How does Instagram Help in Supporting Small and Large Businesses?

Being one of the most popular social media platforms in the world, Instagram is used by roughly 2 billion users every month. The majority of these users follow at least one business profile on Instagram. This makes Instagram the most lucrative space for businesses to increase audience awareness and flourish. Gone are the days when Instagram was a simple photo-sharing application. In the past ten years, it has almost evolved into a full-fledged business activity hub. While browsing through Instagram, you would find many brands (both small and big) running fundraisers, opening their Instagram shops, and employing other methods of Instagram marketing.

If you are wondering how Instagram helps small and large businesses in building their brand image, this article will tell you everything you need to know. We will also walk you through the process of creating a business page on Instagram. Let’s dive in.

10 ways Instagram benefits small and large businesses

1. Leveraging purchasing power of Instagram users

The majority of Instagram users are those that prefer to shop online for items or services these days. This means that there are many users on Instagram who are waiting to find new brands to interact with. The sheer volume of users on Instagram helps businesses to reach out to more users by way of targeted ads on the basis of their preferences. Thus, Instagram allows small and large businesses to leverage the purchasing power of the users. This allows businesses to grow their consumer base consistently.

2. Targeting and retargeting through advanced targeting algorithm

Ever since the purchase of Instagram by Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, the targeting capabilities of Instagram have increased to the level of Facebook. This includes targeting the customers on the basis of their age, social media behavior, location preferences, and other related factors. The first method is “Cold Targeting,” where the customer is shown ads on the basis of their preferences. Here the customers are warmed up to the new businesses they may or may not have heard about before. The second method is “Retargeting,” where the customer is shown ads of the brands with which they may have interacted previously. This makes Instagram a lucrative platform for finding new audiences as well as loyal customers.

3. Tracking of business related metrics

Instagram offers several features which allow the business pages to track various business-related metrics. These features allow the businesses to track the following:

• The number of people targeted through the ad campaign.
• The number of people who saw the ad.
• The number of people who interacted with the ad and visited the website/page of the business.
• The number of new followers, likes, comments, and shares that the business was able to reel in through the marketing campaigns.

This helps small and large businesses to achieve more for the money, time, and energy they spend on their ad campaigns. It also helps in keeping track of the growth of their business by tracking the various metrics provided by Instagram.

4. Additional marketing features for business pages

Instagram differentiates between personal accounts and business accounts by providing the latter with a host of additional features for marketing. The platform enables the businesses to promote their products and services through:

• Call-To-Action button for visitors.
• Promotion of business by using ads.
• Providing access to business insights.
• Gives the users a clear understanding that the page is owned by a business.

These marketing features provided by Instagram help businesses achieve their success goals and expand their scope even further.

5. Expansion of customer base

As we have already stated, there are more than 2 billion active monthly users on Instagram. At least 33% of them are making an active purchase decision via Instagram business profiles and ads. Businesses can utilize this opportunity to reach out to new audiences and expand their customer base exponentially. Your Instagram business profile is essentially an extension of your company. Hence, it is important to market your business on Instagram to reap the benefits of this untapped potential.

6. Building brand awareness

One of the biggest advantages of Instagram, other than paid advertisement campaigns, is opportunities for creating organic growth. This is especially important for new businesses which are still in the infant stage. A service provider like Mr. Insta can be useful in this respect. It provides various Instagram services like free Instagram followers, which can eventually help in aiding organic growth. This is very useful for new businesses at the grassroots, as new followers mean more visibility.

7. Building better relationship with followers

Instagram provides many opportunities for increasing the engagement levels of the audience. This can be done by replying to the customers’ comments and queries and engaging them in conversations. The idea behind this is to build a better relationship with the followers. The more a business is engaged and responsive to its followers, the more it builds trust with its followers and potential customers. Better relationships with the followers will eventually lead to more sales which will add to the bottom line of the company.

8. Developing a better understanding of the customers

It is imperative for a business, new or established, to understand the likes and dislikes of the target audience. However, the preferences of the target audience change from time to time. Instagram allows businesses to develop a better understanding of their customers. It is important because the target audience is not just statistical data about age groups or demographics. It comprises real people with varied behaviors. Hence, businesses should strive to understand the same and plan their marketing campaigns accordingly.

9. Photo centricity of the platform

Instagram is primarily a photo/video sharing platform. An average person remembers 80% of what they see. Hence, Instagram has a huge impact on the growth of business as the marketing campaign primarily makes use of photos and videos. And this remains in the memory of the Instagram users much longer, which can, in turn, can convert a follower into a loyal customer.

10. Cross promotion on other marketing channels

The benefit of using Instagram for promoting your business is that you can utilize the business insights for cross-promoting your brand. The traffic generated through Instagram can be utilized on Facebook, Google, etc., to regenerate the same. This helps in extending the reach of your business outside Instagram. This, in turn, creates more touchpoints for your brand.

How to create an Instagram business page?

You can leverage these benefits by creating an Instagram business page in a few simple steps:

Step 1: Download the Instagram app and sign up

The first thing you need to do is download the Instagram app and create an account on the platform if you don’t already have one. For signing up, you would need to provide your company name, business email address, username, and password. If you already have a business account on Facebook, you can use that to sign up on Instagram too. The most important part of this process is to make sure that your username on Instagram is closely related to your business’ name.

Step 2: Switch to a business account

After you have successfully set up your profile, the next thing you need to do is to switch your profile from a personal to a business one. To do this, navigate to the settings menu, which can be found by clicking on the three lines in the top-right corner of your profile page. After that, click on the ‘Account’ option from the Settings menu and choose ‘Switch to Professional Account.’

At this juncture, you will also get the option to make a ‘Creator’ account, which is meant for content creators, influencers, and public figures. If your business sells a service or product, then creating a business account is a better option.

Step 3: Customize your business profile

Before you start with Instagram marketing, it is important to customize your profile. This means choosing a profile photo that can easily be recognized by the audience and filling out the bio section. The bio should include information about your business, like its website, contact information, store hours, etc.

Step 4: Link to Facebook

To use some of the Instagram tools for businesses, it is important to have a Facebook business page too. Linking your Instagram business page to Facebook can be done from the ‘Business’ section in the Settings menu. All you have to do is select ‘Connect a Facebook page.’

Step 5: Start posting content and following people

Before your start with your business promotion, you need to post some introductory content on your Instagram business page. Besides this, you should also start following people and pages connected to your brand to get the ball rolling. Make sure to interact with people, as this will encourage them to visit your profile more often.

Setting up an Instagram business page is just the beginning. To derive all the aforementioned benefits from Instagram, you need to have a good Instagram marketing strategy in place. By employing the right methods, you will be able to see your business scale heights in no time.

Conclusion

Whether you own a large or a small business, effective use of Instagram as a marketing tool can help in building your brand identity and expanding your customer base. For small businesses who are just starting out, it is all the more useful as Instagram provides a ton of marketing opportunities at no cost. If you want targeted and fast growth of your business on Instagram, you can consider availing of the various premium Instagram services offered by Mr. Insta. Buy Instagram Views is one such service that provides you insights into the reach of your posts and the engagement they are able to generate. All the services provided by Mr. Insta are 100% safe and secure, and you would be able to see the results within 24 hours of placing the order. To know more, contact us today!