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Instagram For Business

Posted by Kacey Trent on July 26, 2013

Instagram is the new craze that has taken over the social media world. Everyone has jumped on the Instagram bandwagon including hipster high school students, stay at home moms, music moguls, break through actors and actresses; even Oprah has her own Instagram account. Facebook even took recognition with the new craze and bought out the application for $1 billion, just so their name could be connected with this ingenious simplistic cinematography notion.

As of recently Instagram has gained awareness of just how popular they are becoming, and are now pointing their lens in another direction through advertising, marketing, and business engagement. Businesses are quick to jump this trend because not only is it a fun way to market your product but it’s also free and its popularity is growing supersonically, which leads to added consumer impressions and participation (hence the title of this blog article).

As I browsed through Instagram I came across a few businesses (B2C and B2B) that I believe are really showing us what their brand stands for and who is doing it right. Here are my top Instagram picks:

B2C on Instagram

Urban Outfitters

As a retail chain, they are known for selling hip, expensive, kitschy, catlike and ironic merchandise. They are known for catering to “hipster” culture and fashion, which incorporates an influence from past decades. Urban Outfitters depicts their brand with fun, happy, and colorful photos. It really looks like the people at Urban Outfitters are having a BALL and loving life.

Virgin America

Virgin America Airlines allows the public to hashtag their flights to #virginamerica so they can follow their customers and their trips. The images make flights look more like parties than solely methods of transportation. This image shows Joe Jonas, Jamie Presley, and Real Housewife of Miami Adrianne in the background, all enjoying their first class flight to Las Vegas. Anyone on this flight was one lucky passenger. The lighting in the cabin makes it look more like a dance club than an airplane.

American Express

This financial company provides it’s over 20,000 followers with backstage access to Am Ex-sponsored events, such as concerts, fashion shows, and the U.S. Open. This picture puts a spin on things; showing off everyone’s must have weekend essentials, topped off with an Amex card of course.

B2B on Instagram

Adobe

The developers behind Photoshop are resourceful when it comes to sharing original photos. They often show their employees using their software and communicate on their events.

General Electric

The company engages its audience with a look at everything from their hard-at-work engineers to the products and services they offer. There’s a definite wow factor at work here, as GE shows off their larger than life technology. GE also uses Instagram to mark special occasions, such as National Inventors’ Day, run photo contests, and share images submitted by contest winners to gain greater engagement.

Sony

Sony captures their audience’s attention by displaying their renowned products in different, creative ways. Sony tells their story though Instagram with pictures of cute animals, smiling children, and travel. Sony’s corporate culture seems to be one of happiness, humor, and strength.

Mailchimp

Mailchimp, an online email marketing solution that manages contacts, send emails and tracks results using the social media platform Instagram to show off their companies comical, laid back culture, the people at mailchimp always look like they are having a great time.

Intel

Intel knows how to interact on Instagram, they recently held a quick contest called #WorkspaceWednesday to engage with their audience. 140 photos of Intel-powered products were shared.

Did you know?

Instagram has…

• 100 million Monthly active users

• 40 million Photos are uploaded per day

• 8500 Likes per second

• 1000 Comments per second

The Business Blog

Instagram recently came out with a Blog dedicated to its entrance within the business realm. Instagram for Business, Instagram states they are excited to see “how businesses are using Instagram to create genuine connections with their followers, to share who they are and what their brand stands for, and to engage with the Instagram community.” They want this blog to be a “resource for businesses — a way to discover what other business accounts are doing on the platform and to learn tips and tricks for how to use Instagram from a business perspective.”

These are just a few examples of how businesses are using Instagram as a platform to display their products and gain consumer engagement. While displaying your photos for marketing purposes you want to know which photos are gaining the most likes and forming the most impressions, right? Statigram is a free tool that pulls all your analytics from your Intagram so that you are able to track all activity and be aware of which photos are helping and which photos may be hindering your company’s brand.

Join The Conversation

Which B2B businesses do you think is doing the best job on Instagram by incorporating video and film? Do you have any in mind that weren’t mentioned? If so please let us know! We love to hear about them and see what they are doing to make the Instagram world a better B2B place to be!