Businesses Connect with Customers Using Instagram

Guest Post By Shannon Miranda, Ohio University

While many people may think that one of the newest Smartphone apps is only for college students to showcase their delicious, or lack thereof, meals, Instagram can also benefit your business. Business Insider describes the premise behind Instagram, a free app, as fairly simple: “Snap a photo on your iPhone or Android, add a quirky filter, and share it across Instagram’s internal network or Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and Foursquare.”

According to Dan Farkas, a journalism professor at the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University and SocialMedia Examiner, there are ten creative ways for businesses to utilize this new platform.

1. Show how your product is made by taking Instagram followers on a tour.
2. Go behind the scenes and give followers an exclusive look, for example, of the filming of your newest commercial.
3. Show what your products can do by demonstrating new or less conventional ways to use the product.
4. Give sneak peeks of products or facilities. (After all, your customer enjoys feeling like he or she knew something first before everyone else)
5. Show your work space by uploading pictures of the every-day life of a worker in the office.
6. Show your products by snapping pictures of a collection of products or the equipment used to make them.
7. Take customers with you by taking pictures at on-the-road events, such as trade shows, conventions, etc. Your audience can’t always be there in person, but pictures are the next best thing.
8. Introduce employees of your company by posting a picture of them and sharing a little bit about their lives or what role they play in the company. This will help customers feel closer to your brand, giving them a face to identify with.
9. Share celebrity sightings, because, let’s face it, society is obsessed with celebrities doing even simple, every-day activities.
10. Share cuteness, such as pets visiting the office. Everyone loves a picture of a furry animal.

The Walk-away: By taking a few extra minutes to upload pictures on Instagram and learning various snapshots to display, your company can utilize a social media platform that cuts out the words and gets straight to the pictures—something everyone wants to see!