29 Mar B2B Instagram Marketing: Great Idea or Waste of Time?
Earlier this year, I wrote a blog post about how to choose social media networks for marketing depending on whether your business is B2B or B2C. I did not recommend B2B Instagram marketing.
But I did recommend it for your B2C business. Here’s what I said:
Some companies are just more visual than others, and they tend to be consumer-facing as well. They are probably also inspirational and aspirations. Think clothing brands, vacation destinations, restaurants, furniture and home goods.
Of course, it’s more complicated than that. B2B Instagram marketing can absolutely work for you. With a little creativity, you can make your business visual, inspirational and even aspirational. But you have to do your homework first.
Here’s how to know if B2B Instagram marketing is a great idea:
1. You start with a B2B Instagram marketing strategy
Like any marketing program, you have to know what the end goal is so you know if you’re successful.
So, why do you want to use Instagram? Do you want to build brand awareness and/or find new clients? Do you want to sell your products or services on the site?
If your answer is, “Because all the cool kids use it” – rethink your strategy.
2. Your target market is using it
Instagram users are young, female and educated.*
Gender: 26% of men and 38% of women who use social media are on Instagram.
Age: 59% of 18-29 year olds and 33% of 30-49 year olds use it. Older than that, and not so much.
Location: The majority (39%) are urban.
Income: Students and college grads use it. 38% of users make less than $30k/year while 37% make more than $75k/year.
Education: Most users (70%) have at least some college experience or hold a college degree.
3. Your competitors are using it – successfully
Look up your top competitors and other companies or organizations in your industry on Instagram.
What are they posting? What topics are getting the most engagement? How many posts are they promoting every week or month? Are their non-sponsored posts getting any organic engagement?
4. Your current clients use it
Now look up your current clients on Instagram.
How active are they on Instagram? Do they engage with brand posts? What do they share in their own feed?
5. You are committed for at least 6 months
Marketing is a long-game. If you can commit the time and resources to B2B Instagram marketing for at least six months – a year is better – then go for it. If you can’t, don’t bother.
If you do go for it, check out this cool tool that will help you grow your followers.
And by the way, it’s A-OK to say, “You know what, Instagram is not for my business!”
If you’d like to dig into B2B Instagram marketing, check out our ebook, The Small Business Guide to Social Media Marketing.
Trigger goes here*Stats courtesy of Sprout Social.
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