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Posted on Mon, 12/5/2011 - 02:20 PM by
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Marketing is about telling stories and few things tell a story faster than a picture. In fact, images are growing faster than any other form of shared content online due in large part to the tremendous growth of camera equipped smart phones. Facebook is the world’s largest photo sharing site, but others sites such as Pinterest and, the popular iPhone app, Instagram have also attracted large followings based primarily on the ease of photo sharing.  Reclaimed rock quarry in Curritiba Brazil from my Instagram feed Instagram is a photo-sharing site that’s a bit of a Flickr meets Twitter. iPhone users download the Instagram app and then share images after applying a range of effects and filters. Other Instagram users can “like” and comment on images and follow users to view their images in their own feed. Users can also easily post the images they upload to Instagram on Twitter, Facebook and Flickr if they choose. As with many social networks, personal use has spawned most of the growth. With heavy adoption however, businesses are now starting to take note of ways to use the Instagram tools and network to promote their business. Naturally image heavy businesses such as hair salons, graphic designers, and remodelers have obvious uses for the photo sharing site, but any business can find ways to use the network and the growing set of tools supporting it to supplement their marketing efforts. Below is a list of some Instagram applications that can help turn Instagram into a marketing tool for your business. iDarkroom – This isn’t really an Instagram related tool, but it’s a great tool to use to enhance your images before you upload them to Instagram Webstagram – This tool helps you search, sort, tag, follow and comment on photos shared by other users. One of the ways to make Instagram pay off is to build a following and part of that is done by finding and following relevant users and adding your comments to their images. Instagram is a simple tool and lacks many of these basic tools so Webstragram makes using Instagram much easier. Postagram – This might be my favorite application. Postagram allows you to turn any Instagram image into a postcard with the push of a button. Then Postgram sends your postcard for less than dollar. Think about how you could send product images to customers or showcase a project you’re working. What if you took client images at an event and turned them into personal postcards? This little tool could produce tons of good will and buzz in the right hands. Printstagram – This tool takes your Instagram images and allows you to turn them into posters, mini prints, and mini books. Again, I’m thinking of some pretty cool ways to create project and client story books and present them as visual reminders of the relationship. StickyGram – This app takes your custom Instrgram shots and turns them into magnets. It’s like having your own little promotional products creator right in your phone, but potentially much cooler. Think about the artistic and relevant community shots, event shots, and product shots you could turn into a library of giveaways. Canvas Pop – If you want to take up a notch Canvas Pop will take your Instagram images and print them on canvas frames. Think about the artsy ways you could showcase your work, your staff or your customers with this tool. MORE NEWS FROM DUCT TAPE MARKETINGWhat If Your Customers Could Talk to Your CRMI spend a lot of time talking to and about the stuff that we do to make it work now. So sometimes it’s a real treat to get to talk to someone that’s so far out ahead of most of us in their thinking that you pretty much just listen with your mouth open when they talk. (I would put my conversati... Who Doesn’t Need Great Free Stuff?Next week is National Small Business Week in the United States and to help celebrate all things small business I’m holding a live webcast where, among other things, I’m going to give a number of lucky participants some awesome business tools like: A copy of Premise Landing Page Softwa... 5 Reasons Why Landing Pages Are a MustOnline marketers have used the term “landing page” for many years to describe a sales tactic focused on getting people to take one, specific action. Today, landing pages have simply become a required element in the marketing toolbox for every imaginable business, including local brick and mort... 13 Questions That Will Lead You To Your Perfect Marketing StrategyPlenty of startups try to determine the perfect business model to take to market only to find that the market doesn’t need, want or understand what they are presenting. The fact is most books or courses on business models take this into consideration by suggesting trial and error scenarios and m... 5 Non Spammy Ways To Get a Blogger’s AttentionEveryone, from PR firms to individuals with a product to sell, pitches bloggers these days. Getting coverage or exposure for your business by way of a number of highly read blogs should be a foundational element of your PR approach. So, I thought I would share of few of my thoughts on the most eff... RELATED SMALL BUSINESS NEWSSBSM Flashback: May 2011For those of you who are new SBSM readers & subscribers, here’s a list of noteworthy posts you probably missed from one year ago. I try to put together a post like this each month to introduce new readers to old content that might be worth reading. Your ValueElectricity is free, but we pay energy companies to harness it. Water is free, but we pay for the privilege of filtering. Air is free, but we pay for the solution of conditioning it for summers in our homes. Natural gas is free, but we pay for the importance of safety in its use. Oil is free, but we... The Indescribable AngerToday I want to talk about something I haven’t mentioned on this blog. In fact, I rarely mention this in real life, either. But I have a feeling I’m not the only one with this problem–and I think it will do some good to finally speak about it openly. Join @GaryVee and @AmberMac in Toronto July 26 for Social Mix 2012If you’re in the Toronto, Ontario area on July 26, make sure you keep the day free for what promises to be one of the city’s leading social media and business events this year. Top business and marketing folks Gary Vaynerchuk and Amber Mac will be keynoting at the inaugural Social Mix, ... Are you falling behind when it comes to mobile?I think it is fascinating in a “I don’t get it” sort of way. We all know that mobile is where digital is headed. We’ve all repeated the “by 2015, the #1 way we will access the internet is through our smart phones” and yet… it seems like most people are lollygagging along when it comes to getting onto the mobile train. |
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