Any good content marketer knows that social media is good for more than just posting status updates, sharing selfies, and uploading holiday photos. With over 1 billion active users, Instagram in particular holds a lot of potential for businesses. So, how do brands take advantage of everything Instagram can do for them?

1. Showcase Brand Personality

Visual content is an important part of any successful marketing strategy. Instagram, as a primarily visual social media platform, gives brands an opportunity to showcase your brand’s unique brand identity. Brands can curate content every day following their own creative direction. They can follow themes relevant to their target audience and put the spotlight on key messaging that the company wants to get across.

2. Leverage Visual Marketing

According to a study, 72% of US shoppers rely on visual content when they’re researching an item to purchase. Businesses should use Instagram as a way to offer more information about their products. In other words, use the platform to describe products or services in a more engaging, in-depth way. Instagram for Business features also allows companies to directly link their products to a shop page, allowing brands to drive up sales.

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3. Target the Right Audience

Targeting the right audience is important. It ensures you’re able to reach your core market and engage them in the best way possible. Instagram can easily segment audiences based on important factors such as location, demographics, and even interests. Instagram also offers automated targeting, allowing you to define audience groups based on your goals.

4. Engage with Customers

To engage with your customers, you have to be where they are. With over 200 million users visiting a business page at least once daily and 60% of users saying they discover new products on the platform, you can bet that a huge chunk of your audience is ready to engage with your business on Instagram.

5. Build Brand Loyalty

User-generated content can help you build trust for your brand among your audience. You can quickly communicate with your core market on the platform, build a community through hashtag campaigns, engage them through user-generated content that they can produce themselves, and basically help establish brand loyalty through authentic customer content.

As far as social media platforms go, Instagram is one of the best options you have as a business to engage your target audience and connect with them through creative, visual content. With added business-specific features, you can gain deeper insights about your audience and boost your retail opportunities.

If you have yet to try Instagram for your business, I hope these points help you realize its relevance for your company. Give it a try. If you have any questions, please feel free to email them to me via Leadspanda and I’ll be sure to get back to you as soon as I can.