​Social media is ubiquitous in modern life. Interactive communication continues to expand with the advent of Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Foursquare, Pinterest, and more like them. One area of considerable social media growth across all markets is photo blogging. Photo blogging allows us to share visual experiences across continents and technology platforms. Instagram is arguably the largest name and most innovative tool for marketers in the photo blogging arena. “With a value of one billion dollars and 80 million users, Instagram can’t be ignored,” said Jason Howie, author of the article “Using Instagram for Social Media Marketing.” In Howie’s article, he mentioned nine points on using Instagram to effectively market your company or brand:

1. Don’t rely just on Instagram.
   Instagram is not the end all for online marketing and works best when used in conjunction with other forms of social media. Visually friendly sites are the best, because they offer the best virtual impact for sharing and discussing photos.
    
2. Involve your community.
   Interact with the vibrant blogging community by commenting on your and your friends’ photos. This creates “buzz” and increases your exposure.
    
3. Let your community see behind the curtain.
   To be successful, your blog should be active, post interesting pictures, and show people the world beyond the faces at the counter or in the office.
    
4. Let your employees be involved.
   Employees help develop legitimate activity quickly. Encourage them to participate. There is no better way to interact with customers than allowing employees to submit their own photos.
    
5. Popular hash tags are dead.
   You need to use less hash tags and more photo and promotion specific tags.
    
6. Create your own hash tag and engage people that use it.
   Creating, using, promoting, and monitoring your own hash tag has benefits. These benefits include: photos are easily found related to your company, easier to determine true fans beyond the followers, easier to engage in the community, and your brand is readily shared when you encourage the use of your own hash tags.
    
7. Geo-Tag Instagram photos.
   This app gives the user the ability to transfer the location of the photo being taken to other social media. It also incorporates a photo map on the user’s profiles displaying where the photo was taken. It can help you promote an event, and by design, the location and products at the event.
    
8. Find the perfect timing.
   According to SimplyMeasured, the best time to post pictures for engagement is between 5-6 p.m. as many people have this window of time free and are checking up on their social media after a day at work.
    
9. Play with your photos.
   Encourage employees to take photos, don’t be afraid to be creative, and use editing tools to enhance your photos.
    

Technology is constantly advancing and to compete in today’s marketplace marketers need to be aware of effective tools that can drive traffic and customers to their brand. OffWhite has 28 years of experience establishing effective marketing campaigns for a variety of companies and we have always utilized the most effective tools for the job. Social media easily integrates into all of the websites that we build and Ed.it™2 is the perfect platform to manage your entire integrated online presence, regardless of audience. Contact us today to learn how to stay connected and let Ed.it™2 drive your online campaigns.

Call Jane Cirigliano at 800-OFFWHITe for more information.