Insta-what? Yes, Instagram, a platform known for #selfies and #ootds, can actually help in boosting up the online presence of your business while creating a human side to your enterprise. You might be focused too much on using Facebook or Twitter for your online marketing strategy, but now that Facebook is limiting promotional posts beginning this January (meaning you’ll have to pay for promotional content), engaging customers may become a challenge.

What really are the factors involved in marketing your business on Instagram? Liku Zelleke from Top Ten Social Media has listed down these few things that make Instagram one of the best platforms in online marketing:

One of the best ways a business can create a great following is by making sure the public knows the community behind the brand. Posting pictures of the people that drive the business makes it more familiar to the general public. The “family” image goes very far. This is especially true in the business’ early years or when it is still dealing with customers in a relatively small community. Nothing builds loyalty better than the sense of knowing the people behind the business.

Putting a human face to brands, especially for small businesses, continues to be a trend and will still be relevant this coming year, and social media has caused all this. With social networking sites connecting people, brands have realized that they can encourage positive interaction between them and their potential customers.

That’s not all, however, because an effective Greenville, SC marketing strategy acknowledges that a visual content can also be effective in building up your brand:

There are businesses that implement online marketing strategies that are specifically aimed at creating an online brand image. But, what more can present a sharper image more than, well, a picture? By consistently sticking to a theme, a small business can ensure that its name is related to a specific product or service. Be sure you come up with some creative Instagram business hashtags too.

It is known that hashtags are key in leading people to your content. Hashtags can actually generate more traffic on your Instagram account, which can lead people to your website. This requires meticulous observation, however, as you have to keep track of what is trending and how you can utilize these trends to promote your content.

Instagram is a relatively smaller social media platform than Facebook, focusing more on images rather than words, but it has been found to have a significantly higher engagement rate on posts than other social media sites. Fortunately, a reliable ad agency in Greenville, SC, like Spark Local Marketing, can help you reach more people through diverse online marketing strategies, including Instagram.

(Source: 10 Ways Small Businesses Use Instagram For Marketing, Top 10 Social Media)