25 Feb 4 Ways to Engage Followers with Instagram

Instagram has quickly gained traction as a way to engage with current and potential customers in a way that has allowed it to differentiate itself from Facebook and Twitter. According to The Social Media Examiner, a social media blog, Instagram’s recent addition of a traditional web platform will allow companies to have more flexibility in using the tool for their business social media strategies.
The Social Media Examiner article outlines five key advantages to adopting Instagram. When using social media, there are several varying platforms which provide different types of functionality. However, the best practices of how to use social media are fairly constant, regardless of which tool you’ve adopted. There are four main uses presented below with some ideas about how Instagram can work for you. Again, these tactics can also be done with other types of social media like Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest and others.
One of the main goals in using social media is to engage customers in a way that causes them to buy more from you. Instagram (and again other platforms as well) creates a conduit for businesses to connect with customers and engage them in real time with activities and opportunities to interact.
Contests
Several companies have successfully used Instagram to host contests. The idea is ask people to share a photo based on a central contest theme to win a prize. The advantages of this approach are two fold: first, it encourages users to interact with the company or product, and second, if the photo contest is based on using the product, it can also educate customers or inspire them to use the product by seeing it in action.
Picture Sharing
A static website is great for sharing product images, but you’re not necessarily going to update your website every day. With Instagram, you can upload new product pictures and interact with followers in real time.
Live Updates
If something exciting is going on in an industry, such as a tradeshow or special event, Instagram can act as a live news source and business social media users can post updates to keep audiences up to date and engaged.
Featured Customers
It’s very flattering to be considered a thought leader, and many customers would love to be featured on your Instagram site. By taking customer action shots and sharing them with followers, your company gains credibility and also gets real users involved. Just make sure you get permission before you take pictures and start posting them on the Internet.
The main idea behind Instagram is that it’s an effective way to engage customers and create content that is relevant to them.
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