Four Tips for Using Instagram for Business

Instagram is fast becoming as popular as Facebook. It has a different dynamic, so here are some tips from MarketingProfs on how to use it for business.

Four Tips for Using Instagram for Business
Published on September 17, 2012    

Who would've guessed a few photo filters and instant sharing capabilities would produce a social hit? Instagram, that's who!

The image-based social network, available on iPhone and Android smartphones, boasts more than 100 million users. Many are brands: Starbucks, NASA, MTV, and NBC News are some of the most successful Instagrammers.

Recently, the Instagram team started a Tumblr called Instagram for Business. In it you'll find best-practices for enterprises, new service offerings of interest to brands (like the new photo maps), and a list of ways to make yourself an Insta-success. A few suggestions:

Get a personal account in addition to your professional one. That will let you experience Instagram from the perspective of a real user, gauging what you personally like, who you tend to follow, and why.

Share compelling content. Reveal insider photos, exhibit experimental shots, or offer sneak peeks of what's to come. Make users see the value in following you by posting stuff they won't find anywhere else.

Expand your audience. Connect Instagram to your other social networks and use relevant hashtags (#yourbrandhere) to make it easier for people to find your account.

Engage directly with users. Ask questions in your photo caption, and respond to comments. You can also organize local Instagram meetups!

The Po!nt: Send out a shot or two. Mobile devices have become our most intimate technology: Our phones are with us all the time. And snackable mobile content like the kind Instagram delivers is the easiest way to stay top-of-mind with folks on the go.