History of Instagram
Instagram started existing on October 10, 2006. The first day users of Instagram were recorded 25,000. But the success of Instagram was not overnight. Do you know that Instagram is the second largest social media platform in the world? However, before social media platforms existed people used to convey messages through cave paintings and then shifted to writing. The amazing fact about social media is they have been around since the dawn of humanity and will exist till the end of the world.
Evolution of Instagram
Back in 2010 Instagram the app was initially set up as a photo sharing platform with the first image being a stray dog and then other images started to appear such as cat, dog, food, fashion, clothes etc. In the last ten decades we saw massive growth of Instagram as the most used social media platform. With everyday multiplied users. The content started to appear diverse. In 2012 Facebook purchased Instagram for 1 billion dollars. It has over a billion monthly active users.
Political content
Instagram is not just a content creating and sharing app. In a broader aspect it became a platform for political content and opinion sharing platform. Nowadays we see a number of activists on Instagram raising political and economic agendas. But what is the purpose of sharing political content? As we know the users of Instagram are not just limited to people of the younger generation but people from every generation use Instagram, and therefore it becomes relevant to put social content. Firstly, it is informative, even if people are not watching the news and newspapers, they can keep themselves informed and updated with the latest happenings. Secondly, Instagram lets people share their opinion publicly, so it can reach hundreds and thousands of people.
Political figures and activists promote their agendas post about social welfare activities. They can initiate their voting benefits due to easy reach to the audience. They communicate directly. A communication platform like this is persuasive and often works to change and influence opinions. More than 41% of the users say that they want influencers to voice an opinion on social, political and ethical subjects. Moreover, it said that if social media influencer will promote social and ethical stance. The cause will spread widely creating an impact.
Instagram Importance
- Popularity benefits– When you are popular you get validation for what you do. Your work gets valued and that gives motivation for improved performance. When you gain popularity, you have open doors to earn money. Instagram costs you 200 rupees for every 1000 likes. To avail this benefit, buy Instagram likes.
- Encourage creativity– Instagram is available to all its users with several creative features for content making. Making creative content is easy with these features. We see many people getting famous by using these features. Why do people encourage them? It is because their content is entertaining, informative and catchy. If your content has a blend of this then your content is creative and it has a capacity to go viral.
- Can create a successful business- One of the biggest brands of today, namely Nike and Pepsi has leveraged their business largely through Instagram. The true hype of tourism industry has happened through Instagram only. We know several travel and food bloggers around the world. They are ultimately promoting travel. 48% of the people ask for features of ‘Reserve’ and ‘Book’ to facilitate travel through Instagram.
- Effective customer service– Instagram enables one on one interaction between business and customers. Businesses are able to know their customer’s demand and can take their queries. Every business is run with the motivation of customer satisfaction. Therefore, Instagram made it easy for businesses and customers to reach out to one another. Businesses are able to create customer-friendly relations.
- Influencer partnership– On Instagram there are viewers and influencers. Influencers are celebrities who promote the brand online. Popular celebrities take up the sales and brand promotion responsibilities from the businesses for which they charge a certain amount. Influencer marketing is said to be the most effective form of marketing in the modern world.
- Connect to customers through stories- Show your customers that you are not just a faceless business. Instagram lets you give the insights behind the brand through live features and story. This way you can directly communicate to customers. Giving the insights of brand and face behind it will encourage the customers faith in the business. Customer faith is important to build a trustworthy relationship between business and customers.
- Easy target audience– To be successful it is required to know your customers. Instagram works on the algorithm of likes and dislikes. The most relevant and viewed content will appear spontaneously and this affiliates to tap on target audience who really need a product or services. The virtual number of customers said to increase with this phenomenon.
- Advertisement benefits– Instagram allows you to have advertisement benefits. You can put your advertisements on Instagram and people can easily find you through scrolling without any extra effort. This will increase traffic on your website. You can attract a link to your advertisement and convert the users into your customers. The advertisements feature is counted as one of the best features of Instagram for businesses.
- Visual marketing– Visual contents are more appealing than written contents. Sharing photos with a catchy caption is the best way to promote your product. People refrain from reading descriptive content. Through Instagram you can post appealing pictures keeping the content brief and visuals engaging.
Conclusion
Overall, the evolution of Instagram from sharing platform to a digital marketing platform is huge. From using Instagram just for interaction to earning money and building companies, its purpose has changed. The purpose became more meaningful, thoughtful, and smart. Replacing the idea of traditional marketing with digital marketing. The estimate for 2022 says that Instagram users will increase from 804,4 million presently to 877,5 million by the end. From a business perspective, the Instagram community is a goldmine.
