This blog post has been updated for 2019. As of February 2019, Instagram has a staggering over 1 billion active users, active monthly users, with 500 million of them utilizing Stories daily to keep their followers in the loop. It’s remarkable to think that Instagram was once considered the less sophisticated, less popular sibling of Facebook, primarily known for filtered food photos. These days, businesses have embraced Instagram as a key tool for driving revenue. Today, Instagram is a powerhouse with over 2 million advertisers and 25 million business profiles!

Via Instagram. I must confess, I’m guilty of reaching for my iPhone the moment my alarm goes off, immediately opening Instagram. There’s something so captivating and satisfying about beginning my day by scrolling through my visual feed. Double tapping on heart-worthy content is oddly energizing. While I’m well aware of the health recommendations against starting your day with screen time, it’s a guilty pleasure I haven’t managed to shake off (perhaps a good addition to my New Year’s resolution list). Thankfully, I’m not alone! My roommate is often caught scrolling through her feed in bed, and even my parents have joined the platform (my dad recently recited his entire follower list – thankfully it was a quick read).

Who’s Using Instagram in 2019?

So, who exactly is on Instagram? Is it predominantly a Harry Styles-obsessed demographic or a sophisticated group of retirees engaged in online chess matches? While the demographics are diverse, they tend to skew towards a younger audience. The largest user group falls between the ages of 18-34 (64%), followed by 35-54 year-olds (25%), then 13-17 year-olds (6%), and lastly, a mere 5% of adults over 65 (my mother proudly represents this 5%!). Even if this doesn’t perfectly align with your target audience, don’t dismiss the platform as a wasted opportunity. My prediction is that each year, the number of adults over 54 joining Instagram will steadily rise. Why this prediction? Because we’ve witnessed this trend with Instagram’s parent company, Facebook. As most are aware, Facebook originated at Harvard, gradually expanded to other prestigious universities, and now boasts a vast global presence, encompassing users of all ages, genders, ethnicities, and backgrounds. (I’d wager your parents are on Facebook.) Furthermore, being a Facebook subsidiary will only accelerate Instagram’s growth. Facebook boasts a staggering 1.5 billion daily active users and 2.3 billion monthly active users, a number that astonishingly continues to climb. According to Pew Research Center, a significant portion of Instagram users reside in urban areas (42%), followed by 34% in suburban areas and 24% in rural areas. When examining American adults, 39% of women and 30% of men use Instagram. However, when you focus solely on Instagram’s user base, the gender split is nearly even at 50/50. Examining the countries with the highest numbers of Instagram users offers additional insights:

• United States: 120 million users (37% of the population)
• India: 75 million users (6% of the population)
• Brazil: 69 million users (33% of the population)
• Indonesia: 62 million users (23% of the population)
• Turkey: 38 million users (48% of the population)
• Russia: 37 million users (26% of the population)
• Japan: 27 million users (21% of the population)
• United Kingdom: 24 million users (36% of the population)
• Mexico: 22 million users (17% of the population)
• Germany: 20 million users (24% of the population)

Considering the vast number of individuals who are either already active on or likely to join Instagram, shouldn’t your business be there too? Even dedicating a few minutes daily or weekly can make a difference. Instagram marketing can be particularly impactful for businesses in visual or creative industries, such as restaurants or craft businesses. This post will delve into the current state of advertising on Instagram, followed by 10 actionable tips that any business (yes, even those with a $0 marketing budget) can utilize to seamlessly integrate Instagram into their social media strategy. For a deeper dive into data, check out our dedicated Instagram demographics post.

The World of Instagram Advertising

Let’s talk about advertising on Instagram. While Instagram was initially hesitant to grant advertising access to all, businesses can now run ads as long as they have a business profile. This delayed rollout was intentional. An older blog post sheds light on their approach: “Our goal is for any advertisements you encounter to feel as organic to the Instagram experience as the photos and videos you already enjoy from your favorite brands.” Indeed, ads that blend seamlessly tend to perform best on the platform. Advertisers now have 5 ad formats at their disposal:

• Photo ads: Your classic Instagram post format
• Video ads: Similar to photo ads, but featuring a video
• Carousel ads: A slideshow-style ad that allows for multiple images
• Stories ads: Instagram’s version of Snapchat ads, appearing at the top of the feed
• Collection ads: A catalog-like ad showcasing your product range

The Power of Instagram Ads

According to Instagram, 60% of users discover new products on Instagram, and 20% visit a business profile daily. Additionally, a significant 33% of the most viewed Instagram Stories are shared by businesses. Similar to Facebook ads, investing in paid promotion on Instagram increases brand visibility and provides greater control over audience targeting.

