According to Pew Research Center, half of young adults 18-29, who use the Internet use Instagram. Even more staggering, half of these users engage with Instagram on a daily basis. If you want to reach millennials, you can’t afford to overlook the value of Instagram. This social media platform is mainly for photos, but don’t feel limited. Using Instagram is a bit different than Facebook or Twitter, and here are some tips for getting the most out of your business account and reaching your customers.

Know Your Followers on Instagram

Instagram has different demographics than Facebook or Twitter. It’s important to know who you’re reaching through this social network platform. Instagram is more popular with teens and young adults, who love visual information. If your product isn’t relevant to them, you could have one million followers that don’t convert into sales.

Do Your Research

Begin your Instagram approach by getting a personal account and using it. Look at your competitors and other businesses that have a large following to see what they’re doing right. Figure out how to tie Instagram marketing into your overall business plan. Make sure you can commit to regular posts to engage your followers. One to three posts every day is fairly common among businesses. Although you won’t alienate your followers if you post more often, they may not pay attention if you post less. Learn how Instagram uses hashtags, to find out what’s trending, gain new followers, and to stay relevant.

Be Authentic

Instagram is very visual, and because it’s growing in popularity, your message has to be creative and true to your business. Comment on other photos that you find relevant and engaging, even if they aren’t your followers. Just as when you’re dealing with customers in your store, you may have to make the first move. Watch coming across as gimmicky and unprofessional, because you’ll lose followers.

Take Advantage of Technology

Use the analytics of Instagram to find out which of your posts get the most engagement. The technology is there to help you use the platform to your benefit. There are programs that let you schedule posts, which means you don’t have to remember it each day. If you post from your smartphone, use a watermark program to protect your photos and identify them. Take advantage of different software that makes it much easier to use Instagram.

How Do You Measure Success?

With any social media network, you only get what you put into it. Know the goals of using Instagram and have a way to measure your success. If you don’t get the results you want at first, look at what you’ve been doing. See which of your posts get the most likes and comments and analyze your photos. Tweak your campaign to see if things improve. If you aren’t getting the results you desire, maybe Instagram isn’t your market, but don’t give up right away.

If you are a business owner in any of these genres, financial, photographers, dentists, hotels, restaurants, construction, HVAC, hardware stores, real estate, or any business owner and want more information on Instagram or Social Media Marketing, please contact Blast Creative today!

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I’ve been thrown under the bus so many times in my lifetime by business partners, associates and friends that the tread marks have left excruciating scars and I sit here wondering if honesty, integrity and loyalty exists in 2013! I hate not trusting people, but time and time again I get slapped in the face by reality. I recently read an article on Katie Couric’s website:

Want to know how to spot a liar? Here’s how!

From Janine Driver, body language expert and author of “You Can’t Lie to Me.”

Read more here…

Basically you can never be too sure if someone in your life is being dishonest. But you’d think with the age of the Internet and Social Media, people would try to be more honest, because their reputation is on the line-literally! Edward Snowden is a prime example, his life is ruined and he can’t go anywhere in the world without people knowing him and what he did. Kids in high school and college know all too well how one bad decision can end up online and destroy their lives and yet, here we are in 2013 and people continue to be dishonest, show lack of integrity and loyalty. So color me stupid, people just don’t care and that scares me, what is the world going to be like 10 years from now?

According to Webster Integrity is:

Definition of INTEGRITY

1 : firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values : incorruptibility

2 : an unimpaired condition : soundness

3: the quality or state of being complete or undivided : completeness

And this is Webster’s definition of Integrity for kids:

Main Entry: in·teg·ri·ty
Pronunciation: in-teg-rt-
Function: noun
1 : the condition of being free from damage or defect
2 : total honesty and sincerity
3 : the quality or state of being complete or undivided

So you be the judge, is there integrity in the world in 2013? Especially when it comes to business! Has the oil boom and the almighty dollar turned us into a society with no morals, no integrity and no loyalty? In a world where everyone claims to be a Christian, where is God? In Luke 6:31 it says do unto others, as you would have them do unto you! So does that mean I should treat business partners, associates and friends the way that they have treated me. Or how about Exodus 21:24 where it says an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth? The biggest lesson that I’ve learned in life is that if someone claims to be a Christian or talks about their faith in God and God has led them to this or that, RUN, RUN for your life! I once believed that Christianity, honesty, integrity and loyalty all worked hand in hand, but I am here to tell you that I was wrong.

Loyalty is something I am finding is almost extinct. Does loyalty exist among brands? Is there customer loyalty? What about loyalty among friends? Coworkers? Do we live in a society where everyone is ready to jump ship and no one is loyal to anyone or anything? Personally, I do not believe that loyalty exists in our world in 2013. Loyalty is important to me and I am loyal to others, but sadly it is not a two-way street. So here I am at a crossroads wondering what I should do. Do I change my morals and values? Do I forget about them altogether? How do we live and survive in a world where the existence of honesty, integrity and loyalty are on the verge of distinction?

The post Honesty, Integrity and Loyalty Do They Exist in 2013? appeared first on Website Design and Marketing.