Recently I’ve noticed an increase of business friends saying they are now focussing on Instagram more.
We’ve been on Instagram as Bellyfloptv since 2012. I just had a quick look at my early feed and admittedly it started off as more personal than professional (very personal in some photos- maybe I’ll delete those), but these days it’s really work based.
I do believe posting the odd personal social media post (such as cats, family etc) is not a bad thing as it helps build relationships with business friends- it gives them something to talk to you about or find a common ground (‘we have cats / a little boy / a Skoda Yeti too’!)
Too much corporate or business based stuff is just dull- but that’s my view and ironically posting some fun stuff shows I do take it seriously.
But what about you? If Instagram feels like another social media platform that you or your company has to do, then just posting pictures with little thought of the image or the description and tags will not really be worth your little effort you are doing in any case.
So, I’m not professing to be an Instagram expert at all, just some things to consider that I have learned:
- A larger proportion of Instagram users are women- our customers tend to be more likely female so this can help our ongoing relationships.
- 59% of 18 – 29 Year olds use Instagram. Generally our customers tend to be older, so I’m going to pay closer attention to see if we engage with some younger customers.
- Faces will always be more popular images generally. We know this from making video, people are interested in people (or cats- cats have faces too!).
- A dominant colour gets more attention as people scroll down an Instagram feed, particularly a background colour as it makes the edges of the photo stand out.
- It seems that with larger companies with a marketing department, different staff do different social media accounts. So if you want to connect with more people in the same company the more effort you can do across other social media accounts the better.
On a personal note, how video can show heart and soul. A previous blog post.
On the next Instagram post you make, instead of spending ages on picking the best filter just have a think of the actual image you post and the tags you use- the tags will be how new followers will find the image so are crucial.
Many more demographics about Instagram are here.
Jonathan Robinson is the founder and Director / Camera Operator of Bellyflop.tv.
