You may know of Instagram as the social network where people post pictures, videos, and memes, but there’s a different world out there that thinks of Instagram as a gold mine for making a buck. These are the people due to which your Instagram feed is filled with ads and promotional posts all the time.

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Huge companies such as Apple, Google, and Amazon have adopted the use of social media websites to publicize their products. There’s no surprise that with a popularity of over 500 million daily active users, Instagram would be on top of their list. That doesn’t mean that this social network isn’t welcoming to smaller businesses as many entrepreneurs and innovators have flourished into corporations and organizations through sales being made via Instagram pages. What is this marketing that makes this possible?

This article will uncover the top 10 reasons why many of the top 100 brands in the world have an Instagram account and how you, as a business owner, can benefit from this social media platform.

1. An Audience That Wants to Buy

Most social media platforms have huge amounts of people using them, but not every platform performs as well as Instagram does when it comes to sales. Though Facebook is older and probably more credible for that reason, people are more likely to buy a product if they see its ad on Instagram. This is because of the age group of people that are on Instagram to begin with.

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Instagram is a social media network that is made for posting pictures and sharing memes, which has attracted more teens and young adults than the elderly and children. These are the people who are most interested in buying things and can do so as well since many of them are independent workers with their own credit cards at their disposal. A good-looking poster or a compelling enough advertisement is all you have to take care of. The recommendations take care of the rest.

An Audience That Wants to Buy

2. The Supportive Algorithm

It’s clear that Instagram has probably the best audience to market to, but that’s no good unless you pitch the right product to the right customer. The social media giant has probably done the best job at this.

The algorithm is so easy to work with that a simple hashtag in your post can tremendously increase the chances of it getting to the right audience. Instagram recommends your product based on the hashtag and you can include as many hashtags in your post as you want.

Unlike many other social networks, Instagram’s algorithm not only shows your ads and posts to as many people as possible, but it also pays attention to helping you establish a customer-seller relationship. Instagram stresses on having a loyal audience that engages regularly with your posts so that they can start the chain reaction of telling their friends with a similar taste and give you more sales. Based on feedback from sellers on Instagram, this approach appears to have worked.

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3. Engaging User Interface

Instagram has an amazing way of making ads look less annoying. As a result, people are less likely to press the skip button even if the ad isn’t to their taste. This is important as it turns normal people into customers and helps you gain a bigger fanbase for your product.

You can make your page dynamic and keep your customers engaged using the many features offered by Instagram. You can use labelled stories to give details about your product at a glance, obtain feedback of customers through comments, monitor your sales, and even pay for more reach.

Ads on Instagram always pop out as the user interface is so clean and fresh unlike other social media networks that are heavily reliant on cramming as much as possible in one page. It makes for an overall nicer view with less distractions. Your advertisement appears as a normal post on Instagram, which makes it feel less corporate for the viewer and more appealing to engage with.

Engaging User Interface
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4. Take Help from Influencers

If you’re worried about not having a big enough Instagram page to make any sales, there’s an easy fix. With the popularity that Instagram has made over the years, almost every celebrity, no matter how big or small, has made themselves known on this social media network. These influencers are always ready to give you a shout-out for some sort of collaboration in return (mostly a paid sponsorship).

This tactic has been used extensively on Instagram. The person you want to work with has a much bigger fanbase than you, so you pay them for promoting your product in whatever way you both agree on.

However, you should be selective and not go for just anyone. It is important to take into consideration whether the celebrity has a fanbase that may be interested in your product. You don’t want to be selling a gaming console to a fashionista.

Take Help from Influencers
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An ever-increasing concern for marketers is protection of their content under copyright law. You don’t want other people to copy your ad and make a joke out of it to disrupt your reputation. Thankfully, Instagram follows the US copyright laws and allows you to claim against any illegal use of your content, which is of prime importance for any company.

What is uploaded on the social media network stays within it. Instagram doesn’t allow people to download posts and as a result, people have to visit your page whenever they want to see a post again instead of going to their gallery. This helps increase traffic to your page. Whenever they want to share the post with their friends, they have to share the link, which increases your chances of reaching an interested market.

