Over the last couple of years, I have been running three Instagram accounts. A personal account where I post my selfies and adventures for family and friends to see, a business account where I post what we’ve been up to at Picton Parrot Designs, and an equestrian account where I post about my horses and engage with others who share my passions. Each of these has taught me so much about the wonderful app that is Instagram and how I can effectively use it for my business. Here are six reasons why I love Instagram and why you should too.

1. You can tailor your account to any niche

As mentioned above, I have Instagram accounts for everything. You can target your account to any niche you like by simply being specific about what you post and who you follow. If you’re running a business its a good idea to connect with potential clients and others in your industry.

2. Growing your fan base is as simple as engaging with the Instagram community

Instagram is a great way to expand your fanbase. It’s quicker and easier than Facebook and the best way to do it is by posting regular, engaging content, and engaging with others. Liking and commenting on your favourite posts is a great place to start. You can also send private messages to other users to grab their attention.

3. Its a visual medium

They say a picture tells a thousand words and this is certainly true for Instagram. You can show off your work, new office space, staff or even what you got up to over the weekend with a simple picture. There’s no need to worry if you’re not the best photographer as Instagram provides an array of photo filters and sliders for settings such as brightness and contrast (that’s not to say you shouldn’t strive to improve your photography skills).

4. You can reach more people with hashtags

Popular tags such as #picoftheday, #motivationalmonday, and #throwbackthursday give you an excuse to post images which might not usually fit into your posting schedule, as well as hashtags providing a means for you to reach out to others in your niche. Instagram lets you use up to 30 hashtags per post so make the most of them! Think about what people might be searching for and target those areas. As a general rule, posts that use even a couple of hashtags will receive significantly more engagement than those who don’t use them at all. Why? Because hashtags provide a way for users other than your followers and those who stumble upon you accidentally to find your posts. You also don’t have to use the same hashtags for every post, try mixing things up to reach a different audience.

5. There is the potential to get valuable insight into what your ideal target market is interested in

By following users in your target market you can get a good idea of what they spend their money on, and where they spend their time by what they post and who they follow. You can also get an idea of what your competition does to engage users.

6. The community is friendly and engaging

Social media in recent years has become the home for a lot of online negativity. I personally have never witnessed anything of the sort on Instagram, its a community driven app where users show their support to each other and follow users who share their passions, which makes for a very pleasant experience.

So, what are some of the reasons you love or hate Instagram?