{"id":10601,"date":"2018-04-27T16:33:12","date_gmt":"2018-04-27T21:33:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thinkerventures.com\/article\/\/"},"modified":"2018-04-27T16:33:12","modified_gmt":"2018-04-27T21:33:12","slug":"instagram-may-be-a-better-choice-than-facebook-for-your-brand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thinkerventures.com\/instagram-may-be-a-better-choice-than-facebook-for-your-brand\/","title":{"rendered":"Instagram may be a better choice than Facebook for your brand"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Facebook is the new phone book. If you are in business and you haven’t taken the basic steps to set up a Facebook page \u2014 well, there are several “Social Media 101<\/a>” pages on the web that you should read.<\/p>\n

Even though Facebook has 2 billion users monthly, you shouldn’t commit all your social media money and effort into one channel. Increasingly, \"\"Instagram (which is owned by Facebook<\/a>), with its 800 million monthly users, is becoming the No. 2 choice for building a brand. Instagram now has a much younger user base. The Pew Research Center does excellent work researching social media. In its 2018 report<\/a>, it found that 71 percent of 18- to 24-yer-olds use Instagram and 60 percent of Instagram users visit the site multiple times a day.<\/p>\n

It’s not just the users’ age, but the type of content that they are looking for that makes Instagram valuable. According to an Ipsos survey \u2014 commissioned by Facebook \u2014 Instagram users are more likely to look for photography, fashion, beauty, and design and architecture on Instagram than on Facebook. If your business is selling a look, Instagram should be the FIRST choice for you when deciding how to allocate social media efforts.<\/p>\n

Instagram is easier for marketing<\/h3>\n

Anyone who has been using Facebook for marketing knows that it is far more difficult to put up content that will be shared widely. Facebook has had a couple of difficult years with the “Fake News” phenomenon and consciously changed its algorithm to make the platform more of a “family and friends sharing tool.”<\/p>\n

Alfred Lua of Buffer researched the algorithms for Facebook and Instagram<\/a> and found some key differences in how non-advertisement posts rank. For Facebook, the key factors are:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Posts from friends and family<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
  2. Engagement<\/strong>, how many likes, comments and shares.<\/li>\n
  3. Encouraging engagement<\/strong>, posts that are likely to start a conversation.<\/li>\n
  4. Images and videos<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
  5. Clickbait<\/strong> is demoted.<\/li>\n
  6. Promotional posts are demoted<\/strong>. Facebook actually checks text against known advertisements and demotes unofficial ads.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Compare that list with what’s most important in Instagram:<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Engagement<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
    2. Relevancy<\/strong>, are the post’s themes relevant to the user’s past history?<\/li>\n
    3. Relationships<\/strong>, posts from accounts that the user interacts with frequently are ranked higher.<\/li>\n
    4. Timeliness<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
    5. Profile searches<\/strong>, posts from accounts that users have searched for are ranked higher.<\/li>\n
    6. Direct shares<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
    7. Time spent on post<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Facebook consciously is pushing marketers to paid advertising to get the word out about their brands. That makes Instagram a better choice for direct marketing. Instagram users use the platform for discovery and not as much for interaction. It’s a style resource; a place to learn new trends, discover new artists and keep up with celebrities.<\/p>\n

      Mastering Instagram<\/h3>\n

      Of course, if you feel like you’ve just gotten to second base when it comes to mastering Facebook, it may seem like too much of a leap to learn Instagram. Simplymeasured<\/a>, a company that focuses on social media analytics to help companies increase their ROI, published a white paper with tips from companies that are using the platform well.<\/p>\n