Originally published 03-02-2018. Updated 2-21-2025.
Since its launch, Instagram has transformed from a platform for sharing pet photos, food pics, and selfies into a powerful marketing tool for businesses.
Today, a strong social media presence plays a key role in how consumers perceive a brand’s credibility. With features like ROI analytics, shoppable posts, Instagram Stories, and IGTV, Instagram has become an essential platform for businesses looking to build their brand and drive results.
Today we’re focusing on an incredibly popular and powerful platform where many businesses are enjoying numerous benefits. Let’s give it up for Facebook’s younger, faster-growing, and arguably prettier sister, Instagram.
What is Instagram?
1. Instagram has a more engaged audience than Facebook.
In terms of overall popularity, Facebook still wears the pants in the social media world. But social media is ever-evolving and statistics prove that Instagram’s users are indeed much more engaged and impressionable than Facebook’s.
What does this mean exactly? As of November 2024, Instagram had over 2 billion monthly active users worldwide. While Facebook quantifiably had a larger amount of users, Instagram saw an engagement rate by reach of about 3.5%, compared to Facebook's 1.2%. Furthermore, more than half of Instagram users follow or research brands on the app, a metric not seen near as high with Facebook. These high engagement rates make Instagram an absolute haven for businesses looking to engage consumers.
2. Instagram welcomes creativity and values originality.
Instagram newsfeeds often feel like curated art galleries, filled with vibrant, high-quality, and visually engaging photos and videos. For businesses, Instagram is the perfect platform to showcase creativity while promoting products, services, and brand culture. Share behind-the-scenes moments, exclusive sneak peeks, and authentic stories that highlight what makes your business unique. Unlike platforms that thrive on memes or reposted content, Instagram rewards originality, and followers love it for that. Use this to your advantage and connect with your audience by giving them a unique, behind-the-scenes look at your brand.
3. Instagram offers options
There are several different options for sharing information on Instagram: posts, stories, live, reels, Threads, and DMs.
Posts
Instagram posts are simply posts that show up on the IG feeds of your followers. They remain there until a follower chooses to delete them. In a recent update, Instagram also increased the number of photos/videos that can be included in a single post to 20.
Stories
Instagram stories are customizable photos or videos that disappear after 24 hours and are displayed at the top of a user’s newsfeed, offering creative tools like drawing, augmented reality filters, and options to include locations, hashtags, and mentions. Businesses can also use “featured stories” to showcase engaging, behind-the-scenes content that stays on their profile beyond the 24-hour limit, making it a valuable tool for boosting visibility.
Instagram Live
Instagram live is recorded in real-time and shared with your followers. Great for engaging your audience, viewers have the ability to like and comment as the live feed is happening. Instagram shares information here for how to set up a live stream and best practices for success.
Reels
Instagram reels are shorter-form video, usually about 15-seconds, and it allows you to be creative by uploading music, sound effects, and more. Instagram shares a step-by-step process for creating and posting a Reel to your business account.
Threads
Threads, introduced by Instagram in 2023, is a platform designed for closer, more personal communication with your inner circle. As a companion app, it allows users to share photos, videos, and messages exclusively with their close friends list on Instagram, featuring automatic status updates and seamless integration with Instagram’s messaging system.
Direct Messaging
Direct Messaging (DM) on Instagram is a versatile tool that allows users to connect privately with individuals or groups. For businesses and influencers, it offers a way to build stronger relationships through personalized conversations, exclusive updates, and customer support, fostering authentic interactions.
4. Instagram offers ads and shopping.
Similar to Facebook, business accounts on Instagram have the option of paying to promote their content. This practice is very beneficial, especially considering the above statistics that demonstrate how receptive Instagram’s audience is to these types of advertisements. Another benefit to advertising on Instagram is that the ads are capable of being highly targeted based on a user’s location, age, gender, or interests. Businesses can also include links in their promoted posts, enabling users to click to learn more about them.
Direct Sales Through Instagram
Instagram offers businesses a unique platform for direct sales, connecting brands with their audiences. Features like product tagging and in-app checkout make it easy for users to discover and explore products seamlessly. By reducing friction in the customer journey, businesses can drive conversions and simplify the buying process.
Advertising on Instagram
Advertising on Instagram is a powerful way to boost brand visibility and drive sales. Businesses can create image, video, carousel, and story ads to craft engaging campaigns for their target audience. With advanced targeting features, ads reach users based on demographics, behavior, and interests, maximizing ROI and achieving marketing goals efficiently.
In-App Checkout
Instagram’s in-app checkout feature transforms online shopping by allowing users to discover and purchase products without leaving the app. This streamlined process reduces cart abandonment and provides businesses with valuable analytics to better understand buyer behavior and optimize strategies.
Collaborating with Brand Ambassadors
Partnering with brand ambassadors helps businesses amplify their reach and influence on Instagram. These influencers build trust and authenticity by showcasing products to their engaged followers, creating organic connections and fostering credibility. Choosing ambassadors aligned with a brand’s values and audience can lead to impactful campaigns and stronger marketing results.
5. Instagram syncs with Facebook.
In 2012, Facebook purchased Instagram for $1 billion. This purchase came with multiple benefits for businesses seeking to juggle these two platforms. As we mentioned above, the concept of Instagram and Facebook ads is very similar in nature. Because these mediums are under the same ownership, businesses are now able to run the same advertisement on Facebook and Instagram at the same time, adding seamless, easily-attainable integration. This means that any time a business runs an ad on either of these platforms, it can automatically double its reach!
DISCLAIMER: We do not believe in simply simul-posting the exact same content on both platforms. The problem with doing so is that FB is not IG and IG is not FB. They are similar, but they are not the same. The rules of engagement for each are different enough that you shouldn't copy and paste the same content on both platforms and expect them to excel. For example, Instagram hashtags are a way of life but not so much on Facebook. On Facebook, you can embed links while on IG, you have to send a reader to your profile. Long story short, you can post the same content, but you'll want to craft your post for FB differently than you would for IG.
6. Instagram provides useful analytics and continues to update its data.
Measuring success on Instagram is quite simple. Of course, businesses can monitor their follower counts and overall engagement activities, like views and clicks. But taking it a step further, built-in analytic reports help businesses easily interpret the results of their Instagram advertising campaigns. Useful analytics like these help businesses quickly identify which types of Instagram posts work best, setting them up for sustained success.
Bringing It All Together
Using Instagram effectively requires a strategic approach that leverages its unique features, analytics, and audience engagement tools. By understanding what works best and continuously refining your approach, businesses can build stronger connections, increase visibility, and achieve long-term success on the platform.
This post has only touched on the many business benefits of using Instagram. Hopefully, it helps you determine whether adding this platform—or increasing your activity on it—is a worthwhile investment for your business.You can always contact us for more information and you can find our full list of social media services here.
