Instagram is the next big thing and a way to encourage people to carry a Smart Phone. They just officially announced Web pages for users that others can see, but if you don’t have an Android or iPhone with the Instagram App installed you can’t get an account.
In this issue of Future of Engagement, Murray Newlands talks about the new Instagram Profiles Web pages announcement.
Video Highlights:- Instagram is owned by Facebook
- Instagram has 100 million users
- Not just a smart phone app any more ~ now they have Web pages they call Instagram profiles.
INSTAGRAM PROFILE WEB PAGES
If you use Instagram you will have a Web profile page that will have all the photos you have shared. According to Instagram, photos that are set to private can only be seen on that page by logged in people you have allowed to follow you. If your photos are set to public anyone can see them by going to Instagram.com/yourusername.
While these new pages are probably intended to benefit big brands, small businesses who choose to have smart phones can benefit at least for now. Just remember that Facebook owns them and what happened on Facebook is likely to eventually happen on Instagram.
Originally Facebook allowed businesses to reach their customers and potential clients for free. Recently they took that ability away unless you are willing to pay far more than it is worth. Worse still, if you pay for Facebook shared posts, who sees them may NOT be anyone that matters to you. Read these two posts to find out more:
- Facebook Users Outraged Over New Extortion Model
- Facebook Promoted Posts: Case Studies Suggest Distribution Fraud
If you are going to be spending your time and possibly money using social media to generate business, you need to know what you are doing is effective. At a minimum you need to set up alerts or use a social media monitoring tool to track what is being said online about you, your products and your industry.
Even if you aren’t using social media, these tools can help you protect your online reputation. One of the easier ones to learn is Alerti. They offer a 30 day free social media monitoring trial, but if you use bonus code alertivideo when you sign up with them you can extend that to 90 days.
Go to http://en.alerti.com/ to sign up. Just click on the sign up for a free trial button. No credit card or address is required to sign up. If any of my readers wants to write a guest post about how they use social media monitoring leave a comment in this post or use this contact information.
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i think instagram should be also used on non smartphone like web browser or other devices that may access the internet to be fair for other users also
Twitter: GrowMap
May 1, 2013 at 5:59 am
I doubt that will ever happen. Instagram is one of the primary incentives being used to get everyone onto smart phones. Eventually you may not be able to buy any other kind of phone.
GrowMap would love you to read ..Twitter Best Practices: How to Use Twitter Effectively ~ Make Twitter Work for YOU [UPDATED Feb 16, 2013]
I have just recently singed up on Instagram. It is a fun place but now I will try to promote my blog and business through it. Can you provide me with any tips?
Hamza Ahmad would love you to read ..4 Best Paste And Share Websites To With High Ranks
Twitter: GrowMap
April 29, 2013 at 9:00 am
Hello Hamza,
Do a search for “Instagram for Business”. Here are some tips to get you started:
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GrowMap would love you to read ..Bloggers: Promote Your Blogs Here
Instagram is a superb advertising platform for anyone wishing to promote their products through the power of imagery!
Simon E would love you to read ..[GET] Xgram Bot [Update] Download – Mediafire Rapidshare
I’ve been using Instagram for personal use…I’m not sure how to use it for my business.
Twitter: GrowMap
December 3, 2012 at 8:54 am
Hi Mike,
People have been conditioned to want to be entertained and are naturally drawn to beauty and nature. There are lots of creative ways you could share photos and tie them into, for example, storage.
You could do a series with crazy photos called “the craziest things people store”. If you make it obvious it is a joke you could stage various things that weren’t real because finding real examples might be a challenge.
You could also share photos featuring objects frequently stored such as a boat out on a beautiful lake or sail boats in a bay or dune buggies in the sand or hikers or campers.
Your goal is to attract visitors who might be interested in your business by sharing what they would like to see even when they don’t need you. In your case, the best photos would be in and around Huntington Beach or feature people from your area so you get local people (who are your target audience) sharing your account.
The key is to make it obvious the account is for Huntington Beach Storage but make it so interesting to local people that they share it to make your brand more recognizable and get them to choose or at least consider you when they do need storage.
There is no way to measure why someone clicks on a particular search listing or chooses a particular business when they search for Huntington Beach Storage or anything else, but people ARE more likely to choose what seems familiar to them. They may not even consciously know why.
By associating your business name with something pleasant you make your business seem more credible and likeable – and people buy from people they like. You can also share interesting photos that just happen to have your business name in them or even a sign with your current special offer in the background.
GrowMap would love you to read ..How to Use Stickers to Make Businesses Popular in Untraditional Ways
Twitter: GrowMap
December 3, 2012 at 9:00 am
Hi Mike,
You could also start a regular feature of instagramming upcoming storage auctions. While some might just be boxes, others could attract buyers curious about something in the photos you share.
GrowMap would love you to read ..Why Your Geographic Location is Your BEST Niche
Twitter: GrowMap
December 3, 2012 at 9:07 am
Hi Mike,
You could also start a regular feature of instagramming upcoming storage auctions. While some might just be boxes, others could attract buyers curious about something in the photos you share.
Or do a funny series on “how NOT to store things”.
If you need more ideas just let me know. You will also want to check out my post on how to geo-target your Twitter account.
By sharing interesting content for your local area you can get others to recommend following you and keep your business top of mind. There are more tips on growing Twitter for business in the post I’ve selected in CommentLuv for this comment.
You can be using promotions of your auctions to promote your storage business because there are a lot of “garage sale” and “shopaholics” who would love to see that regularly. Grow a huge list and make sure they know in advance when your next sale is. Share details about what is being auctioned or hype “mystery boxes”. That is also your in to getting published on any local blogs and becoming “the” go-to storage facility.
GrowMap would love you to read ..Twitter Best Practices: How to Use Twitter Effectively ~ Make Twitter Work for YOU
This is such great advice! Thank you!
Any advice as to how to use it as a real estate agent as well?
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