and Twitter simultaneously.
At the very least, Instagram should be your go-to camera app
for posting photos and videos to your primary social media
business pages on Facebook and Twitter.
A s a m p l i n g f r o m t h e F e d E x I n s t r a g r a m a c c o u n t
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3. Using Instagram Effectively for Business
While the purpose of this section isn’t meant to be an account walkthrough, Instagram does have a
very helpful account setup guide for you to use here. However, there are a few noteworthy things to
highlight for businesses when it comes to making the most of the social network, including:
• Account Setup Tips
• Posting Best Practices
• Real Life Post Examples and Ideas
Account Setup TipsJust like any other social media account, you want your profile to be a clear reflection of your
company and brand, while at the same time showing your softer side. Be creative and genuine.
a. Your PhotoThe trick with your profile photo is that it has to be recognizable
in a small format. Unlike Facebook or Twitter where you can click
on a profile photo to make it bigger, you’re left with the limitations
of the 160x160 pixel space. Luckily, you are able to import your
Twitter or Facebook profile image directly from the app.
For your profile photo, pick something that is easily recognizable
and clear. This will most likely be your logo without any text.
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b. Description and URLJust like other social networks, Instagram forces you to describe your
entire company in 150 characters or fewer. Be clear about who you are
and what your business offers. And feel free to use hashtags to help
your searchability too. More on that in a bit.
You also want to include your URL to your website. Unlike other social
networks, links posted with photos on Instagram are not clickable. This
keeps viewers focused on photos and only that. However, hashtags are
clickable, so use them wisely.
c. Connecting Social AccountsIf you already imported your profile photo from an existing account,
you’re a step ahead of the game. Take some time to connect your
relevant social media accounts. I strongly recommend you connect
your Twitter account and Facebook Business Page, as you’ll most likely
be pushing out content to them from Instagram.
A s a m p l i n g f r o m t h e W h o l e F o o d s I n s t r a g r a m a c c o u n t
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d. Spread the WordTry as you might, the saying “if you build it, they
will come” can only take you so far. Luckily, just
as with Twitter, you can start following others
as your business account. This lets people
know that you exist and are ready to share
photos with them.
But don’t stop there. Take time to add the
Instagram badge to your website. While you
can’t post from a browser, you are able to view
your feed of photos and follow people.
And don’t forget to let people know! Include
the Instagram icon in your email newsletters.
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Posting Best PracticesA lot of the same best practices for a personal Instagram account translate easily to business etiquette
as well. The big thing to keep in mind with your business account is to make sure your posts focus on
one of the above benefits of Instagram for business.
a. What to PostThis ultimately loops back to what you’re attempting to accomplish with Instagram. If you’re selling
consumer products, post lots of photos of those products being used. If you’re a gym or spa, post lots
of photos of your facilities being used, people relaxing and various services you offer.
For businesses that might not have as much of a consumer product consumption model, use this
to show off your personality. Dressing up for Halloween? Post the photos from the office contest.
Catering lunch for a presentation? Get some tasty shots. Having a dog Friday at work? Get pics of those
pups on your page! These types of photos are great for branding your business and for recruitment.
We use our Instagram page to show off fun events that take place around the office, which helps
greatly with recruiting people to come work for us.
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b. Hashtags & TaggingPlain and simple, hashtags are the best way
to get your photos viewed on Instagram.
They help people find you without having
to necessarily follow you. For example, if
you did have a dog Friday in your office, you
could (and should) tag your photos with
#DogsofInstagram. This hashtag is widely
used and will surely capture the attention of
other users.
That’s the beauty of hashtags. You can use
single-word descriptors of the photo for better
searching, a word that conveys the feeling or
emotion of the photo, or even piece together
a few words that caption the essence of a
photo. For instance, I recently posted a photo
of myself wearing a neon orange shirt and
thought I was being clever using the hashtag
#HumanTrafficCone, thinking I’d be the only
one. Boy was I wrong – 90 other people had
already used that same hashtag in their photos!
And if you’re still not feeling too sure about which hashtags to use, you can always check Websta to
see what the most popular tags are.
