3 Ways Instagram Can Grow Your Audience and Increase Brand Awareness

By now I am sure everyone has heard the buzz around Instagram; arguably the most popular social media platform for getting validation on your pictures of absolutely everything from vacations, pets, and clothing, to my personal favorite the “LOOK ITS A CUP OF COFFEE.”

Besides being the go-to place to share your latest selfie, Instagram tapped into a new whole way for businesses to grow their audience and brand awareness.

Now you may be thinking to yourself, “How is posting a bunch of pictures going to help my business achieve our goals?”

This is a great question, and I am glad that you are skeptical. As a huge advocate of the platform, I have put together 3 reasons I believe you should give Instagram a shot.

Take a few moments to read them and if by the end you still don’t think Instagram is the right fit for your business I won’t take it personally.

1. Instagram is officially the coolest kid in school

If you were to combine the quarterback of the football team, the valedictorian, the prom king, and Danny Zuko (yes, that is a Grease reference), you would have Instagram. With 300 million active monthly users, Instagram is taking social media by storm.

If that doesn’t blow you away keep in mind that there have been more than 30 billion photos shared since Instagram was launched in 2010. Not to mention an average of 70 million photos shared daily, making its engagement 20x that of Twitter and 15x that of Facebook.

If you are a business looking to expand your social reach, I think you may have found a pretty viable option.

2. Show Potential Customers The Real “You”

It is time to break out of your shell and show potential customers what they are missing.

Every business has a story to tell, or a funny moment to share, and even a bit of inspiration worth spreading. Use Instagram to capture these moments and breathe a bit of life back into your company.

Whether you do a weekly happy hour or had an amazing company outing, share it. Do you have an office pet or funny theme days? Show your followers that you are not just a bunch of robots pushing a product or service.

If your audience likes you and is genuinely interested in getting to know your company, that will build a level of value and trust which will translate over to what you are selling.

3. Increase Traffic and Scale Your Business

You have your account set up, you are posting fairly regularly and are starting to see a pretty decent level of engagement. The ultimate goal here is to grow your traffic and in retrospect, your business.

Unlike Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter you can not just post a hyperlink along with your image and expect users to click through to your website. Instead, you are going to have to build your traffic through your bio. Your Instagram bio is the only area that you can share an active hyperlink; this is why building value and engagement with your followers is so important.

Use the comments section to engage with your followers and encourage them to click on the link in your bio which will direct them to a dedicated page.

Whether that is a service page, a product page, your "About Us" page, or even your homepage by building value, you can strategically direct your traffic to where you want them to land.

Key Takeaway: Snap, Chat, and Enjoy!

(Not to be confused with the app SnapChat)

When it comes to Instagram, have fun! You are inviting users behind the scenes. Engage them with interesting and exciting content and don’t be afraid to interact.

Check out what your followers are posting and look for opportunities to connect. Comment on what is going on in their lives and offices, share war stories with others in your industry, send a funny message out at the end of a hard work week. (I’m sure they could use it.)

There are many reasons why Instagram is a great social platform for businesses, but hopefully these 3 have peaked your interest and you will consider looking into setting up an account.

Stayed tuned for my next post where I will break down an entire social media campaign, how using all of the major social media platforms to your advantage can bring you success!