Abstract
If we talk about visual marketing channels, Instagram stands in the queue as the strongest contender availing the opportunity of brand building for B2B business. Instagram is a social networking app made for sharing personal experiences and life via photos and videos. The Instagram format is now not limited to sharing photos and videos but has become the platform where people can engage with potential clients by performing brand awareness strategies. Studies say that 25 million+ companies around the globe are doing business via Instagram.
Businesses that are into B2B are looking up to Instagram to market their product or services without doing any paid advertising to the targeted audiences.
Effects of using Instagram Strategy for B2B
Millennials are currently hooked on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram 24 hours a day, seven days a week, which has offered a tremendous chance for marketers to increase business sales.
According to Statista, Instagram presently has 116 million users in the United States and 73 million users in India. Therefore, Instagram has a huge audience base that can be used by brands and there is a high probability of reaching the target audiences on the platform.
The benefits of using Instagram for the B2B industry are –
- Trust building with the audience
The sharing format of Instagram in photos and videos enables businesses in humanizing their brands via video and photo sharing showcasing the company culture and talents behind the company.
As the B2B industry invests in the people who are operating businesses more than the product or services, Instagram helps in caressing and delivering customers with trust and credibility.
- More Traffic to the Site
If marketers are using Instagram to sell their business and want to drive direct traffic to their website, some tactics can be used for it. To begin, comprising a website link in the Instagram bio, as will bring followers to the company’s website if prospects come to the business profile directly.
Adding photos and videos regularly can present the account active where you may include a call to action button or a URL link so that people can be led to the website with a simple click.
Other than this, to drive more website traffic, Instagram Ads are a great source to use. Letting followers involved in the digital marketing campaign can be done via offering clickable links or URLs on Instagram Ad directly.
- Attracting Potential Talents to Work
Instagram is one of the top social media channels for connecting with a youthful audience and attracting the best talents to work with the brand, with 90% of users under 35.
In fact, 94% of professional recruiters currently use social media to network for talent acquisition and management, and 59% of employees believe a company’s social media presence was a factor in their decision to work there. Hence, Instagram is an interesting place to recruit talented souls.
Top 10 Brand Building B2B Instagram Marketing Strategies
- Alluring Feeds
To make users stick to the Instagram page by astonishing users with enticing feeds is an extremely necessary move. For this, using compelling colorful visual images with a call to action button may make users click on the post and make them visit the website also. All this can be done via a professional designers team who can draft eye-catching daunting images for the Instagram feed.
- Brand Story
The Instagram marketing for B2B includes brands deals highlighting that should not be direct because it will look a bit irrelevant instead posting visual images that are appealing and can talk a lot about the brand, making people interested in the profile that can lead them to the website, contact information and brand description. Aside from this, using the Instagram feed content to convey a brand story to the viewers. At last, people will know about the brands, their products, and services making them loyal advocates.
Need help in accelerating brand awareness and reach to the targeted audience, just go for the influencer marketing as it can assist in extracting more engagement to the Instagram feeds than the paid promotion.
Till now, only 11% of the B2B marketers are using influencer marketing programs because of their complexity. In B2B the target audiences are business professionals that require more trust winning efforts such as expert talks and credibility about its products and services. Now all this can be done via hosting live sessions with the top clients presenting them as influencers. The second effort can be done by publishing case studies on prospects and requesting them to share them on their profiles. Last but not least co-creating content with the partners, media publications, and bloggers.
- Bringing the Team to Front
Putting forward a human face on the Instagram feed is the ongoing trend in B2B companies which is a good strategy that will be interesting for the followers. Companies are now using the IGTV channel to introduce their staff to their followers, who are the key cause for the company’s success, in order to gain goodwill towards the brand. Apart from IGTV videos, businesses are also publishing photos of behind-the-scenes employees, which have helped them gain a large following.
Similarly, businesses can use the Instagram story area to highlight their team’s daily efforts, problems, and progress. Almost 500 million Instagram users engage in Instagram stories every day, making it one of the best ways for B2B marketers to advertise their company or gain new followers on their business page.
- Instagram Ad Campaigns
Business marketers may use Instagram’s business page to execute Ad campaigns to reach out to a larger audience who might be interested in business products. Smart marketers understand when and why to utilize paid campaigns. According to Social Media Examiner’s research, 38% of B2B marketers use Instagram Ad campaigns to better promote their products and services.
As stated earlier, Instagram may not be the best platform for lead generation, but it is an excellent platform for brand recognition and staying in the minds of prospects until they make a purchasing decision.
Instagram Strategy for B2B ads can be used –
- Website visitors retargeting
- At different stages, nurturing leads and prospects.
- Upselling via new features promotion to the existing customers.
- Sharing success stories of the customers.
Wrap Up
The power of B2B Instagram Marketing is undeniable as it is a new special platform to reach the younger decision-makers with amazing visual sharings. This is emerging as one of the strongest B2B marketing tools extracting engagement with the prospected leads and turning them into new customers.