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c. When to PostAs with most social networks, it’s always a problem balancing when it’s convenient for you to post
versus when a post might get the most responses/engagement. They typically don’t line up. A good
rule of thumb to follow is that your Instagram posts should be timed to catch people when they have
time on their hands.
Believe it or not, the best time to post on Instagram is on Monday at 6pm, according to SumAll.
Throughout the week, posting between 5pm and 6pm is also a safe bet. This is when people are done
with work, commuting home, waiting to pick up kids or relaxing on the couch.
d. Calendar IntegrationLike I said before, the time when the most engagement with your posts might happen when it’s least
convenient for you. That’s why using your calendar and reminders app on your phone is smart option.
The first reminder or calendar event you should create should be one for sometime during the day.
Use this as a prompt to take a photo of something at the office or relating to your work. You don’t
have to post it now, but it’s more likely that you’ll have something more interesting to post if you
capture a photo during the workday.
The second reminder should be around 5pm, prompting you to post that photo you took during the
day. This ensures that you get your photo posted during the highpoint of Instagram rush hour. And
when you do post your photo, don’t forget to enjoy Instagram too.
Scroll through your feed, follow new people, search for hashtags and click on clever ones, and be sure
to like plenty of photos.
Real Life Business ExamplesThey say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and sometimes the best way to learn what
to post is to follow the lead of others. Just remember to keep in mind your goal for using Instagram
when deciding which photos to post. Here’s a deeper look into the examples I talked about earlier.
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a. Improve Brand Awareness - CBREThe global commercial real estate firm CBRE
uses its Instagram account to improve its brand
awareness by showcasing architecture from around
the world. Take notice of the hashtags the company
uses and how many they use for each photo.
b. Relationship Building – FriskiesThe Purina cat food company Friskies builds a
great presence on Instagram by rewarding cat
owners with a little bit of clout and reposting cat
photos on its account. And notice that all of the
photos they repost include the username of the
original poster. There are plenty of apps to do
this for you; I’m partial to Repost for Instagram.
c. Recruitment – GoogleYou might be familiar with some of the life
changing perks Googlers enjoy. If the company’s
Instagram account is any representation of what
it’s like to work there, you can bet it’ll be a big draw
for potential candidates. They’ve even created their
own hashtag, #TourTuesday, which they use when
posting photos from their various offices.
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d. Public Perception - SharpieSometimes giving a visual identity to a brand or
product can help shape public perception of it.
For instance, we all know Sharpies as permanent
markers. Nothing too exciting. But through their
Instagram page, they’ve crafted a brand image to
inspire and entertain creative minds everywhere by
using Sharpies for hundreds of freehanded artworks.
e. Brand Affinity - FedExLooking at FedEx’s Instagram page, you can really
feel a level of closeness to the brand and have a
better understanding of the company’s brand and
mission.
f. Reach New & Current Audiences – Whole FoodsWhole Foods works hard to make sure it showcases
photos that promote a healthy lifestyle, reaching
both current and potential customers.
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Instagram RecapInstagram has given users and businesses a unique social network, stripping out a multitude of features a lot
of social networks have and focusing on only the visual. The key things to remember as a business owner are:
• It has been around for a while and has a solid user base.
• You can use it to showcase a behind-the-scenes, casual side of your company.
• Decide what goal you want to achieve and stay consistent.
• Share your photos and videos from Instagram to Facebook and Twitter to lighten your load.
• It’s super easy to use and has photo editing features that make you look like a pro.
About OutboundEngineOutboundEngine is a 100 percent done-for-you email, social media and content marketing
platform that helps business owners stay top of mind with customers and prospects and turn online
engagement into revenue.
The cloud-based platform automates the delivery of timely, tailored e-mail, social and content
marketing programs for all kinds of industries. Its personalized and touchless approach helps business
owners nurture and reach customers, while freeing them up to do what they do best – their jobs. For
more information, see: http://www.outboundengine.com/ .
About the AuthorAs Product Marketing Manager, Travis Balinas is responsible for communicating
to the world about OutboundEngine. From all content creation on the website,
social media channels and documents both internal and external, Travis crafts
everything to help our clients reach their goals.
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