Mobile phone photo sharing is one of the fastest growing trends on social media networks and Instagram is taking full advantage of that fact. Although Instagram has only been in existence since October 2010, it has already gained some 50 million users and looks likely to double that mark within the next year. Its popularity has been bolstered by the recent Facebook acquisition which was worth an estimated $1 billion. With over a billion photos taken by this app to date and a new user being added every single second, it’s clear that Instagram is on a major upward spiral. Add in the popularity of social media networks and the modern generation’s propensity to take photos and you’re on to an online marketing winner.

What Is Instagram?

Instagram is a mobile application that allows you to take photos and instantly upload them to social sites like Facebook. You can also edit the pictures in rapid time on your smartphone. It seems as if iPhone and Android users are finding Instagram addictive. So how can you make best use of what is a unique online marketing opportunity for your business?

Getting Started

If you want to join the Instagram online marketing revolution, all you need is a smartphone. It’s free to download so sign up for an account today. Connect with your social media accounts and search for your contacts via email. Now all you need to do is start taking pictures! Whenever you decide to share a photograph online, there are a host of filters to play with. It’s essential that you add a relevant caption, preferably one that is optimized for keywords relevant to your industry and company. You must also use the # hash tag feature as this enables easy keyword tagging as seen on Twitter.

Start Contests

Instagram opens up a world of possibilities when it comes to competitions which are known to be a great online marketing strategy. One of the best ideas is to get existing customers to post pictures of themselves using one of your products. The best picture wins a prize though depending on the number of pictures you receive; perhaps you can award small prizes to everyone who participated. This is a great way to spread the word about your company while also having a huge amount of photographic evidence which proves your customers are happy. Conversation Starter To be successful with regards to online marketing using social media sites, you need to be willing to engage with customers and followers on a regular basis. One of the quickest ways to lose ‘fans’ on Facebook for example is to drone on about your business. Your customers want engagement and expect conversation to be a two-way street. This is why companies that do nothing but post company-related news on their sites fail so miserably with social media. If you have a problem coming up with topics of conversation, Instagram can be your savior. Take a picture of something related to your industry and get people to discuss it. For example, a store that sells sports supplements may post pictures of a Mr. Universe competition or a photo of a memorable sporting event. Resist the urge to steer the conversation towards your company. Naturally flowing conversation is the bedrock of any successful online marketing campaign using social media. Thanks to Instagram, you’ll never be short of topics again. It hasn’t taken long for major companies such as Levi’s and General Electric to use Instagram as part of their online marketing campaigns. Most people made the mistake of believing that this application would fade into oblivion as it didn’t provide people with a compelling reason to use it. As it turns out, people in the modern era are addicted to taking photographs. Posting flattering images of your goods has never been easier than with Instagram.

Frederick is a blogger, tech geek and a member of mac-how community.