Why brands on Instagram?
Why should brands be on Instagram? Well, at its core Instagram is about taking pictures, adding cool, professional looking filters, and sharing them across the Internet. But there’s something else afoot – Instagram is creating an active community of visual storytellers, and that’s unlike any other social platform.
“Brands should be on Instagram to tell the stories of their products and allow fans to see their inner workings but also allow their customers and followers to share their own brand perspective with the rest of the community,” says iCrossing in The CMO’s Guide To Instagram report. “Customer personalities can be a powerful tool for brands, and allowing them to express themselves visually can fuel advocacy and propel a brand’s image in a positive direction.”
The report adds that the level of user-generated content a brand can generate is a great metric for measuring the engagement of a brand community. Instagram provides brands the opportunity to solicit such content through an activity they’re already performing every day – shooting and sharing pictures.
Instagram’s social sharing capability also delivers SEO benefits through the amplification of the images, captions and hashtags.
“As images get pushed across multiple social networks, the amplification of this content will also reach authoritative influencers, who can then further share with their audiences to increase visibility and awareness for any brand. Doing so can drive further links and social signals to a brand’s website, therefore building a stronger equity for the site and aid in it ranking more competitively in search.”
iCrossing adds that the fact that Instagram is a wholly mobile-based platform is also significant, with Facebook and other popular sites realising that mobile is the future of the Internet, something Instagram recognised right off the bat.
“In the coming years, social platforms will increasingly be accessed through mobile devices. It stands to reason that many social offerings will look to Instagram for guidelines on how to do mobile right.”
