According to a recent webinar on Instagram Marketing by Bit.ly.com, the social media scene has drastically changed since 2012. Of primary concern to marketers is the changing landscape for Facebook and the promising future of Instagram. As Facebook owns Instagram, it’s almost ironic to see one fail while the other thrives, but that’s what happens when the consumer landscape changes and a social media network [Facebook] loses sight of its original and intended purpose.
Since 2012, Facebook’s organic audience has dropped by 68% while Instagram’s has grown 200%. When comparing how many users actually engage with brands on each network, Instagram hosts a powerful 68% while Facebook sees only 32% of its users engaging with brands on a regular basis.
And while Facebook has rolled out new options for advertising, including the ability to create and launch Instagram ads with Facebook’s targeting options, the fact remains that many brands will be paying for large amounts of attention on Facebook. The exception to that rule is for brands that are established as industry leaders, customer go-to-favorites and who have spent years and years ensuring that they really don’t have to pay to connect. Forbes’ recently published “10 Most Powerful Brands in 2016” gallery hosts 10 exceptions to this likelihood. That being said, these same brands have enormous non-social media marketing budgets that aid in producing organic engagement.
The value of a “follower” has changed as well. According to Selfstartr, an engaged follower on Instagram is worth $10 more than an engaged follower on Facebook.
So why is this happening?
First, Facebook is overflowing with marketers. In fact, the network could probably use a good purge as 93% of marketers are on Facebook (Selfstartr). If you haven’t made the transition to Instagram yet (only 36% of marketers here), now is the time to do it.
Second, Facebook started out as a selective online network aimed at connecting friends in college. Since its inception, its endeavored to become a business platform, an alternative to Google advertising, a place to connect with friends, family and random people, an online shopping forum for approved products and source for news and entertainment. Facebook has become too much. Thus, Instagram has come up in the world as an easy-to-use social media platform that is visually stimulating with photos and videos, offers digestible and desired content but also doesn’t have the restricting character count of Twitter.
Another reason to invest in Instagram efforts is that your customer base is evolving with the Millennial generation coming into the marketplace as a dominating consumer of goods and services.
Quit drowning on Facebook and start learning how to swim on Instagram. It’s worth it. Contact us to see how we can help!