Building your Following on Instagram

Instagram is one of the latest and greatest platforms, but it can be tough to acquire a following on it. And, with its younger demographic, the platform may not be the right one for your company. Here’s some quick stats on Instagram to help you determine if it fits for your business:

• Launched in October 2010
• Over 65% of the Instagram community is located outside of the United States
• 200 million monthly active users
• 20 billion photos shared (so far)
• 1.6 billion likes and 60 million photos shared each day
• Over 2,500 brands have joined Instagram (so far)
• The top 3 brands on Instagram are Nike, Starbucks and the NBA

Instagram started as a mobile site, focuses on creativity and, for right now at least, does not use ads (though that’s likely to change). So, now that you’re ready to begin growing your following, where should you start?

Focus on sharing experiences. Use your creativity and have fun with it! Give your followers a backstage look at your company, not only the glossy center stage look.

Create content that is timely, topical and seasonal. Christmas cookies at Christmas, fireworks at the Fourth of July, a community car wash on Labor Day—all of it.

Use hashtags to create awareness of you and your brand—especially during campaigns. But don’t use too many hashtags—your followers will skip over them anyway.

Remember your goals and objectives before you ‘gram—don’t just post for the sake of posting. Your audience will get fed up if their feed becomes a diary of your brand’s life. Post no more than 2-3 pictures a day.

Instagram can give your brand reach with a wider, more diverse audience. The app which started out for the young and artistic has evolved—and you can expect the demographic to widen in 2014.

What do you think? Will you be trying out Instagram as your new company platform?