THERE IS NO DOUBT THAT SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING HAS SKYROCKETED IN RECENT YEARS. INSTAGRAM IS THE SECOND MOST POPULAR SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM IN THE WORLD, TRAILING SHORTLY BEHIND FACEBOOK. THERE ARE 400 MILLION ACTIVE USERS ON INSTAGRAM AND THEY ARE ALL LOOKING TO SOCIAL MEDIA BEFORE MAKING PURCHASING DECISIONS.

IF THAT ISN’T ENOUGH REASON TO USE INSTAGRAM FOR YOUR BUSINESS, CHECK OUT THESE OTHER INSTA-BENEFITS.

1. CONNECTING WITH CUSTOMERS.

Again, there are 400 million active users on Instagram and many of them are your customers. Instagram is a great way to engage your customer and build a relationship with them. You need to be where your customers are and they are all hanging out on Instagram.

2. LEARN WHAT PEOPLE LIKE.

Via Instagram’s Activity and Explore feeds, you can see exactly what your followers are “liking” and what’s popular in the area around you. To take that a step further, you can see what people are saying about you specifically by creating hashtags for your business and searching your location on Instagram.

3. REACH NEW AUDIENCES.

Not to be redundant but there is power in a hashtag. You can find new customers by searching popular hashtags that revolve around the interests of your target audience. Hashtags can also help potential customers find your business.

4. FUEL YOUR OTHER MARKETING CHANNELS.

Instagram is the perfect platform to easily distribute visuals to the world. You can quickly share your Instagram visuals on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Flickr.

5. GENERATE SALES.

Keep a high profile on your Instagram. The more often your customers see your posts the more often your customers are thinking about you, and when your customers are thinking about you, they are going to make purchases from your business.

6. BUILD TRUST IN YOUR BRAND.

People get to know your business through your Instagram. As you build their trust they will want to buy from you. People buy from their friends and through Instagram, you get to be their friend.

7. UPDATE PEOPLE ON YOUR PRODUCTS, SERVICES, DEALS AND PROMOTIONS.

Instagram provides a quick visual of all your latest offers. This allows your customers to quickly see what’s going on at your business.

If your business is not currently on Instagram you may want to reconsider the Insta-Benefits. Your competition is more than likely already established on Instagram. The sooner you start the better.