Social media: Instagram, Pinterest and Snapchat

We recently wrote about the power of videos and photos in social media. There are a number of social media sites that are specifically designed for the promotion of visual media, and the ones we’re going to cover in this post are Instagram, Pinterest and Snapchat. Each of these apps/sites could have a whole post dedicated to them, but we’ll give you an overview of them so you can decide which ones (if any) suit your business needs.

Instagram

Instagram is a mobile photo and video sharing app that allows you to share images and videos across a number of social media sites. Instagram is known for its square-shaped images and the filters that are used to enhance the images. The video feature is a more recent development and they can be a maximum of 15 seconds long. Instagram was the fastest growing social media network in 2013 and currently has over 300 million users.

In terms of being good for your business, firstly, there are a lot of people on there you can connect with! But also, image-based marketing allows you to give your business a personality, and with people connecting better with images than text, it’s a great platform to maximise. Instagram is a great way to engage potential customers by running competitions and offering promotional codes. And don’t forget to check out the Instagram for business blog for more tips.

Pinterest

Pinterest is an app/site that allows people to create modern moodboards and idea organisation. If that doesn’t make sense, think about planning a wedding. On Pinterest, you can collate your favourite dresses, invitations, recipes etc. Or if you’re re-decorating then you can collate your favourite colour schemes and ideas for decorating. Pinterest was the fastest growing social media site in 2014 and currently has over 70 million registered users.

So there are obvious benefits for businesses if you’re selling a product or service that can be treated like this. Are you a wedding photographer? Then pin your photos to your business Pinterest page, tag them right and people looking for wedding photographers might find you, pin you and potentially contact you. The same goes for lots of other services and products, but you need to make sure that your photos are good quality because otherwise your quality won’t show. They also have paid for advertising opportunities to help drive traffic to your website. Check out their business site to find out more tips for using Pinterest.

Snapchat

Snapchat is an app that allows users to take pictures and send them to a selected list of recipients. The pictures can be edited with text and drawing (similar to Paint) and receivers can only see the picture for a limited period of time (1-10 seconds depending on the sender’s preference). Snapchat has over 100 million active monthly users and over 400 million Snapchat ‘snaps’ are sent every day!

Snapchat means that you can create a sense of urgency and quick purchase decisions. Most early Snapchat users have been teenagers, so if your business targets this market then you definitely need to be on Snapchat! But use of the app has now spread across a wider age group so don’t discount it if you don’t target teenagers. There are a number of clever ways you can use Snapchat as a marketing tool; quick videos to answer customer questions (FAQ-style), showcase new products and send out exclusive promotions (coupons, voucher codes).

If you think your business can benefit from visual social media marketing, have a look at them all and see which one might suit your business the best. Or maybe more than one will fit, but don’t ignore the power of images.