Everyday, more than 90 million Instagram users share over 40 million pictures (Source: Weidert Group). I’m quite a new user of this upcoming social network designed to be used by smart phones users and in my recent experience here at Exo, I discover hands on that Instagram is being now of importance even in B2B marketing.
Instagram in a nutshell
It all started for me when I missed my bus home. Having 20 minutes to spare, I installed the app on my Android phone and got it up and running. After having given it access to my Facebook account, I got to watch what my friends using Instagram were posting. From that moment on, I was conquered. I really enjoy the visual content on my phone (which has a small screen). My phoneograph friends (that take pictures with their mobile phone or iphoneograph if they use and iPhone) share pictures with a choice of nice filters offered by Instagram. They can also share videos. I really like browsing Instagram streams. It’s pleasant moment, especially after hard day’s work.
In nutshell, Instagram is a mix of Flickr and Twitter. It’s a community where users share pictures with a vintage feel.
Instagram and B2B marketing
Of course on Instagram, one can get into local stars’ photo stream like @beatricepirate (Cœur de pirate) international megastars surch as @badgalriri (Rihanna). Doesn’t seem to be appropriate for B2B… Think again!
Like discussed in a previous article, visual content is more and more popular. Pictures and videos are easier to digest and to consume compared to text information such as white papers. You sell technology based products requiring complex explanations, go for video instead of text.
You offer not very visually appealing products? You think that Instagram isn’t for you? Not! Some use Instagram to humanize their content show their team spirit or share pictures of recent events.
Should you include this social media in you social media mix? Maybe you shouldn’t consider it your top choice but it should be part of it if you wish to deliver trendy messages and concise contents.
Not familiar with Instagram? Fool around Instagram’s search. Look for keywords and themes related to your company and get creative in imagining what interesting messages you could get across using this platform (team spirit, your offices, events you participate in, etc.) You could be surprised of the potential and the power of this social network.
To conclude, some examples
I came across Nitrogram’s marketing blog, which proposes 20 B2B Companies to Follow on Instagram such as General Electric, Maersk Line, Salesforce, Cisco, Fedex, and many others. GE for example presents pictures and videos of really impressive aircraft engines. Maersk shows pictures of boat containers. Did you know they get to be very artsy?
Instagram for B2B… why not! Get “(i)phoneographing”!
