Well, it's only getting more powerful.
Instagram, that is. Owned by Facebook, Instagram has been gaining popularity from a marketing standpoint for some time now. HubSpot posted a great blog highlighting why brands and influencers are leaving SnapChat and focusing more on Instagram for their stories.
This is something that we're making a priority in the back half of 2017. Instagram is already a powerful tool and more easily understood by all generations. While Snapchat was the popular 'industry choice' for being a marketing giant sooner rather than later, Instagram is holding steady and even broadening their reach.
Now let's be real, they're doing a lot of their damage by jacking Snapchat's ideas. DIsappearing messages and posts, stories, face filters, all of it. It's like there's an alarm that goes off at Instagram HQ when Snapchat releases a new feature and they then copy it and push it to their more mainstream audience. It's been working, so it's hard to knock them.
The reason is simple. It was true years ago and it'll be true years from now, images are powerful. Instagram is obviously in position to take advantage of that and they have. Your business can provide powerful images no matter your vertical. Some businesses, such as restaurants, will have a little easier time but there's not a single business that should be tapping out when it comes to marketing with photos. It's here to stay.
We like to use the Stories feature to be a little more personal. While a posted photo on Instagram will typically be wide reaching and a bit more generic, we use the Stories feature to tell, ahem, stories and provide followers with a more intimate view of a business.
This isn't to say you should completely ignore Snapchat. There are plenty of features, and plenty of businesses with highly devoted followers that live in that demographic, to keep you on board and active. But if you're looking to expand your reach as far as possible and get in front of eyeballs, Instagram and Instagram Stories is only gaining traction.
Like it or not, we're all in the story telling business, so let's tell more stories.