There are a lot of unexpected benefits to using Instagram that differ from other types of social media platforms out there. By now, you probably know that Instagram is a powerful platform for creating visual content for your business. But surprisingly, Instagram remains one of the most powerful platforms with its user base having the highest amount of activity and engagement. Based on hashtags and location tags, businesses can monitor what people are sharing about their business, or the businesses around them. Instagram makes it easy to reach new audiences, especially through hashtags, which we will go over in the next section. Another one of the great things about the content you create in Instagram is that it can easily be shared across all of your different marketing channels. Within your Instagram Settings, you can enable social sharing to Facebook and Twitter, so that your photos will share automatically when you post them to Instagram. This content that you share on Instagram can also be used in your email marketing campaigns later.

Here are some other benefits to having an Instagram account as a business owner:

• Attract engaged traffic –  build a community that comes back time and time again.
  •  Instagram helps you engage with your audience on the social platform, increasing the chance that you can bring customers back for repeat purchases. If someone buys from you and then follows you on Instagram, they’re likely to see your brand on a regular basis and purchase from you again. Returning customers are more valuable, accounting for nearly 33.3% of the overall money spent in eCommerce and spending nearly 3x more than regular shoppers.
• Boost marking through User Generated Content (UCG) – using photos from customers
  • If you don’t already know, one of the best ways to market your company is through reviews or testimonials from customers that seem personable and trustworthy. That’s where photos and videos come in handy. Using photos and videos as “testimonials” from customers can create a sense of trustworthiness, as pictures and videos bring a sense of legitimacy. In this picture below, Everlast does not use their own photos they’ve invested into using photo shoots, but rather, uses customer “testimonials” as their content. Customers are able to become featured on Everlast’s account when they put in the hashtag #everlasteveryday, in which they specify that the use of the hashtag by customers can result in their photos being featured on their page.
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With all these benefits in mind, now comes a question:

Out of these two photos, which would you buy from?

Continue on to the next topic:

Instagram: Business Accounts