Social media has been at the forefront of online activity for more than a decade, helping to fuel a variety of activities once relegated to email, search engines and even in-person interactions. While originally designed for communication between family members and friends, it has since grown into a massive series of networks that allow anybody – including businesses – to reach audiences.

Instagram in particular is a highly popular platform largely driven by sharing photos and videos. For businesses seeking to raise awareness and increase sales, learning how to use this properly can be a challenge.

To help, we’ll discuss some examples of how Instagram can benefit your business.

You Can Tangibly Show Off Your Products

Arguably the single biggest reason for businesses to use Instagram specifically is the fact that its platform is specifically designed for multimedia sharing. For the average business, this can be quite useful.

Highlighting day-to-day uses of your product in videos, taking photos of products and/or services in action and finding other ways to combine visual demonstrations with aesthetic charm works on Instagram better than most places.

Given that Instagram’s audience is massive and its users are visually-inclined, you’ll be pinging users with content that resonates with them while also showing off your products and services directly.

Your Customers Are Already There

Most businesses discover that Instagram is a hotbed of activity for large segments of their customer base. As mentioned, Instagram has a monumental number of users, with three times as many active users as Twitter. The Instagram audience skews younger than sites like Facebook, which means audiences that are targeting young consumers have even more to gain.

Rather than potentially letting competitors reach your consumers on this platform, taking advantage of the opportunity it provides is essential. Whether it is gaining exposure to new customers who fit your target audience or generating additional purchases and repeat business through previous shoppers, Instagram shouldn’t be ignored.

You Can Sell Products & Link Directly

Instagram largely functions as a marketplace (focused heavily on window-shopping) to begin with, but businesses on the platform can directly sell products to their followers through the interface.

Instagram offers businesses the option to tag their products and sell them via included links. While this does require the use of Facebook (you’ll need to create a product catalog there), every post featuring one of your products can become a more effective pitch for your business.

Pinging users with product links integrated into your content isn’t something that every social media network allows, which is why businesses absolutely should take advantage of the Instagram platform.

Additionally, Instagram allows seamless integration of links back to your actual website in posts. Each post not only offers a persuasion element, but the chance to pitch your website directly.

With roughly one billion global users, Instagram is a force that isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Businesses that learn to utilize this powerhouse effectively can increase their sales through a combination of brand recognition, direct marketing and aesthetic appeal. By making Instagram a core component of your business marketing, you’ll be able to reap additional profit and traffic.