Via Instagram. One key aspect advertisers should leverage is that Instagram utilizes Facebook’s demographic data for precise ad targeting. This is incredibly valuable for businesses aiming for a specific audience, as Facebook possesses extensive demographic targeting capabilities and a proven track record. Need further convincing? Explore Instagram’s success stories page where you can filter by industry, objectives, products, regions, and business sizes to uncover success stories from similar businesses leveraging Instagram advertising.

Travel brands marketing effectively on Instagram

Decoding Instagram Advertising Costs

But what about the cost of these Instagram ads? The pricing model revolves around CPMs (cost per thousand impressions). While Instagram ads generally enjoy higher engagement rates compared to Facebook ads, this comes at a price. Keith Baumwald, founder of Leverag Consulting, notes that Instagram ad costs are typically higher than Facebook’s. Baumwald highlights that due to the highly targeted nature of these ads, costs can reach up to $5 per CPM. According to CPC Strategy indicates that the average Instagram CPC is $0.70 (compared to Facebook’s average of $0.35). This figure tends to be higher for Instagram users aged 18-44, women, and Apple device users.

The positive side is that advertisers have significant control over budget allocation. You can set daily budgets to limit spending per day or lifetime budgets where ads run until the budget is exhausted. Additional ways to manage Instagram ad spend include scheduling ads (specifying particular hours for ads to run), selecting ad delivery methods (choosing from link clicks, impressions, or daily unique reach), and setting bid amounts (opting for manual or automatic bidding).

11 Tips for Building Your Brand and Growing Your Following on Instagram

Now that we’ve established the long-term value of Instagram for brand marketing, it’s time to create your account and start sharing captivating images with engaging captions and hashtags to expand your follower base. Upon reviewing some of the top-rated small to medium-sized businesses in Boston, I was surprised to find that many lacked an Instagram presence, and some hadn’t even claimed their business names on the platform. This represents a significant missed opportunity, as Instagram holds immense potential for converting leads, engaging partners, and nurturing existing customers (it’s a fantastic way to foster customer loyalty and even turn them into brand advocates!). These 11 Instagram marketing tips draw insights from both large brands like Nike and GE, who are excelling with sponsored posts, and smaller players like Localytics and General Assembly, who have successfully cultivated organic followings.

#1: Craft a Community Around an Actionable Hashtag

The beauty of this strategy lies in its versatility across platforms like Twitter and Pinterest, but it truly shines on Instagram, offering a perfect avenue for audience engagement. Nike’s execution with their winter campaign, “Choose Your Winter,” was brilliant. As an avid runner who braves the Charles River in freezing temperatures during Boston winters, I might be biased, but Nike truly nailed it. Instagram themselves acknowledged Nike’s ability to spark a movement with their #runfree campaign.

Smaller brands can equally leverage hashtag campaigns. Take Infatuation, for instance, a trendy restaurant review platform founded in 2009. I was oblivious to their existence until their hashtag, #EEEEEATS, began dominating my Instagram feed, accompanying my friends’ food pictures. The five E’s initially puzzled me. What was their significance? It dawned on me that Infatuation had ingeniously crafted this hashtag to cultivate an online food community for individuals who, according to their site, are “serious about food, but don’t take food too seriously.” The strategy has been remarkably successful, with over 8,417,214 posts featuring this ubiquitous hashtag used by food lovers worldwide.

What fuels this hashtag’s success? While operating within the delectable food industry certainly helps, Infatuation also generates captivating and geo-targeted content, as exemplified below.

Hashtags are also integral to Instagram SEO, boosting visibility in search results and driving even greater engagement.

#2: Align with a Cause that Resonates with Your Brand Values

I’ve observed brands adopting a unique approach by showcasing their partnerships with causes aligned with their values. SweetGreen, a personal favorite for salads, soups, and frozen yogurt, takes pride in sourcing local and organic ingredients from trusted farmers and partners. While their business decisions are consistently commendable, one stands out: their collaboration with the non-profit FoodCorps. This partnership aligns seamlessly with SweetGreen’s health-conscious ethos, as FoodCorps’ mission is to empower children to make healthier food choices. This particular SweetGreen post beautifully illustrates their FoodCorps partnership, demonstrating their shared values and what their company represents. It’s relevant, well-crafted, and raises awareness for the impactful work both organizations are doing. Aligning your brand values with your consumers’ values is marketing gold.

