If you have a Facebook Page for your business and are wondering if it’s worth the time to use Instagram as well, then this post is for you!
The following are four reasons Instagram is a good addition to your Facebook strategy. You can spend just a few more minutes each day and integrate this very popular platform into your marketing efforts.
1. Instagram is owned by Facebook
This means integration and communication between the two platforms works well. You can easily take photos, post them to your Instagram account, and then share them to your Facebook page.
Any hashtags used on your Instagram posts are clickable when shared to your Facebook Page. Keep in mind that the recommended number of hashtags used on Instagram is much higher than what is recommended on Facebook (e.g. 7-11 on Instagram vs. 1-4 on Facebook).
Videos posted to Instagram are also “live” when shared to Facebook. Instagram videos are a maximum of 15 seconds long, which doesn’t give you too much time. But consider using these videos as “teasers” for new blog posts or products, or a very quick tip of the day/week.
Check out the Instagram help page for more details on linking accounts. The screenshot below is Instagram’s steps for sharing your Instagram posts to a Facebook Page (for each type of phone):
2. On-the-Go Posts are Easy
Once you’ve learned how to use it, you’ll find that Instagram posts are quick and easy to do when you are on-the-go.
If you’re at an event, a client site, or even behind-the-scenes at your business, posting a photo to Instagram (and then sharing to Facebook with a few more clicks) is a quick way to add content to your Facebook Page.
And as studies show, Facebook users respond well to human interest photos and stories, so you may find your Instagram-to-Facebook posts get better reach and engagement on Facebook.
Time-Saving Tip: Once you’ve determined the top hashtags for your industry, save them to a Note on your phone. Then you can quickly copy and paste them into each of your Instagram posts.
3. Facebook Page Apps Showcase Instagram Photos
There are a variety of third-party Apps that allow you to set up an Instagram Tab on your Facebook Page.
(1) You can use the Instagram Feed App on Facebook (see screenshot below):
#1: Type Instagram into Facebook’s Search Bar
#2: Click on Instagram Feed Tab for Pages
#3: Sign in to Instagram and Set Up the Tab
(2) Or choose a free App like Woobox to create the Tab on your Page.
(3) If you use Iconosquare (a free tool for managing your IG account), you can add a Tab for your Facebook Page from there as well.
(4) Another option is to set up a special photo album on your Facebook Page to hold all your Instagram photos, and then use a “recipe” from IFTTT (IF This Then That) to automatically send all Instagram photos to that specific album.
Click here to see the recipe and how to set it up for your accounts.
(5) You can also use a paid option (App) to host an Instagram photo contest on your Facebook Page. People will “tag” their Instagram photos with a special hashtag of your choice, and their photos will be entered into your contest.
Check out Apps from Woobox, Tabsite or TabFoundry for Instagram contests on Facebook.
Tip: Facebook Tabs for Apps do not appear on mobile, so use an App that gives you a “smart URL” or mobile-ready URL so you can share the link to your contest in a Facebook post.
4. Cross Promotion Opportunities
You can use your Instagram account to send traffic to your Facebook Page by putting the Page’s URL in the website field of your Instagram account (see screenshot below).
Another option is to create a few graphics that invite Instagram Followers to connect on your Facebook Page. Put your Page name and/or URL on the graphic and in the caption of your Instagram post (see screenshot below).
Note: the URL will not be clickable in the photo caption, but people may decide to copy and paste it on their phone. For this reason, you may want to consider using a link-shortening tool like bit.ly to create a custom short link for your Facebook Page URL.
On the other hand, if you want to build up your Instagram following, then promote your account on your Facebook Page.
(1) Share a photo and then include the link to your Instagram account in the post (see screenshot below from one of our posts).
(2) Ask Fans to share their Instagram account and have a networking party on your Page to help others to build up Followers.
(3) Use Facebook Ads to promote your Instagram account.
So there you have it: 4 reasons to add Instagram to your Facebook strategy. Start using Instagram as part of your Facebook strategy today with these tips and let me know how they’re working for you!
If we’re not connected on Instagram, you can find us at https://instagram.com/socialmediaLCS
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New to Instagram? Want to learn more? We offer training and strategy sessions, as well as account management. Contact us (click here) for a free consultation to learn how we can help your business!
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Top image courtesy of (and derived from) StockSnap / Pixabay