Things have changed drastically over the past year for Instagram and we are loving every detail! As a local Rhode Island business owner you may be telling yourself that you don’t need to be on Instagram, and in the past we might have agreed with you, but not anymore.

So, if you are a social savvy business owner, you may want to listen to a few reasons why Instagram is the new way to reach your local Rhode Island consumers!

Be Visually Appealing

Did you know that 80% of people remember what they see? That is just one of the many reasons why Instagram is such a highly used social media platform for businesses. The opportunity to show off products, menus, or the inner workings of your brand is as simple as uploading a photo or taking your own straight from the app.

Now, there are a few tricks you can use to get even better engagement from your businesses Instagram posts.

#1 Use Hashtags. Do a little research and find which hashtags are most popular for your area and industry.

#2 Post with location. Let consumers know where you are located by tagging your location.

#3 Don’t over do it with the text. Short & sweet will be exactly what your customers need.

Reach Your Demographic

Most businesses look to reach a broad range of customers, and that is what makes Instagram so great. Yes, Instagram is most popular among Millennials, but what is interesting about this particular social media platform is that the percentage of men & women actively using the app is pretty much equal. You will find on most Facebook or Twitter pages that women dominate the audience, but with Instagram men & women are equally loving the visuals. Using Instagram for your business lends a unique opportunity to reach a demographic that you haven’t been able to through your Twitter & Facebook pages.

Show Off Through Ads

We mentioned earlier that Instagram went through a few social changes over the past year, one being its’ union with Facebook, and most importantly Facebook Ads. You can now run the same Ad on both platforms with the same targeting tools. This is huge in terms of brand awareness for your business and also means double the exposure.
The key to using Instagram Ads is to make sure your imagery is on point. Keep in mind when boosting a post to Instagram that it is a visual social channel and that text should still be kept to a minimum in order to have great results.

Social media is constantly changing, and is why adding a new platform to your content marketing strategy may be just what your business needs. Instagram will undoubtedly go through more changes, but if it means more tools to grow your RI business then bring it on!