Instagram obviously poses a great opportunity for small businesses, but what are the top reasons to open an account?

#1 Consumers are visual
According to AdAge , videos and pictures increase conversion rates by 64%! Today’s consumers are truly visually driven; they want to envision how a product or service will fit into their lifestyle. Instagram allows you to showcase your product or service in various situations, helping your consumers make their final decision.

#2 Great for Branding/Authenticity
Instagram allows you to really harvest authenticity and a touch of personality while you are advertising your business. Share pictures of your staff or behind-the-scenes work! User-generated content is another great option. Ask your customers to tag you in pictures with them using your product for a chance to be featured on your page. Customers appreciate it! They will feel valued and important. An added bonus for you, user-generated content boasts a 4.5% higher conversion rate than ordinary posts and user-generated content functions as the digital word of mouth.

#3 Users are more interactive
According to a survey by Instagram , 60% of people say they find out about new products on Instagram and 75% actually take action after seeing a post! Millennials drive online commerce and are very active on Instagram (more than 50% of Americans in this age range have an account). As of 2015 , 10% of all American purchases excluding fuel or cars were online transactions. With millennials, the statistics are even more staggering – 90% have bought something online while 24% used information or links from social media to purchase an item. In more general terms, as of March 2017, over 120 million users have reached out to businesses on Instagram in some form. From receiving directions to sending a private message, all of these actions show an underlying interest in your business and can very well be considered as leads!

#4 Specialized business tools
While not yet widely available, official Instagram business profiles will have the choice of having ‘call/contact now,’ ‘book appointment,’ and ‘get directions’ buttons directly under their bio. For some products, call-to-action buttons like ‘buy now,’ ‘download’ or ‘sign up’ will also be provided. So far, every business has access to real-time metrics as well as targeting factors like interests, behaviors or locations.

#5 Tailor your content
Instagram allows you to create a streamlined visual design. With the use of filters, stickers, short videos, boomerangs or other 3rd party editing apps, you can create a streamlined design for your visual marketing. Having a consistent theme or structure to your Instagram posts heightens recognizability and strengthens your brand’s core message.

The advertising market on Instagram is much less saturated than its Facebook counterpart – be sure to make your mark early on before your competitors have a chance! This past March, Instagram confirmed there are only around 1 million active monthly advertisers.

Here’s a hint – to make sure your Instagram page is extra popular among your followers, offer “Instagram only” deals they can receive by reading captions or watching your Instagram story. As always, the team at BusySeed is also always available to help or answer any questions you may have!