What a beautiful day. But let me look at my Instagram. Well, that’s pretty much what the majority of Instagram users do after they get up from their bed, right? The moment they open their eyes, they look for their phone and start looking at their Instagram feeds. That’s right, that’s how powerful the influence that social media brings into this era. If you can get absorbed in social media just for daily life use, imagine what you can do for your business with social media. With so many active users on Instagram, it is possible for a business to increase their brand awareness and reliability with specific content marketing strategy. If you are a business owner, you must know that there are so many social media platforms you can use for your business; however, not all social media platforms are meant for your business. You cannot simply use any platform when it comes to B2B and B2C companies. While B2C companies need social media platform like Instagram for direct marketing efforts, B2B companies are having a hard time using Instagram for their business. Why? That’s because B2B companies are trying to attract other businesses, not direct customers, while Instagram is full of personal users that are more likely to be direct customers. That being said, there are also successful B2B companies that have successfully attained popularity and engaging audience through Instagram. This leads to the endless discussion about whether or not B2B companies should use Instagram for their business, or is it just going to be a waste of time? Keep reading to find out!

Depending on what your business is about, if you are a B2B company, you can’t just sign up for Instagram without a decent plan. You might see B2B companies using Instagram successfully, but if it works for somebody else, doesn’t mean it will work for you too. It’s okay if you want to try Instagram; however, you should be well-prepared for the outcome, good or bad. Here are some tips on how to determine if your B2B business can still use Instagram.

Experiment first

One thing you should keep in mind when it comes to using Instagram for B2B business is that unless you are a popular brand already, you might have a hard time trying to find your real audience. For example, if you are a B2B company that operates in digital marketing field offering online marketing services and you are posting with some hashtags containing the word #marketing, chances are, you might only reach the other B2B companies in the same industry and field; marketing, which means, there is only a little to no chance to get ROI, not even a potential customer. For that reason, before you expand your social media business account, make sure you experiment first. Try constructing a weekly plan and determine how many posts are posted each week. Do your best effort in the post design and content creation, but remember that it is still an experiment.

Take a note of the progress

While experimenting on Instagram, write down the progress. How many ROIs do you get in one month? How many likes have you acquired during the month of posting your content? How many followers do you get? Are they real followers or bots? Are they real followers or only following you to get a follow back? Are they your target audience? It is important to take a note of the process of experiment, as it can work as a guide for final decision making.

Set a time

Yes, one has to know when to stop and when to keep going. When you are experimenting on Instagram, you need to set a time for when you think the experiment is enough. Setting a time is necessary before you even conduct an experiment. Usually, taking 2 or 3 months is enough to make a final decision based on the experiment.

Evaluate and make a final decision

After 2 or 3 months of experimenting on Instagram, it is time for you to evaluate whether or not Instagram works for your B2B business. Evaluate the notes you have taken during the experiment. Did you get ROIs? Did you get real engaging audience? If you didn’t get ROIs or real engaging followers, then Instagram is not for your B2B business. If you get significant results from using Instagram, then you can continue your journey on Instagram, for real this time.

Instagram may be best suitable for B2C companies, but I’m not saying it will never fit B2B companies. There are many B2B companies successfully using Instagram for their campaign. However, there are certain fields and industries that are just not meant for Instagram. Therefore, make sure you do some experiment first before fully investing all your marketing efforts in Instagram.