Instagram is the social media app we all know and love. Who hasn’t thought to themselves, “Gosh, I need to reveal to everybody how fantastic this espresso is!” when looking at their fresh cup of morning coffee? That sentence, believe it or not, isn’t as odd as you may assume.
Instagram has distinguished itself from other social networking sites as one of the world’s fastest-growing apps. Instagram encourages users’ imagination, expression, and innovation as a visual platform.
Businesses interested in connecting with the platform’s large user base have taken notice. Businesses may interact with a new audience by advertising on Instagram. This demographic is younger, more active, and more eager to engage with brand marketing. According to a Fast Company poll, Instagram users were 58 times more likely than Facebook users to remark, like, or share a brand’s post. And Twitter users are 120 times more likely.
`This isn’t to say that Instagram advertising is appropriate for every business. In this post, we’ll go through the advantages of Instagram advertising and how it may help businesses. We’ll also talk about why some companies might want to spend their time on other social media networks. But first, let us understand a few fundamentals of Instagram!
What Is Instagram?
Instagram is a social networking software that allows users to post photos and videos with their contacts at its most basic level. The app is available for free download from the regular app shops and is found on the smartphones of many young (and older!) people.
Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, both Stanford University grads, started the startup in 2010, and it today has over 200 million users. In 2012, Facebook(now Meta), the social media behemoth, purchased the startup. While the site’s basic premise is photo sharing, its popularity stems from its photo editing capabilities.
After a user takes a photo, Instagram filters – of which there are thousands – can alter the image in a way that resembles old-school Polaroid prints. The programme allows users to create personal profiles, but it can also be linked to existing social networking accounts like Facebook and Twitter, allowing them to share photos across platforms.
Few of The Most Used Instagram Features
Instagram has developed several tools that have helped marketers since its introduction, including paid ad options as well as organic postings. Let’s take a look at some of Instagram’s most useful features for marketers.
Videos
You’re undoubtedly acquainted with Instagram Video posts, which are similar to regular picture posts but allow for up to 60 seconds of video. Before sharing the post, you may apply a filter, write a caption, and tag your location.
On Instagram, video postings get more interaction than photographs.
This is critical for marketers hoping to benefit from Instagram’s new algorithm, which measures user interaction in posts to determine whether or not to show them.
Live Video On Instagram
Because it’s live, Live Video differs from Instagram Video. The following is how it works:
- Followers receive a push notification when you go live.
- Followers can leave real-time comments or likes on your Live Video feed.
- After you finish watching the movie, it vanishes (it does not save to your account).
This is just another opportunity for marketers to increase brand transparency and authenticity, which are critical in light of Instagram’s recent algorithm change.
IGTV
Instagram TV is an Instagram app that allows users to upload videos up to an hour-long, similar to a television show.
This is great news for video content makers, since video marketing is one of the fastest-growing trends in content marketing, with over 80% of firms adopting it.
IGTV allows advertisers to post lengthier video content with the added benefit of notifying their followers when a new video is shared.
Instagram Stories
The Stories feature is one of the most recent additions to Instagram. Users contribute video snippets to stories, which are accessible for 24 hours before disappearing, similar to Snapchat.
Within that 24-hour period, you get unlimited access to Story material.
In the feeds of your followers, stories display as little circles at the top.
Stories With Shoppable Tags
Companies may use shoppable tags to tag their items in pictures. If you show a model jogging in your brand’s running shoes, for example, you’d identify the shoes so that viewers can go straight to the product page and buy them.
Companies may now tag goods within Stories, too. This is a fantastic approach to show off your product(s) in action or in user-generated content (such as the @ mentions we just spoke about). Consider the impact of using a tag on your product to share one of your consumers’ stories in your own tale.
More Stories Features:
- Up to 15 seconds of video recording
- Up to ten seconds of image viewing
- Story contributions are unlimited.
- Within Stories, there is direct messaging.
