With 400 million users worldwide, three quarters of them outside the USA, Instagram is becoming the social media outlet of choice for a wide range of businesses. Primarily seen as a business to consumer platform, the truth is that this highly visual platform is actually pretty good for B2B marketing as well. Get the right strategy in place, use a little imagination and Instagram can deliver great dividends.

Are you using Instagram to advertise your Business?

With so many companies using Instagram there is a ready-made audience for businesses who want to connect B2B. There are also a wide range of tools available that allow businesses to stand out from the crowd. As with any social media platform the proof is in the insights – this data gives businesses key information about their fans and followers and allows for a breakdown of demographics and behaviours that can be highly useful and can be used to target your Instagram campaigns more effectively.

Options such as carousel ads which have more impact than single image ads are certainly an area to explore. The great news is that you can add videos and images that create an impressive and eye catching promotion to engage your target market in imaginative ways.

Instagram Case Study 1: Salesforce

One company that used carousel ads on Instagram to good effect is the CRM company Salesforce. The company is a customer relations management provider and they run an annual software event called Dreamforce. Their last promotion for this week-long conference involved a marketing campaign that utilised the power of Facebook combined with the potential of Instagram to build awareness across the business world.

Their tagline for the promotion was Head for the Cloud and involved an Instagram carousel campaign that included various images relating to their core demographic. The company used their own cloud tools in conjunction with those offered by Instagram which enabled them to reach nearly 5 million people with a click through rate of 1%. This in turn drove engagement for the event and a good deal of registrations for the Salesforce marketing team.

Instagram Case Study 2: TM Lewin

If you’re into male style, you will have heard of quality shirt brand TM Lewin. A company with over a hundred years of history behind them, they also have a very strong global brand and operate well on social media platforms such as Instagram.

The company had already found success with Facebook and next wanted to push the envelope by engaging on Instagram. The main aim was to reduce the cost per acquisition and Instagram allowed them to achieve significant results by once again using carousel ads which highlighted the quality of their product and invited viewers to learn more. This strategy enabled the company to reduce the cost of acquisition by 9 times and made Instagram their 4^th most effective choice of marketing platform for B2B.

With 80 million photos uploaded every day, Instagram is certainly one of the most popular social media channels for visual content. Get your strategy right and make use of the platform’s excellent targeting tools and it can be a highly useful platform for business to business engagement. It’s a great way to tell your story to other businesses, particularly in a world where the lines between B2C and B2B are becoming increasingly blurred.

Help is at hand!

If you have any queries regarding instagram advertising or any other aspect of your digital marketing campaigns, call The Last Hurdle specialists on 01604 654545. Covering a wide range of digital marketing services we can devise a package to suit your budget and goals. If you are considering increasing your digital coverage then book a consultation, we can assist with your current strategy or devise a results producing social media strategy bespoke to your business and goals. Email sales@thelasthurdle.co.uk or call 01604 654545 to book a complimentary consultation.