Instagram isn’t just for B2C companies. Plenty of B2B businesses are active across a range of social media platforms. They understand that just because a particular social media network isn’t optimum for their business, it still has value.
You’re probably not going to acquire a whole bunch of new customers from Instagram, but you might get some. More importantly, you can connect with your clients, future clients and show your brand to the world.
Social media isn’t just about trying to acquire new customers. As a business, you have to protect and develop your brand.
Any brand worth their salt is on Instagram, and you should be too.
It’s a robust platform with a huge user base. Ignoring such a huge amount of people is a mistake, regardless of whether you sell to consumers or businesses.
It’s a way to tell your story
Instagram is a visual storytelling platform. Unlike Twitter and Facebook, Instagram was designed for you to show rather than tell.
It’s the perfect place for a company to explain their story to the world. Using a platform like Instagram is an excellent way to humanize your brand.
B2B brands, in particular, have a corporate identity that can often feel dehumanized.
Instagram will allow your brand to share what you do, show the company at work and share your vision with the world.
Establish connections, don’t sell products
Social media shouldn’t be all about selling your products or services. Of course, you want to gain new customers, but social media is about socializing.
Through making connections you’ll be able to sell people down the line, but it’s important to establish a connection first.
Instagram is an excellent opportunity for you to contact and work together with the influencers in your industry. They’ll all have Instagram and joining them on the platform allows you to market through them and produce content that, hopefully, they’ll share with their audience.
Personify your brand
Some B2B brands have used platforms like Instagram as an opportunity to represent their brands. They’ll either have the account controlled by the CEO, who can post about the company and his day, or they use the account to highlight their employees.
Either way, the key is to include people. Instagram is a unique platform in that it’s based upon photos of other people’s lives.
It wasn’t made for brands or companies, and so it’s best to use it to humanize your brand. You might choose to record videos of your staff working, or you could interview some of them about the company.
Your goal should be to create content that’s about the industry or your company, without trying to sell people.
Treat Instagram as an opportunity to connect and educate, rather than to directly sell to your audience.
Employees use Instagram too
When people say that social media platforms aren’t powerful for B2B companies, they forget that the employees of your target customers use social media.
Let’s use an example. John works at Company Z as their product manager. Company Z is a business that could benefit from your product. John goes onto Instagram on his lunch break and sees some of your excellent content. He follows your account and then lets his manager know about your product.
Behind the companies that you’re trying to sell to there are real people. Those people are the ones you’re selling to because they are the people who decide if their company buys your product or not.
Now that you know that you want to try and create content that is going to reach and appeal to those people.
Other businesses have accounts
Similarly, there are a bunch of other companies on Instagram. If they are large corporations, then they’ll have a social media manager who will control their account. There’s always the chance that person will mention your product and have it introduced into their company.
However, most of the companies that you’re targeting are probably SMB’s.
Most companies of that size have either a small staff or just as likely; it’s a one person operation.
This makes Instagram an even more powerful tool. You’ll be able to reach the people who make these decisions. It might even be the founder of the company if it’s a startup.
Conclusion
Instagram isn’t a platform that you can afford to overlook. It’s growing at a substantial rate, and even the largest B2B companies are recognizing the power it can hold.
Brand awareness is crucial in competitive markets where you want your brand to always be in the customer’s mind.
Instagram gives you the opportunity to be on yet another platform. However, it’s unique in that it’s your chance to personify and humanize your brand.
Although it’s unlikely to lead to as many sales as platforms like Facebook, there’s still the opportunity to connect with industry leaders and reach other businesses.