Building a large and engaged following on Instagram will help you build your brand and spread brand awareness. However, the goal of most businesses that use Instagram is to turn these followers in to loyal customers who will not only buy from you, but tell others about you and encourage them to do the same.
One of the great strengths of Instagram as a social sharing site is that it’s used for shopping. This is not the case with Facebook, Twitter and most other major social media sites. Businesses find it difficult to make sales using these other sites, but Instagram’s younger demographic uses the site not only to share content, but also to buy.
IconoSquare conducted a study in 2015 which found that of the 16,000 users asked, 70% of them said that they’d already searched for a brand they like on Instagram. Of the respondents, 62% said that they followed certain brands using the site simply because they love the brand. Unlike other social media sites, Instagram users actively seek out the brands they love.
One reason for this is that Instagram users tend to be younger people who are accustomed to shopping online and using social media to make buying decisions. Separate studies in 2014 by Frank N. Magid Associates, Cowen & Company and AVG found that nearly half of 18-29 year-olds and over 60% of 11-16 year-olds had used Instagram in the last month, while only about 20% of baby boomers and even fewer of those older reported the same.
Don’t take these statistics too seriously if your market is older since numbers like these can change quickly. Traditionally, as older age groups start using a social site, such as Instagram, more and more, the younger groups start shifting their loyalties to other social media sites, such as SnapChat!
Engaging and Encouraging Shares
The best way to convert Instagram followers into customers is to encourage them to get involved, share, comment, and so on. More good news about Instagram: A social analytics and research service called Socialbackers conducted a study which found that on average, an Instagram post sent to 10,000 users resulted in 331 likes, shares, or “re-grams.” Compare this to only 7 out of 10,000 users doing the same on Twitter. The study clearly illustrates that Instagram users love to interact with the content they see.
There are many ways you can leverage this engagement and turn your Instagram followers into customers. In this blog series, I will cover a few good methods.
Leave a Reply