Once thought of as a social media platform for individuals to share their fun little moments, Instagram has since jumped to the forefront of successful marketing campaigns. Countless brands are now taking advantage of this social media network to generate clicks, sales and attention for themselves. At its core, Instagram is a simple concept: take a photo, upload it, add a caption and let the world know what’s on your mind. What are some of the ways businesses and brands are using Instagram to their advantage? Continue reading and we’ll outline a few of the most common ways.

Increase Brand Recognition

The most immediate benefit that businesses can expect to earn via Instagram is brand recognition. In particular, online businesses can have trouble gaining traction within their markets due to the expansive nature of the web and the amount of competitors they face. Utilizing Instagram to make a name for yourself is a sure-fire way to gain attention; through witty commentary and beautiful photos, you’ll be able to convince people to follow and share your updates. This will help you be more effective at pinging URLs to products and services throughout your niche. When used properly, platforms such as Instagram can be more effective than paid forms of advertising.

Promote Content

Every business has something to offer. In today’s world of media-driven consumer behavior, you also need a hefty amount of content to successfully sell to online shoppers. Instagram provides the perfect opportunity for businesses to promote their products and services through content. Whether you want to share videos, photos or links to important and informative pieces, content promotion is a huge component of how businesses succeed on Instagram. Through a combination of paid and organic content marketing strategies, businesses have found social media to be an excellent vehicle for growth: your business can profit from this strategy, too.

Start Trends

Social media trends can affect even the smallest of businesses under the right circumstances, propelling once-obscure entities into the spotlight. Every post on Instagram is a chance to start a trending topic or hashtag, given proper use of the platform. High-quality images, memes, humor and other forms of content tend to do well on Instagram, so use this information to your business’ advantage. If you’re successful, you just might start the next big trend on the internet – with your brand at the center of it!

Integrate Apps and Tools

Platforms such as Instagram can be used with a variety of tools and add-ons for additional brand performance. Links are not currently allowed on the platform outside of your bio, but tools such as Linkin.Bio provide flexibility to businesses that want to point their followers in the right direction by pinging URLs with each photo or post. A variety of editing solutions like Facetune can be used to crop, touch-up and enhance photos before uploading. Even the use of Instagram’s recently added business tools – which allow you to track analytics, convert posts into ads and provide access to enhanced profiles – can dramatically improve brand performance on the network.

Countless thousands of businesses are now using Instagram to generate buzz, affect the latest trends, learn more about their audiences and sell more products. What will you use Instagram for? Tell us below how you see Instagram integrating into your business strategy.