- To unlock photographs and videos from your personal camera roll, swipe down on the camera screen.
- You can keep track of how many people have seen your material and who they are.
In your bio, link both your username and hashtags.
When you input a @ or #, the next username or hashtag is instantly hyperlinked.
This is wonderful news for businesses since it’s yet another option to persuade your followers to interact with your other accounts or branded hashtags.
Now that you have understood the features, let us dive into the facts and statistics of Instagram!
Also Read, How to Use Social Media For Business in 2022
Facts And Statistics of Instagram You Need To Note
- In 2022, Instagram Will Celebrate Its 12th Birthday:
Instagram is nearly a teenager (at the very most, a lovably moody tween) at this stage, so if your marketing team still thinks it’s a fad, we’ve got some bad news for you: she’s not going anywhere.
Of course, since its inception in October 2010 with a filtered photo of the founder’s dog, the platform has expanded significantly (hi, Reels!) and will continue to do so. Make sure you’re up to date on the newest Instagram trends and features as the platform enters its second decade.
- Instagram Is The World’s Seventh Most Popular Site:
According to our R & D, Instagram is one of the top ten most-visited websites in the world, with 2.9 billion monthly visits. That’s a lot of people watching.
Importantly, despite the majority of users checking in using the mobile app, this statistic serves as a reminder that people may be seeing your posts on their desktops or laptops as well, so make sure your photographs look nice in any size.
- Instagram Is The Ninth Most Searched Phrase On Google:
What could be more convenient than entering “instagram.com” into your browser? Allow Google to take you there.
Facebook, Youtube, and “weather” all outperformed Instagram, but given that Insta is largely accessible through the app, this is a strong showing and more proof that your audience may be seeing your material through a browser – whether on their phone or on their computer.
- Instagram Is The Fourth Most Popular Social Media Network:
Only Facebook, Youtube, and WhatsApp have more daily active worldwide users than Instagram, yet Instagram has an outstanding 1.3 million.
That’s a lot of people watching. Instagram is now outperforming TikTok, Twitter, Pinterest, and Snapchat in terms of audience reach, so if you’re looking for the most bang for your money in terms of audience reach, Instagram could be a better alternative.
- Only 0.1 percent Of Instagram Users Use The Platform Exclusively:
A user’s chances of having an account on another social media network are 99.99 percent. For example, 83 percent of Instagram users also use Facebook, and 55 percent use Twitter.
What does this signify in terms of marketing? Because you’re likely targeting the same individuals across many platforms, avoid repeating yourself to ensure that your content is fresh and interesting no matter where your followers see it.
- Instagram Is The World’s Second Most Popular Application (Damn!):
Only TikTok outperformed Instagram in terms of downloads in Fall 2021, which is rather surprising considering the app has been active for 12 years. It’s still there.
You probably already guessed that the majority of your Instagram followers accessed your material via their phones, so sit back and enjoy this data that verifies it.
- Every Month, 1.22 Billion Individuals Use Instagram:
In case it isn’t obvious, Instagram is quite popular. However, that’s just half the number of individuals who visit Facebook and YouTube each month.
- Instagram’s Readership Is Dominated By Those Aged 18 to 34.
About 60% of Instagram’s viewership belongs to this critical group.
- Instagram Is Generation Z’s Preferred Social Media Site:
Instagram is preferred by global internet users aged 16 to 24 above other social media platforms, even surpassing TikTok. If you’re wanting to target that demographic, Instagram appears to be the place to go.
- Males From Generation X Are The Fastest-Growing Instagram Audience:
The number of men aged 55 to 64 who use Instagram increased by 63.6 percent last year. Yes, it’s a hangout for youngsters, but don’t overlook the fact that it’s also a gathering spot for people of other generations.
