A new study revealed that the top social media platform for businesses this year is Instagram. The photo and video sharing social network has registered a three times higher consumer engagement compared to all other main social platforms.
According to SumAll, Instagram is a “king for business.” The study focused on the four main social media websites – Facebook, Google+, Twitter and Instagram. However, only Instagram scored such a high follower/fan engagement. In addition, SumAll has found that brands that rely mainly on Instagram have managed to attract more followers on the platform compared to all other similar social networks. Businesses on Instagram witnessed both an engagements and followers growth with about 7% on the average. U.K. companies with an active Instagram profile managed to increase their revenues with up to 3.6%, while in the U.S. the number reached 5%.
Dan Atkinson, CEO of SumAll, shared that Instagram has become a must for all brands that offer a visual product. Also, the research revealed that companies can attract more consumers through Instagram compared to other social websites. At that, they can do it without having to invest a lot of money on social media campaigns.
Even though Instagram does not allow impressions measuring, the website still managed to do better than its rivals in terms of engagement. Often, engagement rate on the popular site can reach up to 20%. Moreover, SumAll has found that some companies, like fashion brand In God We Trust, has accumulated more than 2% of its revenues through Instagram. Other businesses, like Pure Fix Cycles, gain a revenue of $100 per an Instagram post.
Another thing that sets Instagram marketing campaigns from those in Facebook and Twitter, for instance, is that brands there do not rely on celebrities to sell their products and services. Unlike business on Twitter, that invest a lot in celebrity endorsement, companies on Instagram prefer to use ordinary consumers. That seems to attract more clients. In addition, it is much cheaper.
What about the other top social networks. According to the study, Twitter is more suitable for content like articles, since it revolves more around text and less around images and videos. Even though many consumers (68%) trust product and service reviews and posts on Facebook, this social platform has become less effective for brands.
All in all, Instagram is not the only visual social media website that has grown in popularity. Platforms like Pinterest, Tumblr and Vine are also holding a strong position here.
