When I’m not churning out blogs for Penguin Strategies, I like to spend my time behind my camera. I enjoy playing the amateur photographer – A LOT. I’m also a little bit of an Instagram evangelist, even if I’m a little lazy about using it (unlike our resident Twitter evangelist). Instagram, just like all of the other social media platforms, can also be utilized for B2B social media. The challenge is how!
A couple of weeks ago a friend came up and asked me what Instagram is. Similar to Twitter, you can tag or categorize your photos with captions. Before posting your photo, you can edit it and apply a bunch of different filters. It’s like a heavily watered down version of “Photoshop.” I follow people and subjects that interest me, for example the “London Independent” as well as a bunch of my college friends and colleagues. There are 60 million photos shared each day as well as 1.6 billion likes daily on Instagram. Just like any other platform, the number of followers you have should always be higher than the number of people you’re following.
There are some really awesome examples for huge brands using Instagram – GE, Oracle, Intel, and Marketo are just a few. Just to give you an example Intel has 474 post and 24797 followers. Each of these companies are communicating in a simple way with their target audience, sharing everything from sneak peeks of new products, to “a day in the life” of an employee. By sharing images, brands are showing that they’re human and showcasing their company culture. This includes photos of anything from Oracle’s cycling team to Intel’s staff on a volunteer day.
In short, Instagram improves brand awareness and image, strengthens customer relationships, and takes your story to your audience.
Instagram may appear to be silly and not worth your time, but it’s always worth reaching out in a way you haven’t tried yet.