According to a recent study from eMarketer, the average time spent daily on Facebook and Snapchat are set to remain flat over the next few years. The study also found that Instagram will increase slightly over the same period. So what does this mean for your business?
While at first look this may seem like the heavens signaling to stockpile all the Instagram stock you can, looks can be deceiving. For instance peak Facebook usage may be behind us, but that doesn’t mean it’s time to count out Mark Zuckerberg. Facebook is still the largest social media platform with almost 2 billion monthly users worldwide, roughly twice the size of Instagram. Even with time spent on Facebook becoming stagnant, it is still significantly more than it’s peers. So hold onto your Facebook page because it’s not going anywhere.
On the other hand if you don’t have an Instagram account, it might be time for a helpful reminder of who is on the platform. Instagram is the fourth most popular social media platform among those aged 18-24 in the United States behind YouTube, Facebook, and Snapchat. Fourth may not make the medal stand but what is remarkable is the speed in which Instagram is closing the gap on older Social Media platforms. It is not a hyperbole to say Instagram is the preferred social media platform for the younger generation.
However, if your target audience or buyer is not on Instagram, even the best Instagram marketing will not help move the sales needle. But just because your buyer is not on Instagram today does not mean that they won’t be in the future. An intermediary step worth exploring for many businesses is to create an Instagram account for your business to cultivate a following over time. Post relevant content every other week or once a month to start and rely on content you are using for other platforms to save your team time and effort. Put links on your website, newsletter, and email signatures to organically drive followers over time so if the day comes when Instagram and Facebook are neck in neck in regards to usage, you already have an account ready and active and simply need to devote more resources to it.