BONUS tip: Remember that Instagram, unlike Twitter, offers more generous character limits for captions. However, this doesn’t mean your captions should resemble novels. Short, engaging, and impactful is my recommended approach.

#3: Connect with Your Followers While Staying True to Your Brand

Always put yourself in your target audience’s shoes. You’ve likely developed buyer personas and understand your leads and customers. Now consider why they’re on Instagram. Is it to pass time? Catch up with friends? See what their children are up to? Let’s imagine you offer financial consulting services, and your clientele has a penchant for sports cars, often following popular car brands on Instagram. The solution seems simple: post pictures of luxurious sports cars! Not quite. You need to stay relevant to your offerings. Perhaps showcase an attractive sports car with a caption like, “Imagine cruising in this sleek BMW. Make smarter financial choices and it could be yours! Contact us for a free 30-minute consultation.” Then, refrain from excessive car posts; you don’t want your market thinking you’re in the automotive business. Harpoon Brewery excels at this. They consistently employ humor, showcase delectable recipes inspired by their beer flavors, and maintain seasonality by promoting seasonal brews. The post below exemplifies this. It features an adorable dog (who doesn’t love a cute pup?), the dog’s expression perfectly complements the caption, and their beer is subtly yet effectively branded.

#4: Avoid the Over-Posting Pitfall

This best practice is self-explanatory, but for Instagram newcomers, over-posting is a major faux pas! I vividly recall a friend who, upon joining Instagram, uploaded an entire Facebook album in one go, prompting friends to plead for mercy! If you’re tempted to share multiple images simultaneously, utilize Instagram’s album feature (released in February 2017), enabling you to create a carousel post with multiple images in a slideshow format. This prevents overwhelming your followers’ feeds and causing mass unfollows. A study by CoSchedule found that the optimal posting frequency for businesses on Instagram is 1-2 times per day, but no more or less. They also identified the ideal posting times as between 8:00 am – 9:00 am and 2:00 am (schedule those posts!). This is likely because people have more time to browse their feeds in bed or during their morning commutes (hopefully not while driving!).

#5: Promote Your Instagram Everywhere

This tip is also fairly straightforward. Promote your Instagram channel just like you would any other social network. For example, ensure your website and product pages feature social icons linking to your various social media channels, including Instagram.

Instagram Feed allows for seamless feed embedding within WordPress websites When setting up your Instagram account, connecting it to Facebook is a great starting point to pull in friends, but don’t stop there. Run Instagram campaigns across your social networks, encouraging employees, brand ambassadors, partners, and anyone with a positive brand affiliation to use your business hashtag and any relevant campaign-specific hashtags. Encourage your employees, particularly those who frequently interact with leads and customers, to include a link to your Instagram in their email signatures. Add your Instagram handle to your LinkedIn profile and business cards. Repost your Instagram content to your business Twitter and personal accounts. The possibilities are endless, but the key is visibility. Once your Instagram presence is enticing, get it in front of people and watch your follower base grow. Related: 157 Authentic Fall Hashtags to Harvest More Customers

#6: Uncover the Beauty in Your Brand (Even When It’s Seemingly “Ugly”)

Many B2B companies prematurely dismiss Instagram as irrelevant, assuming their products lack the visual appeal of food, fashion, or other aesthetically pleasing industries. I understand the sentiment, especially if you’re selling software. Images of your product might not be inherently captivating for your Instagram audience. However, don’t discount Instagram altogether. There are countless ways to build your brand without solely relying on product-centric photos!

Instagram of nexus-security employees experiencing the 2017 eclipse Capture moments in the office or showcase your work environment to offer followers a glimpse into your company culture. Involve your employees to lighten the load. For instance, create a unique hashtag for your company holiday party and encourage employees to use it when sharing pictures. This allows you to repost employee-generated content and leverage trending hashtags.

