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The Rise of Instagram Marketing: FB “Un-friended” by Brands

According to a new report by research firm L2, brands are now posting more content to Instagram than the social media Goliath, Facebook. Not surprising with over 300 million monthly users, brands and advertisers want to capture that audience and without having to pay for sponsored posts like Facebook in order to get in front of potential customers. All it takes is a hashtag and following to turn strangers into customers.

This news doesn’t come as a surprise given the plunging organic reach on Facebook. With Facebook’s algorithms making it harder and facebook unfriendedharder to advertise, marketers have already been cutting back on posting.

Unlike Facebook, Instagram’s reach is organic and will appear in user feeds, and is yet to change their algorithm any time soon. This means that users who follow brands on Instagram will have ads displayed on their news feed organically.

This new study also reported on the new trends from brands on Instagram:

  • The average post is 9.3 times versus the 8.8 times per week on Facebook
  • Facebook activity has been on a downward spiral since 2013
  • Posting on Instagram has increased nearly two posts per week since last year and is up 23% over the last five quarters!

What are the reasons behind the uptake in Instagram on the social media marketing spectrum? According to the study by L2, it is multiple factors including:

  • The easy engagement quality of Instagram. Photos are more accessible for users and people are more likely to engage with a photo than video.
  • Facebook is being slowly deserted by teenagers and young adults, most claiming Instagram to be “the most important” social app.
  • On Facebook, unless you have sponsored posts, there is maybe a 10% chance that someone who has liked your page is going to see what you post. With Instagram, if a user follows, your posts will appear in their newsfeed. So, brands with a high organic following have much better chances of turning those followers into customers.
  • You have to have to pre-established following on Instagram before you can be selected to advertise and begin sponsored posts. Helps to cut down on a brand monopoly. Just because you aren’t Christian Louboutin, doesn’t mean you can’t advertise for shoes.
  • Users have an opportunity to provide feedback to the brand with the ellipsis function at the bottom right of sponsored posts. This kind of feedback can be invaluable to marketing teams.
  • You don’t have to be a fashion designer or a professional party-hopper to get high engagement or a following. Posting high quality photos, using hashtags, interacting with comments, giving the audience a question or opinion to share, all of these factors can drive up your engagement.

Want to learn more how to make Instagram marketing or Facebook posts actually work for your company? Give Online Optimism a call, text, tweet, email or DM and we’ll get back to you with help!