Social media is a key form of communication and marketing for almost any type of company as never before. Whether your business is consumer-focused or business-to-business, you are dealing with real people behind the screen online.
Good relationships drive business and your company can use social media to build and maintain both new and existing relationships in an online capacity. Social media is a way to connect and complement those face-to-face interactions and transactions.
There are many social media platforms to share your company’s story. Finding the right approach for your company culture while catering to your target customers is important. While having a presence on social media staples like LinkedIn and Facebook is important, quality, catered content trumps posting for the sake of posting and each platform has its own unique functions and benefits. So… should your company be on Instagram?
While Instagram may not be the first place you might think of to find information about a B2B energy company, the photo-sharing platform now boasts more than 800 million casual users and approximately 500 million daily active users. Since its inception, Instagram has attracted younger users, but new statistics show that older generations are starting to embrace the app, too.
That should make you think twice about whether or not your customers are on Instagram. While many of your customers may be on the app for personal use, Instagram, which is owned by Facebook, has a growing advertiser base of 2 million. An estimated 71% of US businesses are on Instagram and 80% of users follow a business on Instagram. The business profile feature also grants companies access to valuable follower analytics and data about impressions, reach and engagement to help steer the direction of their social content.
Whether your company should be on Instagram depends on your company culture and whether the people behind your company have an eye for visual storytelling. You don’t want to set up a profile and then get lost amongst the other millions of businesses on Instagram by sharing inconsistent or boring content. Your content will not get seen.
In order to communicate effective Instagram content, your visuals should consistently reflect your company’s message. For example, if your message is about simplifying a complicated process, your imagery should show simplicity and minimalism. If your message is focused on your team’s expertise and top-quality customer service, you should share insightful quotes from them and show off your team members to give your posts a more personal feel. If you want to highlight your company’s state-of-the-art technology, you should be ready to share high-quality photos and videos of this innovative technology at work.
Once you find your voice, keep in mind that your Instagram business profile should act like the people behind your company, not like a robot. As with any social platform, you must engage with your followers in order to build trust. Engage with your employees, customers, partners, professional organizations and charitable causes; the media outlets that root for you; and then support other businesses on the app.
Think of your Instagram profile like a humanized version of a business journal’s ‘Best Places to Work’ or top companies list—you have an opportunity to give your followers a visual glimpse of what a day-in-the-life of one of your employees or customers is like.
Besides sharing content on your business profile, user-generated content will also act as a testimonial to your company and can often prove to be more valuable. Encouraging employees and customers to snap photos and share their experiences with your company’s products or services can help you gain insight on how you can creatively showcase your competitive advantage.
Capitalizing on unique company-branded hashtags or using your business location as a geo-tag can help to find and group these posts together. Hiring pushes, tradeshows, product launches and new facilities are all examples of scenarios when Instagram can help communicate what your company is doing, but those shouldn’t be the only times you share content.
Again, don’t post for the sake of posting, but do post consistently — celebrate small victories; be transparent; think about what makes your company culture unique; revisit your company and its founders’ history; take the time to explore your employees and customers’ personal stories and experiences and how that ties back to your overarching message.
Here are a few B2B companies that are already doing a stunning job of telling their stories on Instagram that might spark some inspiration:
2. @shell
4. @paypal
5. @intel
6. @ups
7. @exxonmobil (new to Instagram)
If you need help focusing your message or capturing high-quality visual content for Instagram, contact Foster Marketing today. Our digital team of storytellers can help showcase your employees, highlight your wins and connect you with your online audience.