Ugh, my least favorite platform for business.
It has over 2 billion monthly active users in 2025.
Instagram is a powerhouse for visual storytelling, community building, and brand growth. It pushes Stories, Posts, Reels, and Lives—making it a highly effective platform to engage with audiences.
The thing I don’t like about it is that videos and content typically take up the whole page, and while comments are a thing, it’s not as user friendly to engage with comments on Instagram as it is on Facebook. The fortunate thing is, you can link Instagram and Facebook posts and cross post.
Perhaps a good strategy with Instagram is to syndicate Reels and short clips that can also be syndicated onto Facebook, but yeah.
The main reasons to use instagram
Visual appeal and brand building
- Instagram loves high quality photos, videos, and graphics, so it’s perfect for showcasing aesthetic things, products, or personal styles and brands.
- This is ideal for creators, businesses, or individuals promoting visually driven content like art, fashion, or lifestyle.
The audience is diverse
- Instagram genuinely spans Gen Z to Millennials, with over 70% of users under the age of 35, offering access to various demographic interests.
- It’s a great platform for targeting niche communities in fitness, education, or broad mass-market appeal. A student promoting study tips could easily connect with 10,000 students around the globe quickly if the content was great.
Instagram has a powerful engagement ecosystem
- Features like Stories, Reels, and comments foster two way interaction, and users spend on average 30 minutes each day on the platform. The algorithm fairly prioritises engagement, thus amplifying great content. It is a great platform to build loyal communities to drive conversations, but probably (in my opinion) not as powerful as Facebook.
It has monetisation opportunities built In
- Instagram supports monetisation via sponsored posts, affiliate links, and Instagram Shopping. Creators can make money through brand deals or in app sales. This is great for side hustles, e-commerce plays, or influencer marketing.
The Instagram playbook
- Post daily – 1 high-quality Post or Reel keeps you in the algorithm.
- Use Stories – Add polls, quizzes, and stickers to spark quick replies.
- Prioritise Reels – Short, trending audio + strong 3-sec hook = fastest growth.
- Reply fast – Comments & DMs boost visibility.
- Encourage saves/shares – “Tag a friend” or make content worth saving (e.g., infographics).
- Use 5-10 niche hashtags – Expand reach beyond followers.
Trends give reach; authenticity builds loyalty. Combine both.
Conclusion
Instagram is one of the strongest platforms for building visual brands and reaching diverse audiences. Its strength lies in creating engaging, aesthetic content (not text content) that can connect globally and drive loyalty.
If you are smart, use Instagram as part of a cross platform strategy—leveraging Reels and Stories to feed both Instagram and Facebook, amplifying reach with minimal extra effort. Keep your content authentic, post consistently, and let the algorithm find the audience for you.
It’s not about loving the platform—it’s about using it strategically to grow your presence and impact.