#7: Utilize Instagram’s Full Arsenal of Tools

Since its inception in 2010, Instagram has consistently evolved, introducing new features and enhancements (don’t worry, I’m not talking about Google algorithm update frequency). The platform offers numerous tools to enhance your photos, track performance, and stay informed about updates. Explore our list of favorite Instagram tools and keep these three tips in mind as you navigate the app:

• Master Instagram’s filters, special effects, and editing tools. Collaborate with your creative team to maximize the visual impact of your photos. Personally, I prefer manual editing, adjusting brightness, saturation, contrast, and occasionally using tilt-shift for an artsy, blurred background. If you’re a one-person show lacking photo-editing expertise, seek external opinions. Popular filters include Low-Fi, Valencia, and X-Pro II.
• Leverage Instagram’s Business Tools. These tools provide valuable insights into account performance, offering metrics like impressions, reach, profile visits, website clicks, call clicks, and email clicks. This feature is available to all business profiles, regardless of whether they’re running ads. Instagrammers can also gain insights into their follower demographics, such as gender breakdowns, age ranges, top locations, and peak engagement times.

Granular post-specific data is also accessible by clicking “View Insights” beneath a photo or video. This includes likes, impressions, reach, engagement, comments, and saves.

• Stay Informed About Instagram Updates. Instagram is dynamic and rapidly evolving. Given the success advertisers have witnessed, the platform will likely continue to prioritize business-friendly features as a revenue stream. Instagram already offers substantial support for businesses, dedicating a section of their website to business owners and marketers. I recommend subscribing to the Instagram For Business blog to stay ahead of the curve.

#8: Seek Inspiration from Others

“Borrow ideas from other companies.” This sage advice from my first manager has proven invaluable, particularly for Instagram. Countless incredible brands are thriving on the platform, and you should be following them. Draw inspiration from Charity Water, GoPro, Starbucks, Adidas, Taco Bell, the brands mentioned in this article, and those within your industry or related fields. Adapt their successful strategies while adding your unique touch. Beyond mimicking other companies, mimic your fans. Fast Company’s Rachel Gillet recounts, “In 2011, Chobani noticed that even before joining Instagram, their fans were already sharing pictures of their creative yogurt concoctions. Using hashtags like #creationaday and #chobani, fans showcased the yogurt as a key ingredient. Chobani smartly capitalized on this existing creativity to build their following.”

#9: Showcase Captivating Experiences Relevant to Your Brand

General Electric excels at this. Who would have thought wind turbines could be photogenic? The stunning photo below proves otherwise.

The Instagram blog emphasizes, “Show the world through your company’s lens and make it resonate with people.” Not a professional photographer? Not all of us can be Annie Leibovitz. Instead, launch a hashtag campaign (refer to tip #1) and share photos captured by your fans. We often witness breathtaking sunsets at the nexus-security office in Boston – another easy win for a compelling Instagram account.

#10: Interact to Expand Your Reach

We’ve discussed promoting your account, sharing engaging content, leveraging hashtags, and drawing inspiration from others. Another crucial element is interacting with your existing and potential followers. If you’re already producing follow-worthy content, start liking, commenting, and following others. TINT CEO Tim Sae Koo highlights, “Just as you expect engagement with your posts, others expect the same in return. The more active you are, the more exposure your username and account receive.” Explore popular hashtags and engage with other users. Leave genuine compliments on their posts and #regram images while crediting the original source. Protip: Enable post notifications for targeted accounts, allowing you to engage with their content promptly!

#11: Utilize Stories for an Inside Look

As mentioned earlier, half of Instagram’s active users engage with Stories daily. Moreover, a January 2019 Facebook study revealed that 66% of users believe Instagram is an effective platform for brand-consumer interaction. The takeaway? Leverage Instagram Stories to provide followers with a fun, behind-the-scenes peek into your business. Consider a brand you love, perhaps a snack brand like Doritos or a watch brand like MVMT. Imagine the enhanced connection you’d feel by getting a glimpse into their daily operations.

It’s a powerful way to forge deeper connections. This approach exemplifies how understanding your target audience’s perspective informs effective marketing strategies. Take nexus-security, for example. Through our blog, webinars, and nexus-security Live events, we’ve cultivated a brand that small business owners trust for online advertising insights. Given the trust we’ve built, it’s natural that many would be curious about the people behind the brand. That’s why we feature employee spotlights on our blog and leverage Stories for behind-the-scenes content – a surefire Instagram marketing tactic. These tips should provide a solid foundation for your Instagram journey. Grab your iPhone and start capturing those share-worthy moments! Now, I’m curious… Have you experimented with Instagram marketing for your business? Are you captivated by Instagram analytics? If so, what resonates most with your audience? Share your experiences below!