Reputation Management and Social Media: Essential Instagram Tips

If you think that Facebook and Twitter are the only social media sites you need for your reputation management campaign, think again. As social networking expands and evolves, new venues are constantly arriving—some of them inessential, but a few of them utterly imperative. More and more, the photo sharing site Instagram is proving itself a member of this latter category. For anyone who does reputation management, thinking seriously and critically about Instagram is of the essence.

Why Instagram?

But why is it that this social sharing site has reached such prominence? As ever, it behooves the reputation management professional to consider some of the statistics. Instagram has more than 80 million users, and it is growing all the time. There are more than 5 million photos shared every day; more than 575 likes, and 81 comments, each second!

If it is user engagement you are after, then, the image-centered, dynamic services offered by Instagram are key. That’s not the only thing we might say in recommendation of this social network, however. It is also important to consider the ways in which Instagram allows for effective and memorably branding methods—obviously crucial for those doing reputation management!

Using Instagram for Branding

How can a primarily photo-driven, low-text site like this one be used for branding purposes? No matter what kind of business you are doing reputation management for, the branding opportunities are numerous. Some ideas:

• You can use Instagram to share news, in visual rather than in print form. For a good example of how this is done, look no further than to the NFL, which uses Instagram to round up its best gametime photos at the end of each week.
• You can use Instagram to share behind-the-scenes views of the company in question. This allows you to present a different, more human and approachable side of the business you are working with.
• Instagram is also a great way to get users involved, perhaps through a contest. Create a particular hashtag that users can use to submit photos, related to a given topic or theme.
• Finally, remember that photos get more social shares than any other kind of content, which means that creating dynamic images for your brand can prove much more effective than, say, using the same old stock images.

More Instagram Tips for Reputation Management Pros

In addition to the ideas listed above, also remember these important tips:

• Optimize your Instagram profile, just like you would your profile on any other social media site.
• Choose images that will resonate with your targeted demographic.
• Use trending hashtags, if you can, or else create new ones.
• Look at the likes you receive as a way of measuring how effective different types of images really are.
• Get the most out of Instagram by syncing it with Facebook and other social media sites.

The bottom line is that Instagram is an essential tool for those doing reputation management—so make sure you use it wisely and strategically!