27 Mar 2014

200M Instagramers: What Does This Mean For You?






By Avtar Ram Singh at Social Media Today:

In a release earlier today, Instagram announced that they've just hit the 200 million monthly active users mark. It's a number to celebrate, both for Instagram and Facebook, given that after the acquisition Mark Zuckerberg said Facebook would be happy if Instagram were to reach 100 million users.

The number today is double of that - meaning Instagram managed a growth rate of 100% in the last year.

Exponential growth, however, isn't something that causes a storm in the social world any more, what with the crazy amounts of virality that Upworthy and BuzzFeed manage to muster from each article.

But what stands out in Instagram's growth story is that 50 million of their 200 million users joined in the last six months. Another story that's slowly surfacing is the addition and integration of Facebook places into Instagram, which would mean either adding Facebook places as an option for location tagging of photos, or a complete removal of Foursquare itself. Anything is possible - so wait before you take sides.

So Instagram hit 200 million monthly active users. What else do we know about it? Beta21 put together a crisp, shareable infographic with some interesting number based facts.



With 75 million daily users, and 43% of the brands posting each day - Instagram definitely feels like a platform for all companies and brands to jump into. However - it would do you some good to understand what makes Instagram work, and whether or not it's still a viable option for your brand.

- The growth in Instagram hasn't quite changed the audience that flocks it. A reported 34% of Instagram users are between the ages of 18-24. What's more interesting is that the 12-17 age bracket takes up 20% of the total userspace on Instagram - meaning over half the people on Instagram are between the ages of 12-24.

- Instagram isn't a place to drive sales. Shopify's infographic that documents which social media platforms drive the most amount of sales should explain why.

- 3 out of the top 5 brands on Instagram are from the automobile industry. That should tell you a little bit more about what Instagram is all about.

I might be extremely simple in my thinking when it comes to choosing social networks for your brand - but the only policy I go with is this: If your target audience is on the social platform, you should be there too.

In what capacity? That's for you to decide.

If your target audience is the younger demographic between the ages of 12-24, then you should definitely have a presence on Instagram - even if it's one that involves you not talking about your product at all, but simply engaging and interacting with your fans to understand what they like.

After all, there are 200 million people on there - surely a few will be interested in what you have to show them. The question is - is it worth your while to be there now?



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