Do Instagram business profiles mark the end of organic reach for brands?
There’s been plenty of changes for Instagram. First we waved goodbye to the chronological ordering of our timelines. Then came the ability to upload longer videos, up to 60 seconds in fact. After that we were introduced to Instagram Stories – an attempt to capture some of Snapchat’s audience. However, the feature that has been exciting a lot of UK brands is Instagram business profiles.
Instagram has seen rapid growth since its launch in 2010. It now has 300m+ active daily users – that’s 80m more than Twitter, which has been around since 2006. A lot of the more social media conscious brands have Instagram as a firm fixture in their digital communications mix, but to date it hasn’t been able to offer them the same business support as the likes of the more established networks.
Now Instagram has responded by creating new services to help brands get more out of the social platform. So, what are the benefits of Instagram business profiles?
Benefits to brands switching to Instagram business profiles
On the face of it, the benefits of switching to a business profile are on point:
- Your customers can contact you via telephone, email or text at the tap of a button
- You can make your business address visible on your profile page
- One of the most exciting developments for brands is the new insights feature, which helps them understand the performance of their Instagram posts
- Finally, you can pay to promote your posts to a specific audience and add a ‘call to action’ button taking them straight to a promotional page on your website. You can even cross promote on your Facebook page
This final point is the dilemma for businesses. Instagram is owned by Facebook.
If you also have a Facebook business page you’ll have noticed how difficult it is to reach your followers without paying to boost your posts. In fact, the number of followers who see each of your posts can be as low as 2% without turning them into ads.
Do Instagram business profiles mark the end of organic reach?
So, is organic reach likely to go the same way for Instagram business pages? In short, yes. Word on the digital street is that some accounts that have made the switch have seen a dip in likes and comments.
However, this is no a reason to give up on Instagram. It may not have a long-term future as a ‘free’ way to promote your brand, but it should still be part of your content marketing plan. You just need to be smarter about how you use it – posting quality content that’s relevant to your followers, and start putting your money where your audience is.
If you’d like to find out more about how social media can benefit your business then get in touch. We offer social media and content marketing packages to suit all businesses.