Instagram InstaBAM

A Picture is worth 1000 words.

Well, clearly, the case is made for that in social media platforms that involve images more than text. Now let me first begin by saying I’m no social media expert, but I am a marketing gal. And all of the platforms I’m a part of, I learn as I go. There was no internet when I grew up, no computers like we have today, I studied marketing (for real, that IS my major) the old fashioned way, and the social media we had was getting together with our friends or talking on a land line. HA! Now, I’m a visual person, so perhaps that is why I have been drawn to the 2 visually driven platforms more than the text based. First PINTEREST captured my heart, and now there’s INSTAGRAM. If you haven’t gotten acuqainted with Instagram, you should.

My daughter told me about Instagram a few years ago after if first came out, and it really didnt turn me on that much. I should’ve listened to her. It finally CLICKED with me earlier this year. So I wanted to share with you some things about Instagram that might help it CLICK with you…. and it will be diferent for all of you depending on what you use it for or how you use it. For lots of you, this might be a completely elementary post because you’ve been an Instagrammer for a while. For other’s, consider it an Instagram 101 post. Hopefully, all of you might get some good tid bit of info from here.

First, think of Instagram as a LIVE FEED of images. Either a picture or a mini video clip of 15 seconds, its a LIVE stream of images of people you follow and the only words on there is the caption you type with it, followed by hashtags. Thats it. The rest is people commenting and LIKING it.

So what’s the big deal?

Well…. from a business perspective, people do business with you if they

know you
like you
trust you

and they do all that by GETTING TO KNOW YOU, and what better way than with PICTURES. Because a picture is worth 1000 words, right? They get a look at who you are, what you’re into, what inspires you, what your passions are, what’s in your business pipeline. They get “personal” with you without getting personal.

The most popular brands on Instagram are ahead of the gang, and more are jumping on board on a daily basis. Businesses are getting what this means for SURE!

Some interesting facts on Instagram…

Instagram launched in October of 2010. Two months later, its community was already 1 Million strong. The usage and spread of Instagram has been on the rise ever since.

Look at their numbers….

150 Million Monthly Active Users
16 Billion Photos Shared in total
1.2 Billion Likes and 55 Million Photos shared every day
8500 Likes per second
1000 Comments per second

Seriously, Instagram gets the biggest reach in the fastest way. Take a look at the growth of these visual social media platforms…

via

“Instagram is more popular on mobile phones than Twitter, according to research by analytics firm Nielsen. Instagram’s average monthly audience came in at around 32 million, and appears to be the fastest-growing app this year, with a 66-percent increase.”*

So what does all of this mean for you?

On a personal perspective, you can use Instagram as a simple way to share photos and videos with friends and family, photos not only of OF your family but of other fun things in your life that you find interesting, inspiring, and even the LITTLE things in life you never noticed till now.

I am loving Instagram. I actually am using it as an “extension” to my blog, as I am with Pinterest and Tumblr. (My Tumblr consists mostly of Instagram images I easily upload through the app.) For those visually minded peeps, that’s really what I use those for. I share a bit more of my personal side than on the blog, and I know there isn’t much I have to say about it. I share a few things from my blog daily, kind of a “snapshot” of what’s on the blog for the day. But I also share a few other things that are about me, what I love, my passions, my interests as well. And the nice thing is, I don’t have to say too much about it. The picture does all the talking for me! Along of course with the hashtags and tagging (which is important if you’re wanting to be found by others who are searching for something specific… or in some cases, you can put quirky dorky hashtags like I do just because that’s how I’m feeling it! LOL!…. #iknowimabigdorkbutthatsok {wink!})

Am I big power user? No. Would I love to have more followers? Of course! Kinda like my blog… I’d love to widen my readership. So I’m not an “expert” “powerplayer”. But I can tell you, if you want to share a piece of yourself with the world in a visual way, Instagram it.

Here are some of my favorite posts on my Instagram.