- Males & Females Are Almost Equally Represented In Instagram’s Viewership:
Unfortunately, we don’t have any data on users that don’t fit into the gender binary at this time, although Instagram’s audience self-identifies as 50.8 percent female and 49.2 percent male, according to Facebook’s reporting tools.
- India Has The World’s Most Instagram Users:
With 201 million people checking in from India, this is a terrific reminder that Instagram caters to a worldwide audience (followed by the U.S. at 157 million). Brazilians, who have 114 million users, are in third place, followed by Indonesia and Russia.
This is crucial information to consider when deciding how to define your Instagram target demographic and what type of content to generate.
- Lastly, India Is Also The Fastest-Growing Instagram Market:
India is now the fastest-growing area for Instagram, with its audience expanding by 16 percent quarter over quarter. Congratulations if this is a market your company wants to tap into. You now know where to look for them.
Now that we have understood the facts and statistics as well, let us now dive into the Pros and Cons of Instagram Marketing!
Pros and Cons of Instagram Marketing
Instagram has been designed to offer you with all of the tools you need to advertise your company. Instagram is one of the most popular channels for marketing your business because of this.
Let us understand the pros and cons of Instagram.
PROS of Instagram Marketing
- It’s All About Videos & Photos On Instagram:
Instagram has made it incredibly simple to share photographs and videos from your phone. Unless the user deletes the post from his profile, photographs that the user puts on Instagram will stay on the platform indefinitely.
Few businesses would want to create advertisements just with videos and photographs.
- Instagram Has A Strong Connection To Your Intended Audience:
Instagram has proven to be one of the most popular social media platforms. Its platform includes approximately 800 million monthly active users and over 40 billion photographs posted.
It boasts a significant number of active users, who are now posting over 95 million photographs every day. Every day, over 4.2 billion people like the photographs that are submitted. This is possible thanks to services like https://famoid.com, which allow you to earn followers and, as a result, your own audience for your images.
Because the number of people on Facebook and Instagram is nearly the same, there is a large community of people who want to view your advertising.
- Instagram Has A High Engagement Rate:
Due to its ever-increasing number of active users, Instagram may give you with great engagement rates. In fact, when compared to any other social media network, Instagram has the most engaged users. This engagement rate is almost 70% greater than that of Facebook, and the pace of follower growth is 9% higher than that of Twitter, which is around 0.11 percent.
People may like and comment on the page exactly as they would on Facebook. Since Instagram was acquired by Facebook, it has been reviewed and acknowledged by the Facebook team. There are several options available to help you enhance interaction on your account.
- Instagram Makes It Simple To Share Your Content:
Because Instagram is designed specifically for phones, you can publish material at any time and from anywhere as long as you have access to the Internet. Of course, various providers may provide you with additional perks when it comes to their plans, so investigating packages similar to what this htc internet service can supply before opting to see how Instagram might assist your business is in your best interest.
Having said that, you may also make your Instagram posts visible on your other social media platforms. Simply link your social media accounts to your Facebook, Twitter, or Tumblr accounts to do this.
- Instagram Gives Your Company A Visual Representation:
Instagram is one of the top visual marketing channels for your company or business. As a result, you may use Instagram to provide eye-catching photographs of your items, which can help you raise your sales. People have been proven to interact more with visual photographs in the material than simple text. However, you should not just concentrate on taking nice photographs. The caption area in your Instagram post should also be correctly utilized. When it comes to offering an engaging description as well as a relevant hashtag, postings are known to attract higher interaction.
Your audience will be able to connect with you and your goods more rapidly if you can give great visual representations for your adverts.
- You Can Answer More Rapidly With Instagram:
If you work in your company’s marketing department, you must be active in your category or speciality. You must ensure that you reply to both your audience’s messages and their remarks. Because Instagram is designed specifically for smartphones, you can quickly react to these messages and comments. When you connect with people, they are more inclined to trust your brand. With your messages and comments, it’s critical to maintain a two-way relationship with your target audience.
As a result, your audience will have confidence in both your services and your products.
