It seems that every year there is a new social networking star. LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook rose of Pinterest to stardom in recent years and 2012 the year. Now Instagram is currently gunning for top billing.

What opportunities Does this gift to marketers?

With the Instagram community Businesses like Starbuck, MTV, Nike and Marc Jacobs and major brands to mention only a few, are jumping on board embracing the photo app. According to Simply Measured, 59 percent of those Top 100 International Interbred Brands have Instagram accounts. And according to the Instagram blog, the two-plus-year-old platform reaches over 100 million active users monthly. Compare that to Twitter which broke the 200 million mark. Most obvious is the fact that it is almost. But past that, its simplicity makes it an effective vehicle for customers as they can express themselves out of anytime, anyplace.

Why should your business use Instagram?

Visual content is expected to be a trend in 2013. Pictures resonate across cultures and appeal to feelings. If we have a look at networks photographs drive involvement. On Facebook byway of instance, photographs have an interaction rate 39% greater than other articles. It is not surprising to see Instagram rise to fame. If you are looking for Inspiration about how to grow your present Instagram community checks out illustrations from four brands which are successfully incorporating the platform in their marketing mix:

• Red Bull – Throughout A recent Instagram competition Red Bull gave away two tickets to this year’s Red Bull King of the Rock Finals basketball championship in San Francisco. Label their photos #TakeMeToTheRock and followers were asked to have a photo of themselves with a basketball in locations. The competition not only got followers excited but in addition, it let Red Bull and the sport community to make a statement to and join together.
• Ford Fiesta – In early 2012, Fiestagram was among the first Instagram campaigns implemented by a huge brand. Its target audience engaged using a photo contest that was simple. Approximately 16,000 photographs were posted during the campaign and visibility was received by the advertising with many users too, on Twitter and Facebook.
• Tiffany and Co… – A Tiffany campaign provided followers 3 new photo filters: Tiffany blue, peach and white and black. Followers were encouraged to label photos of themselves and their significant others and Tiffany featured a selection on its True Love in Pictures website. The effort allowed applicable content while encouraging them to take part to be given its followers by Tiffany.
• Comodo – The SoHo, NY eatery recently established an Instagram menu by requesting customers to snap photos of the meals and label them with the hashtag #comodomenu. Now inquisitive clients at this Latin American restaurant and diners can enjoy a more interactive dining experience by looking thelikestream