Facebook-owned Instagram is one of the biggest and fastest-growing photo-sharing sites around. With over 20 billion photos shared on Instagram to date, and around 50 million users signed up in the last six months alone, Instagram is seeing heavy traffic and rapid growth.

If this alone isn’t enough to convince you that you should be using Instagram, here are just a few more of its business benefits:

Uploading images couldn’t be easier

Instagram’s mobile upload screen

It’s worth bearing in mind that, currently, the only way to register an Instagram account is through downloading the Instagram app to a mobile device. This is also the only way to upload photos— unless you’re willing to download an app player like BlueStacks, which allow you to run apps on your desktop.

This can work to your advantage, however. Having access to Instagram on a mobile device means that you’re free to snap images at any time: not just of your product, but also of things that represent what your business is all about.

Instagram’s easy-to-use mobile upload system, as well as their options to add different filters to images for a more polished look, makes it quick work to add regular images to your account and maintain an active profile.

It will help you grow your presence

Choose to sync Instagram with other social media accounts

Plenty of studies have shown that the most successful social media content is the most visual, and Instagram lets you bring the magic of images to the rest of your social media profile and maximise impact there, too.

Instagram makes it incredibly easy to post content across your various social media profiles. You can sync Instagram to Twitter, Tumblr, and to Facebook pages that you manage, allowing Instagram to post images you share there to your other accounts, instantly making your business’ presence more engaging.

It’s the perfect showcase

Instagram can be used to show off the best aspects of your business

It’s often said of Instagram that their motto is ‘quality not quantity’—Instagram’s focus is on appealing visual content, and attractive or interesting images are widely shared. The kind of images you choose for Instagram are totally flexible and are a perfect method of showcasing your products and services, whether you’re showing them in action, creating a beautiful studio photo, or giving followers an insight into what you do from day to day.

This flexibility makes it a great way of building your brand’s personality. You can show off the images that represent the best of your business, as well as seeing what content creates the best response from your audience.

Instagram allows you to discover the kinds of images people want to see from you, and to share images that people will engage with, creating lots of completely free exposure for your business.

You’ll get enthusiastic engagement

There are over 200 million active monthly users on Instagram. Though this is fewer users than Twitter and Facebook can boast, recent figures show that when it comes to engagement, Instagram comes out top: brands tested saw 58 times more engagement per follower on Instagram than they experienced on Facebook, and 120 times more engagement than on Twitter.

The Instagram community is incredibly enthusiastic, not just about the content but about the platform itself- this means that there is a huge group of people ready and waiting to engage with your content!

It has an incredibly wide reach

General Electric is just one of many companies using Instagram to boost its presence

The majority of users on Instagram are under 35, and according to recent research Instagram represents the ‘favourite social network’ for 23% of teenagers.

This makes it an ideal platform for businesses targeting a younger market— but a wide range of companies, including Ford and American power suppliers General Electric, have shown that even brands targeting an older market experienced an increase in engagement when using Instagram. There are plenty of ways to go about maximising your reach on Instagram, and once you get the hang of it you’ll be racking up followers in no time.

 You’ll have a competitive edge

A recent survey by American Express showed that just 2% of small businesses have made the leap to Instagram— which means less competition for you, giving your content room to stand out. It also means that Instagram remains an enormous untapped market, just waiting for you to reach out to.

The long and short of the matter is that Instagram is a really simple to use, flexible platform that will lend itself to promoting your business in all sorts of ways. If you’re not on there already— what’s stopping you?

By Moya Vaughan Evans