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What is Instagram?Instagram Blog Big Red Cloud Image 1

Instagram is a social media software platform that enables its members to share photos and short videos. Members are empowered with creative tools that they can use in the editing, filtering and sharing of photos and videos.

Instagram is a mobile software app that you can download from the App Store or on Google Play. A web version is also available for use but it has very little of the functionality that is present on the mobile app. The key here is that Instagram is mobile focused.

Instagram is owned by Facebook (they reportedly paid $19 billion dollars for it).

As of now there are no ads on Instagram which means you only see what you want to see.

Once someone follows you they will be notified of every single photo or video that you upload. This gives any photo you publish on your business Instagram profile great exposure to your followers. The trick of course is attracting and building a follower community.

Some Key Points of Note:Instagram Blog Big Red Cloud Image 2

* Instagram has 300 Million monthly active users.

* It has over 30 billion photos shared on the application.

* On an Average day 70 Million Photos are posted on Instagram along with the like button being pressed 2.5 Billion times.

* The average user spends 21 minutes per day using the app.

* 41% of all Instagram usage is within the 16-24 category and 35% among 24-34 age group.

If you want to learn more about Instagram and if it’s suitable for your small business, then please download our easy-to-read ‘Instagram Guide.’

Jumping Right In – Instagram for small businesses

If you elect to use Instagram the only way to get started is just to get started. As with any social media platform, sometimes it can be confusing to figure out exactly what to do once you have set your account up. Here are some guiding principles for you which double as a summarised version of the guide.

Instagram Blog Big Red Cloud Image 51. Post powerful imagery

People process visuals much quicker and memorably than text. Like any platform you should be publishing excellent, valuable content so make sure your images tick those boxes. Instagram’s image editing capabilities are perfect companion for this.

2. Show some personality

People interact with people. Show off the personality and values of your business through photos to build brand loyalty and an emotionally invested community rather than just a number of followers beside your name.

3. Link to your website

Where can we find out more about you after building a relationship with your brand? Our Instagarm account links back to our website, Big Red Cloud – Simple Accounting Software.

4. Use hashtags

Remember to use the right hashtags for your images and you’ll see real engagement and the growth of your community will accelerate.

5. Integrated Campaigns

Remember that you can integrate Instagram with Facebook and Twitter to help establish your account and run integrate campaigns across various social media platform. If you’re posting images, use Instagram to edit them before you push them out to your followers across all three social networks.

Check out our Instagram guide for small businesses.

Marc O'Dwyer

After completing a Graduate program in Marketing, Marc’s impressive sales career began at Allied Irish Banks, Pitney Bowes and Panasonic where he received numerous Irish and European sales performance awards and consistently exceeded targets and expectations. In 1992, Marc’s entrepreneurial spirit led him to set up his own business, Irish International Sales (IIS). Initially, this company was a reseller for Take 5 Accounts and Payroll software. Within four years, IIS became the largest reseller of Take 5 in Ireland, acquiring four other Take 5 resellers. He also found time to set up two mobile phone shops under the Cellular World brand and a web design company offering website design services for small businesses. In 2001, he bought the majority share in a small Irish software business, Big Red Book. At that time, the company was losing money. The company became profitable within two months, and Marc then acquired a payroll company to compliment Big Red Books Accounting products. In 2003, IIS were appointed as Channel Partners with SAP for their new SME product, SAP Business One. Marc sold his Take 5 business and concentrated on developing this new market for SAP As a result, by 2007, IIS was recognised as the largest Channel Partner for SAP in EMEA (Europe Middle East and Africa). In 2008, the IIS Sales Manager bought the Company from Marc in an MBO. He launched Big red cloud in June 2012, the online version of big red book, to date the company successfully converts 59% of trials into sales and the number of customers is growing rapidly. Marc continues to run both Big Red Book and Big Red Cloud which now support 75,000 businesses. He is a very keen sportsman, having played rugby for 20 years, represented Leinster at under 16 and under 20 levels, and league squash with Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club for 10 years. Marc has competed in 11 Marathons, including the London and Boston Marathons, and has completed several Triathlons and Half Ironman races. He has also completed six Ironman Races in Austria(x2), Frankfurt (Germany), Nice (France) , Mallorca (Spain) and Copenhagen (Denmark)

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