As the world continues relying more and more on the internet, it has become increasingly necessary that businesses move into this virtual, online space to boost their business prospects and opportunities. 

This is done through online marketing which is the use of tools and methods provided by the online environment to promote your business products and services.

Social media and Online marketing

Bulk, if not all of the online marketing activities are done through and on social media. This is because social media presents a platform for various kinds of individuals who would likely fit into your business’s target audience. 

Without social media, online marketing would have lower chances of success.

Social media platforms such as FaceBook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Twitter have been regarded as gold by businesses that operate purely online (like the mini-importation business).

Instagram as a social media tool

Instagram is one of the world's most popular social networking platforms which Facebook acquired in 2012. It has offered a means of direct interaction between high-profile individuals and celebrities with their fans. 

Over the years, the platform has grown tremendously in its number of users and hence presented itself as a means to reach various categories of individuals over the space. 

Currently, Instagram has up to 1 billion monthly active users. Because of this, businesses have seen it as an opportunity to explore and enhance their business ideas and prospects.

What are the features and advantages of using Instagram for online marketing?

1. It increases brand awareness due to its large user database and the picture-centric nature of the platform. You would need considerable time to develop your presence on this platform.
2. It offers a lower cost of generating leads in social media advertising than the traditional means of advertising on television or radio, which would be expensive.
3. It provides you with a better insight and understanding of your audience through its analytics report. These reports would highlight the areas of preference of your target audience.
4. It increases your website traffic and rankings when you direct your Instagram audience to your business webpage.
5. It ultimately generates an increase in sales after boosting brand awareness and website traffic.

How can I use Instagram in growing my business?

1. Increase your product's popularity on the platform by sharing attractive images and videos of the product on the platform. Having a high number of followers on the platform would also help in boosting the popularity of your business.
2. Endeavour to create and release new trends from time to time. You can employ hashtags on your posts to inform your viewers of what’s new. Creativity would help here as you can join a popular trend uniquely or create your new trend entirely with the proper hashtags.
3. Connect it to other social media platforms such as Facebook or Twitter. This would push your Instagram traffic along your other social media platforms and engage with you in those spaces. Customers would likely trust a business more when it appears on more than one social media platform.
4. Employ the use of paid and sponsored ads. Such paid and sponsored ads can be tailored to your specific audience. Instagram would push these ads out far and wide across the platform and boosts your chances of securing international attention.
5. Improve the reliability of your Instagram account by ensuring that all information customers and international clients would require about your business can be found on the platform. Customers may tend to be reluctant in engaging with your business when they notice a vital piece of information missing from your business description.

Conclusion

Due to the traffic and a large number of Instagram users, amongst other things, you can strategically employ Instagram in growing your business. 

SmartSMSSolutions is also here to assist in growing your business by helping you communicate directly to your customers and clients on a large scale through Bulk SMS. 

You can register with us by simply signing up. 

If you already have an account with us, you may proceed to log in to your account.

We provide a service that would complement your use of Instagram to grow your business. We can further grow your business prospects on Instagram by sending them a direct message to their mobile phones through Bulk SMS. 

You can enjoy these services by registering an account with us or logging in to your account if you already have an account with us.

If you enjoyed reading this article, you may like our article on the role of e-books in business marketing.