Why Is Instagram is such a Vital and Important Social Media Option

 

Believe it or not, engagement is much higher on Instagram for brands than on any other platform. In fact, Instagram brand engagement surpasses that of Facebook by ten times, Pinterest by 54 times, and Twitter by 84 times.

One source attributes this to a policy which bars links from being present in captions, thus preventing certain companies from posting spam ads. Per Instagram Advertiser statistics, approximately 50 percent of Instagram users follow at least one business, while 60 percent claim to have learned about a certain product or service through the platform, and 75 percent take necessary action. That’s right… Instagram is the only platform that allows users to take certain actions (i.e. visiting a website) after examining an Instagram advertising post.

 

It offers an outlet for influencer marketing.

Influencer marketing is still a new practice, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t being talked about.

Influencer marketing is a process in which focus is placed on influential people rather than the target market. Instead of concentrating specifically on the audience it’s trying to reach, a company employs the services of a popular YouTube star or blogger to talk about the products in their videos and content, thus spreading awareness to their followers. Top tools for finding potential figures to assist in an Instagram influencer marketing program include Heepsy, Revfluence, and Shoutcart.

 

Images, images, images!

A picture is worth a thousand words, and Instagram takes this ideal to new heights every day.

Instagram is all about images, which per online standards, assist to drive traffic far better than written content. Studies show that businesses incorporating images into their posts receive 90 percent more shares than companies that don’t.

Images can do wonders for your business, particularly if you’re in the retail sector or sell specific products. Many customers will want to examine a product before they buy it, and your images can assist in cementing your clientele and followers by showing them what your company is all about and what you offer right from the get-go. Instagram is a platform built for beautiful imagery – so why not give your customers the visuals that’ll ensure their regular returns?

 

Since its launch in 2010, Instagram has taken the world by storm. It seems like everyone — and their dog — is on the platform.

 

You may have also noticed the increase in brands who’ve developed a presence on the platform. But is Instagram worth their time, and should your business also be on the platform? The answer is yes, and here’s why:

Instagram sees over one billion active monthly users and 500 million daily Instagram Stories.

• 60% of adults online use Instagram, including 35% of adults in the U.S..
• However, 80% of the app’s user base is outside the U.S.
• There are 25 million business profiles on Instagram.
• 80% of Instagram users follow at least one business, and 72% of users say they’ve purchased a product they’ve see on the platform.

 

How do you guarantee that your content will be seen, will get the attention it deserves and not fall by the wayside? There are no guarantees in life, but you can certainly stack the deck in your favor.

 

1. Competitive research

It’s hard to find a topic that hasn’t been covered at length, particularly in a crowded, content-rich field like marketing. You need to go narrow, and cover topics that haven’t seen a lot of love. Whenever you have a topic idea, vet it to see what content already exists.

Is there a ton of high quality content already produced? If so, it might be a bad choice to write. Are there good articles out there, but they’re light on content or out of date? These can be good opportunities.

Are there a few excellent guides available, but not a lot of competition? You can gain traction simply by approaching the topic from another angle.

If the existing content is deep, go broad. If the existing content is broad, go deep. Try to think outside the box, and approach your topic from a novel perspective.

 

 

2. Topic ideation

Every topic idea needs to come from a search. The way people find content on the web today is to have an interest and perform a web search. If no one is performing a search, it doesn’t matter how good your content is; no one will find it. Try looking for content ideas in places where people ask questions they want answered. What problems are people facing that they aren’t able to answer on their own, and how can you bring a high quality answer to them?

People perform web searches when they want to perform a task and when they want to gain knowledge. The former are great for landing pages and product pages, but less so for informational articles. Look for queries where people want to learn; that’s where you get the most interest.

 

 

3. Post quality and length

Google rankings come from quality content. Large scale algorithmic updates have been dedicated to analyzing and interpreting the quality of textual content online, and Google’s algorithm has become very sophisticated. Short, cheap, mediocre content isn’t going to make it big.

Don’t cut corners. Put the time and effort in to creating your content. Cite sources, do research, analyze data, and make it all significant. Don’t worry about word counts and keyword density; write for value. When your content is a masterpiece, it will naturally float to the top.

 

 

4. Post quantity

In years past, it was a common marketing technique to vomit out hundreds or thousands of articles on every conceivable keyword you could come up with, just to get a web presence out there. Google put a stop to this technique, and now it’s often better to have a few great pieces of content. Big name blogs might only publish once or twice a week, but when their content is superb, every piece can rank.

 

5. Promotion

There’s more to article promotion than setting up automatic social sharing from RSS. Sharing is a start, but promotion only ends when you stop. Reach out to other bloggers and show them your content. Find people asking about your topic, and share it with them. Pay for advertising to get eyes on the page. Every piece has a place it can call home, and it’s your job to figure out how to get it there.

Not every piece is going to make the big time. You aren’t going to top the front page of Google with everything you write. With perseverance, though, most pieces of content can find at least a moderate level of exposure.

>> https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/295789?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email