Social media sites are not only incredibly popular, they pack a powerful punch when it comes to increasing brand awareness, create loyal followers, etc. One of the newer kids on the blog is Instagram. Now owned by Facebook, Instagram boasts over 90 million active users. Businesses quickly realized how this photo sharing site can build greater brand awareness through the use of photos.

Almost everyone loves strong visual images. Businesses that use such images to express the quality of their product or service or simply to share photos of employees, know strong visuals can have a huge impact on building brand awareness. You don’t have to just upload photos, they can be drawn images, collages, etc. To get a good sense of how you can use Instagram, try searching for well-known brands such as Coca Cola or any brand you admire and see how they are using Instagram Marketing to get the “message” across. Write down ideas and inspiration you get from the great brands out there because most likely they hire some of the best social media consultants in the world to manage their brand communication.

Obviously, most businesses aren’t huge corporations like a Coca Cola but, the beauty of Instagram means even the solo entrepreneur can take advantage of some of the same tools as the big boys. Find a unique angle about you and/or your business. What sets you apart from the competition? Can you “photograph” that angle and share it on Instagram to get people interested in your company?

Already have a customer base? Why not ask them if they’d be willing to send in photos of themselves with your product? Offer the “best pic of the month” winner a discount or some incentive to get people to engage with your company. This is a great way to obtain content with very little effort on your part. Finally, share your hash tag account with your other social media properties to really get your message across.

There are many ways you can take advantage of Instagram’s popular platform. Be creative, have fun, and go get exposed!