The engagement rate on Instagram is higher than the engagement rate on any other social media platform
By David Onjili
In the age of the Internet, your business cannot afford to be absent on social media platforms. Social media ought to be an essential piece of your marketing strategy. Social platforms help connect businesses with customers, increase awareness about your brand, and boost your leads and sales. With more than three billion people around the world using social media every month, it’s no passing trend.
Instagram is one of those sites that are currently on a growth trajectory in this respect. Despite its association with the entertainment industry, it remains indispensable for businesses.
Although purchased by Facebook in 2012 for $1 billion, Bloomberg has estimated that as a stand-alone company, Instagram is worth an estimated $100 billion as at December 2019. The platform boasts of more than a billion users worldwide. Cristiano Ronaldo, with 204 million followers, is the most followed individual on the platform. An egg placed to stand with a white background is the most liked image on Instagram with 53m million likes and counting. Meanwhile, the pizza is the most shared item on the platform.
During his spare time working as an engineer, Kevin Systrom, a Stanford University graduate taught himself how to code, which enabled him to develop an app. He named the app Burbn, for he always enjoyed a bourbon and whisky. The objective of Burbn was to plan, check location where good drinks could be found and share it amongst peers.
Weeks later at a party, Systrom met venture capitalists and fronted the idea to them. They jumped onboard and provided him with funding. Realising the potential of Burbn, Systrom resigned from his engineering job, tapped his Stanford University friend, Brazilian Mike Krieger, and the two led efforts to engineer the app, including changing the name from Burbn to Instagram.
Prior to what Instagram is today, a strictly photo sharing platform allowing users to like and comment on pictures, it previously had always had options for users to check-in their locations and also message each other. Systrom and Krieger decided that it would best if it simply remains a photo sharing platform. On 26th October 2010, it took off and a year later there was a bid from Twitter founder, Jack Dorsey, to buy it. The estimated $500m was turned down before Facebook bought it.
Why advertise on the platform?
According to Salman Aslam, the founder and CEO of Omnicore, a global healthcare digital advertising and marketing agency, there are 1 billion monthly users on Instagram – 500m use the platform daily. 25m businesses are on the platform, which generate 4.2b likes daily. 100m plus photos and videos are uploaded every day. Females account for 56.3 percent of users on Instagram with males making up 43.7 percent. 72 percent of teenagers worldwide use the platform, with users spending an average of 28 minutes daily.
There exist 2m monthly advertisers and 25m business profiles on Instagram. As at the end of 2019, advertising revenue on the platform had hit $20b. 70 percent of shoppers admit to using the platform while 200 million Instagrammers visit 1 business profile daily.
How do you advertise on Instagram?
For you to run an Instagram advert, you must first have a Facebook Page using which you create a business profile on Instagram. You then select your ad objective and target audience. Instagram can also automatically create an audience for you. You then decide how long the ads will run and what budget you are comfortable spending. Once this is done, you click on publish and your ad can run.
Paid advertising on Instagram can be an effective way for your business to connect with your potential customers and achieve objectives such as sending traffic to your website, increasing your website conversions and. boosting amount of app installs and app engagement.
Instagram is a massive, ever-growing community. The engagement rate on Instagram is higher than the engagement rate on any other social media platform, especially for purchasing purposes. As long as your product is visually engaging, you could drive purchases which are beneficial for your return on investment.
Email your news TIPS to Editor@nairobilawmonthly.com, and to advertise with us, call +254715061658 anytime of the day
