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Did you know that as many as 90% of Instagram users now follow a brand on the app? There are more people than ever before now turning to online shopping for their products and services. In fact, people are now using platforms like Instagram to primarily research products and services, as well as to gain advice and recommendations before purchasing.
As a small business, you could be really missing out if you’re not already taking advantage of the many benefits of using Instagram. Keep reading to find out more.
Why Instagram?
With over one billion active monthly users, Instagram has quickly become one of the fastest-growing apps around. The platform is continuously updating its features in order to fit the needs of consumers across the globe. It’s true to say that Instagram isn’t necessarily the most used social media platform in every country. However, what we do know is that it is the most popular worldwide amongst influencer marketing specifically.
Instagram is a highly visual platform. Because of this, it takes well to advertising and is the perfect place to get your product noticed by consumers. The platform is also rapidly adapting to suit businesses, not just general users. So, let’s dig a little deeper into this.
Instagram Shopping
In 2019, Instagram released a feature that really changed the game for e-commerce companies. Instagram Shopping is the platform’s in-app shopping area, designed not just for previously setup brands, but for a new business to open their shop here specifically. As every day goes by, the world is becoming more and more digital, being able to do or buy anything with just one click.
With Instagram Shopping, businesses from small to large can set up their shop, creating a product catalog for consumers to both browse and purchase within the app. The feature has particularly benefited small businesses that have previously struggled to get their name noticed. Everything is available under one platform, with the added benefit of marketing through the app, and of course, working with Instagram influencers too.
By utilizing Instagram Shopping, brands have managed to lower costs, manage labor more effectively, and increase brand awareness.
Working with Instagram influencers
One of the greatest things about using Instagram as a small business is the added benefit of working with influencers here. I would recommend incorporating influencers into your strategy through Instagram Shopping. But don’t worry, if you haven’t got an Instagram Shop set up yet, you can still make use of influencers on the platform.
You could check out the article that we have which explains in full detail how to use Instagram shopping as a brand or influencer. This covers things like how to set up your product catalog and how to give permissions for influencers to tag these products directly. What’s worth thinking about here, is that when an influencer tags a product from your catalog (with permission previously granted from your business), it means that consumers can click on the link in their photo, taking them directly to your brand’s product or business page, to then make a purchase straight away.
Without this feature, Instagram influencers are still a great addition to your marketing strategy. They can post a wide variety of content such as giveaways, tutorials, reviews, and unboxings, that will encourage viewers to head to your website themselves.
If your marketing goals are anything from increasing brand awareness, growing content creation, driving sales, or just improving website traffic, then Instagram influencers can really make this happen.
Finding Instagram influencers
In order to find influencers for your brand, there’s a few different methods that you could consider using. You may choose to search straight on Instagram yourself or instead, pay an agency to conduct your influencer campaign for you. Both of these methods are very different.
Searching yourself, although seeming lower in cost, can end up being time-consuming and a waste of labor resources. But on the other hand, hiring an agency can be extremely expensive and means that you lose total control of the campaign.
A great alternative is to work with an influencer marketing platform like Heepsy. By doing so, you can conduct the search yourself and still have full control of your campaign plan. But, the bonus is that you save a lot of time and effort by using a platform that can cater to your search needs.
Influencer marketing platforms allow you to search for influencers by using specific filters such as location, age, gender, and many more. Not only this, but you can then analyze these influencer profiles by looking at the data provided by artificial intelligence technologies.
Your search for Instagram influencers with Heepsy would look like this:
Keeping up to date with Instagram
Once you have decided to work with Instagram influencers, whether you have set up a shop in Instagram Shopping or not, it’s important to think about the content that they will post. The app is constantly updating its features, regularly adding those that are particularly beneficial to influencers.
As well as thinking about the type of content that your influencers will post, such as giveaways or tutorials, you will need to look into the media channel that will be used. For example, you could ask influencers to post a giveaway as a regular post, or you may ask that they post a tutorial on IGTV.
Take a look at recent updates like Instagram Live Rooms, where influencers are managing to continue to work with brands on campaigns to suit their marketing goals, through brand new channels.
Conclusion
To sum up, there’s really no hiding that Instagram has become the central platform for influencer marketing. It may seem like there is a lot of information to digest, but if you take the time to read up about the options available to you on the platform, then you’ll be sure to expand your business’ presence in no time! You may look for an Instagram bot to manage your account smoothly.
In the meantime, head over to Heepsy where you can not only find all of the information you’ll need to know but you can get started on finding the perfect influencers for your campaign today!
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