I am using Instagram and I run my small scale business in it!!

Instagram business: I am using Instagram and I run my small scale business in it!!

Instagram is just an another social media mobile application where you can post short and crisp contents mainly with eye-catchy images/photos or short videos with captions and hashtags from your mobile very easily and quickly and it is loaded with a good number of image filters. To advertise your business through this application you can create a new one or convert your existing Instagram account into a Instagram business profile and post paid advertisements which comes under certain terms and guidelines. Depending upon the budget you set up and other criteria you select for your advertisements this application enables  users to come across your advertisements while they scroll through their timeline posts, newsfeeds or stories. 

Till date(27/6/2019) there are no pop up or interrupting advertisements which might annoy you. Instead the application concentrates on  maintaining a classy view with a good number of filters, editing options mainly with a design to reduce text and concentrate more on images, short videos and by giving people more scope to react with icons. But the adds which you mostly come across will depend upon your search history, types of pages you follow, what kind of posts do you react(like, comment, send, your post tags, hashtags, etc.,). Now there is an interesting feature when it comes using hashtags. Whenever you post something from a public account which can be business account or a personal one with certain hashtags it enables your posts/stories to reach more users who use or search those tags.

The reason why people use Instagram as a tool to advertise is because there are billions of users and many users do react to advertisements when compared to other social media application mainly because of the attractive nature of the images, short videos and the captions which keeps people engaged and interested. Furthermore you can also analyse your business reach and plan strategies using Instagram Analytics and it is a free tool. Thereby you can do targeted marketing and device new marketing strategies and it is simple.

"Importantly you get recognised for your photography, editing and creative content skills, thereby gaining attention by keeping your audience engaged."

Apart from marketing one can also widen their customers through this. For example when there are certain exclusive products or services available you can click few classy images, interesting videos with interactive captions by which you can gain more responses and as a result your brand will attain more reach. In addition to this you can follow your potential customers, interact with them, attend their queries instantly through personal messages, video calls and also do live streaming.

At the same time one should be aware of the limitations and disadvantages with this application. Coming to the shape of the posts this application prefers square shape so if we upload rectangular post it will not be displayed completely. You can post only up to a minute long video and the captions cannot be super descriptive. We cannot give links to outside websites within post captions instead you will have to give it in your bio which might result into less responsiveness. There is no direct share post on your wall option like facebook instead you can share them in your stories which has certain duration unlike posts. In spite of the disadvantages this appears to be a promising place to do marketing provided you plan a proper strategy so Good Luck!!