Among the social networks, Instagram is undoubtedly the rising and shining star. The platform which was started by Kevin Systrom and Mike Kreiger in 2010 was purchased by Facebook in 2012 for $1 billion when the company had just 3 employees. If you are a marketer or at least looking to promote your brand, understanding and utilizing Instagram is imperative. Website Builder recently released a new infographic full of facts and statistics about the image-centric network, many of which can help you formulate your marketing strategy.
Huge audience for marketers
With more than 600 million monthly active users and a total of 40 billion shared images, Instagram is bigger than Twitter and its popularity shows no sign of slowing down. These sheer numbers alone made it ripe for reaching your target audience. As long as you use the right image and hashtag, your business can draw more consumers. The good news is that more than 50% of Instagram users follow at least one business, so the possibilities are endless.
Brand engagement is the highest
Despite not having as many active users as Facebook, the data suggests Instagram users are more likely to engage with businesses that post regularly. About one-third of Instagram users are also willing to make purchases, visit a website or refer friends, if they have been captivated by your post.
Users are highly active
Only about 20% of the Instagram users are from the USA. The other 80% users are from different countries. This makes it possible for any business in any country to reach its target audience. Furthermore the usage of Instagram has more than doubled since 2012. Instagram users are active throughout the week while peak activities were observed during the middle of the week. Instagram has emerged to be the second most utilized app, next only to Facebook. More than 59% of the Instagram users check the app daily and it provides a great opportunity for marketers to reach out to their audience.
Advertising revenue forecast favors Instagram
Advertising on Instagram is in its budding stage as the platform currently focuses on providing new features to the users. The introduction of Instagram stories and live videos are useful for brands to advertise easily to their followers. Direct messages and Instagram shopping feature are useful to send your product information directly to customers. By 2017, Instagram is expected to bring in ad revenue of $3 billion, contributing 10% of the revenue for its parent company, Facebook. As the platform matures to bring more ad revenue, new modes of advertising will be available for marketers. When the competition becomes tougher, costs will rise. So be sure to jump on the bandwagon now!
Despite the huge growth of Instagram, only 31% of B2C marketers find the platform to be very important for marketing. Others trust Facebook and twitter for business growth. The time is just right to experiment your marketing strategies on Instagram so that you can utilize the advanced advertising opportunities later.
