Instagram is a photo-sharing app that is only available on smartphones. The company was only a few years old when Facebook bought it for $1 billion. Facebook, on the other hand, was a couple years older and considered to be one of the largest private businesses in the world. It’s clear that by spending such a large sum on a small, but very popular startup, that Instagram was onto something – and it was.
According to Entrepreneur Magazine, the internet has gone from blogging (LiveJournal, BlogSpot, WordPress) to micro-blogging (Twitter, Facebook statuses) and now to images with major platforms such as Instagram, Tumblr and Pinterest taking up huge swaths of traffic and even more engagement. This has caused many businesses to flock toward the consumers and set up shop on these visually-oriented sites despite little being known on how to effectively use them.
According to the source, though, images should be used as a way to help further develop a brand’s identity. By creating and using photographs, infographics or other images as part of a small business internet marketing campaign, companies can create a face or a voice for a brand, making them more personable and easier to identify from consumers who may have otherwise been on the fence about the business.
“Embrace images as brand art,” writes Entrepreneur contributor Ann Handley. “For a lot of businesses, content equals text. But photographs and other visual materials should be staples of your marketing mix.”
For small businesses that may be struggling when attempting to find a way to fold photographs into their marketing campaign, they may want to partner with an experienced digital advertising company that can provide the insight and expertise needed to incorporate photography into the grand scheme.