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6. Marketing Through UGC

UGC stands for User-Generated Content. It is the kind of content that doesn’t require any prior picture or video to make, so it’s totally digital, which is why it is an advantage for businesses. With other social media networks, companies spend fortunes on the simplest of posts. However, hiring a designer to make a nice poster for your page is a problem non-existent on Instagram.

Instagram offers tools to make quick posts even if you don’t have any designing skills. These tools are available for making stories and putting up posts. You only have to dive into the many options and use what suits you best to make a stunning ad. This saves a ton of money in the long run and is much more efficient.UGC is generally clean, nice to look at and good for quick posts to keep your page updated. Many entrepreneurs have put this feature to good use since they don’t have much money to work with. It has worked out well for them.

User Generated Content
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7. The Mobile Aspect of Instagram

Unlike most other social media platforms of its kind, Instagram was made as a mobile application rather than a website and it has remained true to that aspect. Being the second most downloaded app on the App Store, Instagram is still used mostly on the phone more than any other app of its kind.

This means that people from developing countries can also be reached through Instagram, increasing the worldwide sales of your company. A good success story of this is how online sales in India have drastically increased, even though most Indians do not have proper computers. Instead, they only have a smartphone and an internet connection.

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Not only that, but Instagram being heavily mobile also allows your customers to get quick updates about what your company is up to. Pre-orders and teasers are much more effective when you see them as they come out, and Instagram offers just that. This gives a much more dynamic nature to your business and allows your customers to stay engaged.

8. Keep an Eye on Your Competitors

Since Instagram is so popular, everyone is on it, even your competitors. It’s always a constant struggle when there’s competition against your business, but when it’s all in one place, it makes it easier to stay updated with what the other party is up to.

It is a two-way deal, though. Being on the same open-ended platform means your competition can know what you are doing as well. It still counts as an overall positive because most times, you can take inspiration about what you can do if you feel creatively burned out. It helps you get free ideas when you need them the most.

Competition is also good for keeping the customers engaged. It’s not easy to come up with new ideas and things to upload regularly. Hence, it can be helpful if your competition keeps the customers hooked while you take time to brainstorm.

9. Free Marketing

Once you have uploaded the post you wanted to which describes your product, you have essentially marketed it. Companies have spent billions of dollars on publicizing their products as it is a very important part of marketing, but on Instagram, it comes free.

If people like your post or, even better, if they click the link to buy, it shows up in the feed of their followers. The greater the number of likes and engagements, the greater the number of people it will be shown to. This is a very powerful tool for companies and a prime reason for them to post on Instagram.

Study shows that 75% of users act after looking at an Instagram advertising post. They click the link to the website and check the product out since it costs no money to click on a link. This gives you more visits on your website.

It has also been observed that a viewer who is shown an ad more than 4 times will potentially click on it to see what it is, even if they aren’t interested in it. This is how Instagram converts a passerby into a potential customer.

free marketing
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10. Reviews and Publicity

Your customers may already be sharing photos related to your business on Instagram without you even noticing it, especially if you have a reviewable product to sell. A good example of this is restaurants. People share what they feasted on every time they dine out usually by posting a nice picture of it.

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The same can be said for something like clothing or other merchandise. It has become a trend to post pictures of anything wearable and new on Instagram to let others know.

Sharing stuff about your business on their page is bound to bring their followers to you, providing you with free publicity and a positive review. While this can be said for other social media networks as well, Instagram is by far the most suitable place for this as its interface makes it much easier to quickly snap and share a picture. Instagram Stories especially make these reviews stand out and encourage people to share stuff on Instagram more, giving you the reviews and publicity you need.

Conclusion

There is no reason to not market your business on Instagram in front of a crowd of 1 billion monthly active users. It is a great way to get that little push you need if you are an entrepreneur or the hefty publicity if you are an established businessperson.

Though it may not have started off as a money-making machine for corporations, Instagram sure has developed in that line and is open for all to take advantage of.

It is free and easy to use for everyone, and there are tons of success stories of flourishing businesses that started off with an Instagram account. Make yours too!

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