- You May Simply Expand Your Audience On Instagram:
Unless you remove or delete your Instagram posts, they will stay visible on the network indefinitely. That is why your older content might still generate interaction. If you want this to happen, though, you must utilize hashtags carefully.
Your Instagram postings can all help you grow your audience. Simply ensure that your postings are targeted and visible to your intended audience. When utilized correctly, hashtags may easily help you expand the reach of your posts by several times.
When compared to Twitter, you may use a lot more hashtags in your Instagram posts and yet avoid the fines that Twitter imposes.
You could also want to consider hiring a business like Kicksta to help you develop your account organically. This will only help you expand your audience. The amount of reach you can get as a business is comparable to what you can get on Facebook. Tight monitoring is feasible, and you may quickly focus your approach for better outcomes.
Now, let’s look at a few cons of Instagram Marketing!
CONS of Instagram Marketing
The primary downside is that Instagram isn’t specifically designed for companies. Instagram is typically used to pass the time and communicate with others. Only a tiny fraction of customers or users are interested in purchasing something they see on their news feed.
- The Greatest Benefit Might Also Be A Disadvantage:
Instagram’s biggest benefit might also be its disadvantage: it is primarily reliant on photographs. That means you must be extremely cautious about the photographs you upload on Instagram because it will draw people in.
People who follow you will skip your page in their feed and not read the words in your description if your photographs are poor.
To be the most effective, Instagram photos must be square in size. When you utilize nonsquare photos, sections of the image will not display precisely in people’s news feeds. This implies that your message or logo may become sloppy when not all of the words are displayed.
The dimensions and sizes of photographs that can be uploaded to this site are restricted. When it comes to advertising in a restricted amount of area, there isn’t much you can do.
- However, Not Everyone Is Using Instagram:
This is one of Instagram’s most evident downsides. Only iPhone and Android users may use Instagram. This further restricts the number of consumers you can reach because you won’t be able to target Blackberry or Linux users. This indicates that you will be unable to reach your intended audience. As a result, alternative platforms should be used to raise brand awareness. Instagram now owns Facebook, and its integrated marketing platform makes it simple to reach a wider audience.
Every Facebook user is aware that they may or may not have an Instagram account. As a result, the number of worldwide audiences you may target is very restricted.
- Your Content Has Constraints:
You cannot elaborate on the product in your Instagram post. Instagram captions should be between 138 and 150 characters long. It is 125 characters for any type of advertisement.
If you’re going to utilize several hashtags, limit yourself to 5 to 10 hashtags. Using too many hashtags might easily result in your account being suspended.
Instagram advertisements are typically square in shape. It isn’t much you can do with your advertising or photographs.
- Clickable URLs Are Not Allowed In Instagram Posts:
Instagram captions should be between 125 and 150 characters long. If you want your audience to click on a link that takes them to a landing page outside of Instagram, it might feel even more limiting. Because they won’t be able to click on links in your caption, you can’t include them. You should not anticipate your audience to copy and paste a link to a website outside of Instagram into their browsers. Users who use an app where they can only browse through their news feed and double touch on an article they like will find this too much labour.
Instead of a link, you’ll need to come up with a unique approach to invite people to visit your website. You may also provide your website link in the bio area of your personal profile.
In addition, there are no clickable links available in Instagram advertising.
- It’s More Harder To Advertise:
When compared to Facebook or Twitter, it is more difficult to target local audiences on Instagram.
Instagram offers fewer choices for targeting your audience.
You must also rely only on organic traffic. Only large corporations can afford to advertise on this network.
Conclusion
So now you know that each platform has its own set of benefits and drawbacks. To reach your targeted marketing goals, you must be cautious when selecting a platform for your marketing needs.
To learn more about Instagram and how you could create outstanding Instagram reels, choose Digital Scholar’s finest Instagram Reels mastery course by India’s leading digital education institute.
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