Bob Hutchins
Instagram is the social media platform every marketer wants to crack.
With its real-time flow of content, addicted user base, mobile-first philosophy, and lack of pay-to-play structuring… Instagram is a gem.
Instagram, As We Know It, Is About to Change…
Just a few short days ago, Instagram quietly switched its API, so that the ability to create and publish ads will soon become available to everyone. It’s projected that Instagram’s mobile ad revenue will skyrocket from its current $ 595 million per year to $ 2.8 billion per year by 2017.
Given how protective and cautious Instagram has been in putting ads in front of eyeballs, it will be interesting to see if the same level of quality and integrity is maintained in the coming months, as a growing pool of advertisers gain access to the platform.
Instagram Marketing – The Science of Instagram
While advertising on Instagram may change soon, Instagram marketing best practices will not. A new infographic from Kissmetrics breaks down The Science of Brands on Instagram, exploring what works (and what doesn’t) “on social’s most visual platform.”
We’ve included our main takeaways below, followed by the full infographic.
Reach, Engagement, Growth…
Instagram beats Facebook in all of these categories. Its 300 million monthly users have grown quickly (3x user growth in the last two years alone). The number of brand posts per week has risen from 7.5 per week to 9.3 per week. (By comparison, brand activity on Facebook has dropped YoY, falling from 11.1 posts per week in 2014 to 8.8 per week in 2015.) Unlike Facebook, Instagram can boast 100% organic reach.
Successful Brands on Instagram
The top five Instagram brands of all time are Nike (with a whopping 41.9 million users), Starbucks (20M), Adidas (12.1M), GoPro (10.5M), and Zara (13M). In the past year, there has been a 26% rise in brand fan bases. Many brands leverage user-generated content tactics to enrich their web experience: 14% of “prestige brands,” according to kissmetrics, plug Instagram content into their websites.
What Generates the Best Engagement on Instagram?
Don’t be deceived by all the filters. The true Instagram marketing experts know that no filter is typically the best way to go. Colors like green, yellow, and blue get better engagement, as do longer Instagram captions and captions that include questions.
What Do You Love (or Hate) About Instagram?
Do you find this platform exciting? Challenging? Why has your business decided to use or not use Instagram?
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