Should my NZ business be on Instagram?

If the question at hand is “Should my NZ business be on instagram?”, it’s likely we might say YES.

At Identify, we work with small to medium New Zealand businesses to develop and refine their digital marketing.  We run through a unique approach for each social media platform, ensuring branding is consistent and well thought through, we recommend changes and analyse results for each platform to determine how the bigger picture is working.

And overwhelming the biggest challenge for clients is always Instagram.

They either don’t see the value in the platform that boasts over 600M users (over 810k based in New Zealand and growing!).  Or they believe that their product isn’t visual or sexy enough to carry an Instagram account.  So are you one of the ones to decide to have your NZ business be on instagram?

The reasons you should consider using Instagram for your business or re-think your current approach:

It’s where the tech-savvy consumer is

Instagrammers who follow tech-related accounts are 1.7 x more likely to shop online via their mobile.  They are older than the average Instagram user, skew slightly toward being male, and are highly active on the platform – infact they log in every day.   AND are more likely to follow business accounts.

If you are advertising on Facebook, and this sounds like your ideal audience, you can access them via good targeting and Instagram.

It’s where the home-goods consumer is

Instagrammers interested in home goods are active seven more days out of the month and follow 140% more accounts than the average user.  They consume more content than the average Instagrammer and are more likely to follow business accounts (and home goods brands are jumping on Instagram because they know this!)

Instagram are removing barriers to consumption for retailers

Instagram is currently testing in-app shopping with 20 US brands, making product information available to the customer earlier than before, without leaving the app to search.  Right now there isn’t an easy way to share links or product information via Instagram, however in the near futures consumers will be able to tap a Shop Now link, and be taken directly to the product on a business website.

“Customers often have to ask us, which creates a bulky experience on both sides. We love how seamlessly integrated and consumer-centric this new experience is,” says Dave Gilboa, co-founder and co-CEO of Warby Parker

Your product doesn’t have to be sexy or visual

The best Instagram profiles are not all about selling, they are about smart, beautiful content.  Talk about your company culture, your office space and team celebrations – there is nothing to be lost by promoting your brand identity (and you can use this content for recruitment).

It’s not all about your photos

Instagram is a two-way street  – so create a brand-specific hashtag for users to share your products or specific campaigns.  You’ll need to promote your hashtag and campaign on Instagram and other social media – and even offline.   Check out the Instagram run Weekend Hashtag projects on Twitter, and Instagram’s blog to see user-generated content in action.

…But how does this fit into my social media or marketing strategy?

As with anything social media we always talk about purposeful, outcome-oriented actions as well as the very underrated act of recognising (and ignoring) vanity measures – because hey, 10k+ impressions are nice, but what did that actually achieve for your business?

In the end, the decision around whether your NZ business should be on instagram is all about how it fits into your whole strategy, and how it will bring clients closer to your door.