Instagram And Facebook: A Powerful Combo!

Dorien Morin-van Dam November 18, 2014

Got Facebook?

There is no question about it: if you have a Facebook page for your business you OUGHT to incorporate Instagram into the mix.

Facebook bought Instagram back in early 2012 (the deal was announced on April 09, 2012) and the latest Stats reveal that there are 200 million Active Monthly Users on Instagram. With an even ratio of Male to Female users and being a Mobile based platform (you can only publish photos from your Mobile phone) you can safely assume that a great percentage of your customers carrying a mobile phone with them are, at least, potential Instagram users. If they’re not, why don’t YOU give them a reason to start?

Here are some ideas you can implement on your virtual or brick and mortar shop to encourage your visitors to use Instagram. It is a very simple but efficient way to get valuable User Generated Content that you can then use for social proof in your online marketing strategy:

Choose a Hashtag relevant to your shop or product, combine it with popular hashtags to get new, targeted followers that could become your customers.
Display it physically near the counter where people will approach the shop manager and can get an explanation about what that’s all about. You can make a beautifully framed one with your exclusively chosen hashtag.
Provide an incentive for customers to ‘Instagram’ photos from your shop or when using your products elsewhere: it could be a coupon or a discount in the form of a contest.
Cross promote between Facebook and Instagram: Let your followers on each platform know that they can also follow you in the other one and give them an incentive to do so.

Two Examples To Get User Generated Content:

The sit down shop:

You have a shop with tables for your customers to have a drink or a snack (it could be a bar, a snack bar, a tea room, or a coffee shop). Create a hashtag with the name of your shop and display it on the walls. Explain that anyone who posts a photo on Instagram using that hashtag enters a drawing or gets a FREE drink then and there. Once the photo is on a social platform, it is public domain and free to re-use. (I suggest using Repost App or something similar to give full credit to the original ‘grammer.’) You can then use the best photos on your Facebook marketing or on your website showing happy customers in your shop. This is the best invite you can put out there for others to want to feel that joy reflected on those images.

The e-shop:

Do you sell jewelry, cushions, name tags, clothes, paintings or anything else on the internet? Make sure you are using the Instagram-Facebook combo. Let your Facebook fans know about your Instagram hashtag and think of a giveaway (a contest is probably the best way to go in this case). Can you imagine all those fans posing for Instagram photos wearing your necklace or resting on your cushion? Or even just your piece of art on their table? You can then post it on your Facebook page and include it on your e-shop as Social proof. It is VERY IMPORTANT to point out to them about using the hashtag so you can find the posts in the social feeds.

What else can you do with this Instagram and Facebook page combo?

You can post from your Instagram account directly to you Facebook page if you are an iOS user (this doesn’t work on Android devices yet). You can set it up from your Share Options on Instagram. The default Facebook sharing destination is your personal timeline but you can change it to your Facebook page.

You must be careful to maintain some sort of branding to the kinds of photos you share from Instagram to Facebook, meaning they need to be consistent (in color, font or design) with your graphics there. Some photos should be shared only in Instagram. However, there are some special moments that can be captured and passed through the magic Instagram filters that will look amazing on your Facebook page’s timeline. For example, if you’re an artist or an artisan (and cooks are included as artists here), you can ‘Instagram’ visuals of what inspires you, and choose a few for Facebook to share simultaneously or at a later time.

Instagram 15 seconds videos:

Facebook is favoring and encouraging video sharing. Newsfeeds are full of videos and Facebook chooses to show them more frequently on Facebook (and they have a very large reach!). Instagram allows you to make 15 second videos that turn out quite nicely once the editing options of Instagram have been applied. You can also share these directly to Facebook or you can put a series of them together using a video editing tool. (I use the Capture App on my mobile phone. It allows you to upload the video(s) to YouTube later after which you can embed them in your blog or share on Facebook.)