You don’t know what Instagram is? Instagram is a social networking site, which allows its members to photo and video share across the social networking board. Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Flickr all support Instagram server stored Images, and that’s a big deal! Instagram was acquired by Facebook in 2012 for an estimated $1 billion in cash & stocks. 
We like Images
There’s something very special and satisfying about an appealing image. Granted, each person and their preference, responds differently to a picture and its content/composition. I do however believe that when seeing the perfect sunset image, the majority of us will notice a heart melting sensation. It relates, it makes us remember how beautiful the world can be, and thus; happy.
Have you ever heard the expression: ‘Eating with the eyes’? The Guardian featured an article in 2014, titled: ‘Eating with the eyes’. It suggests that our sense of taste leads the way when it comes to eating. – Spence, C. Oxford professor of experimental psychology (2014) had a quote featured in this article and it reads the following:
“People’s perception is typically dominated by what their eyes see”.
This supports my personal view on Instagram adding huge value to any business. We as consumers and customers identify with images, as much as we potentially can with a brand. Images satisfy us and we feel more engaged when individuals or companies decide to relay information in picture format. It’s personalising.
Instagram just like any other social networking site has had a huge impact on us all. Instagram currently boasts the fact that more than 30 billion photos have been shared on their platform. With more than 2 billion likes per day! With such exposure it certainly makes a compelling argument as to why your business should be utilising Instagram.
Here’s a time-line demonstrating Instagram’s impressive growth during a 12 month period dating 10.2010 – 09.2011, collected and edited by Viticci, F. (2011).
Figure 1 shows stats Instagram is boasting on their business landing page:
- October 6th, 2010: Instagram released on the App Store.
- December 7th, 2010: Instagram gets inline viewer on Twitter.com.
- December 21st, 2010: Instagram reaches 1 million registered users.
- January 27th, 2011: Instagram 1.1 is out with hashtag support and some optimizations.
- May 23rd, 2011: Instagram announces25 million users.
- August 3rd, 2011: 150 million photos have been uploaded to Instagram.
- September 20th, 2011: Instagram 2.0 released.
- September 26th, 2011: Instagram hits 10 million users.
Yes, that is indeed a growth of 10 million users in less than 12 month. A strong reason as to why businesses use Instagram.
Fig. 1 Instagram (2015)
As part of a joint case-study, Mercedes Benz and Instagram revealed that there was an increase of 54% to website visits due to Instagram and Facebook branding ads. There was also a 580% increase in website visits when Facebook and Instagram Ads were combined with Facebook direct response ads.
Jillard, E GM, Marketing Services Mercedes-Benz USA (2014) added the following response to the case-study:
“A Compact SUV for the Millennial Lifestyle using Instagram as part of our digital advertising mix means we can meet young buyers on their home turf. With branding advertising on both Instagram and Facebook, site visits jumped more than 50%. Combine that with our direct response Facebook campaign and the impact on lift was tenfold, driving users to our GLA model page to further interact with the product.”
Conclusion
Like any other social media platform, it is imperative to communicate and interact with your followers. Electronic word of mouth is bigger than ever and personalising with fellow Instagram users, slowly but surely bonds us through imagery. No longer do we need to feel estranged from the brands that surround us. They make us feel like they understand, because they share the same vision. It’s a picture and it’s on Instagram.
References
Spence, C. (2014). Eating with the eyes. Available: http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2011/jan/28/food-multi-sensory. Last accessed 14th May 2015.
Viticci, F. (2011). Instagram Hits 10 Million Users in 355 Days – A Brief Retrospective. Available: http://www.macstories.net/stories/instagram-hits-10-million-users-in-355-days-a-brief-retrospective/.Last accessed 13th May 2015.
Instagram. (2015). Share your Brand’s Unique Point of View with Instagram. Available: https://business.instagram.com/. Last accessed 14th May 2015.
Instagram. (2014). A Compact SUV for the Millennial Lifestyle. Available: http://instagram-static.s3.amazonaws.com/MB_CaseStudy_FINAL1.pdf. Last accessed 14th May 2015.