This is a tricky question to answer because the metrics do not line up with the realities, especially when comparing what businesses can sell and what Instagram influencers can sell. It is as layered as a giant onion, so let’s peel back the issue and have a good whiff.
Segmenting The Issue
As you know, there are many types of businesses, many ways to advertise a business, and many ways to capture your potential client’s interests. Add this to the Instagram infrastructure, and you have quite a mess of ideas, so here is how the issue will be segmented.
- How businesses may outright market their company
- How businesses market their Instagram account in order to gain influence
- The realities of influencer marketing and what an influencer can actually do
- Paying for Instagram advertising from the platform itself
- Buying Instagram accounts to buy your way into an audience
- Fire and forget marketing
- Bot marketing and its various pitfalls
How will segmenting the issue help you figure out the best reasons to use Instagram for your business? Well, once you know how the infrastructure works, and once you know what you “Can” do, you can generate your own reasons for using Instagram.
Outright Marketing to People
Put up images and videos of your products. Show them in use, show tutorials, unboxings, and lots of product-centric content. Avoid time-sensitive offers, unless they are through disposable video stories that delete after 24 hours.
Gaining Influencers on Instagram
Perhaps one of the trickiest prospects. It may be easier to sell to people directly on Instagram than it is to build a following. This is because maintaining a following is difficult. Try to have a gimmick. It doesn’t have to set you apart, it just has to be something people recognize when they scroll.
Influencer Realities
Unless you are selling makeup, clothing, or a minority of niche products, then Instagram influencers cannot move anything. The sheer number who try to sell health shakes and fail is staggering. Vet and test your influencer and pick very wisely. Choose relatively unknown models with a few thousand followers and take a piecemeal approach to market.
Paying for Advertising
It has to be said that Instagram adverts are probably some of the best in the social media business. They have a way of showing users exactly what they want. If you become a talented Instagram marketer, using Meta’s own advertising platform, then you can make some very cost-effective conversions.
Buying an Account
You can buy Instagram accounts from social media marketplaces. Pick a few that are within your budget and exploit their followers. You can promote your own Instagram accounts, or just plain market your products to them and convert them directly.
Fire and Forget Marketing
It is possible to shoot off a few Instagram posts every now and again, and eventually, one will go viral and your Instagram account will receive interest. This is a good reason to use Instagram if you are recycling or off-shooting content byproducts from other social media platforms.
Bot Marketing
There are two ways (several if you are a massive corporation). The first is to buy likes and followers so that you look influential when you post adverts. This, however, will make it difficult for your content to trend. The second is to use follow-you follow-me bots, which are still pretty effective if you don’t get shadow banned or blacklisted, but your followers are very untargeted.
Do Any of These Appeal to You?
If any of these methods appeal to you, and you think you can implement a marketing campaign using them, then they are your reasons to use Instagram for your business. Plus, even if you fail, you at least have a portfolio of content to show people who are interested in your business in the future.
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