According to Mark Zuckerberg’s status update, Facebook has agreed to acquire Instagram and bring their team to Facebook, in a purchase of around $1 billion in cash and shares of Facebook. Zuck says while Facebook has always been about building the best experience for sharing photos with friends and family, he is committed to building and growing Instagram independently, not just to integrate all of its features into Facebook.
This purchase marks the first time Facebook has acquired a product and company with so many users, and according to Zuckerberg, likely the last.
Instagram is a quick, easy, beautiful way to take and share photos with your friends. And with 27 million users on iPhones, and a startling 1 million downloads on Android during the first twelve hours, that is a LOT of friends.
For brands, it offers another way to generate and share visual content with existing customers and to attract new ones. Especially for consumer marketers, Instagram is a great opportunity to showcase the behind the scenes and brand voice behind your brand.
Not surprisingly, many fashion brands are doing exceptionally well using Instagram to showcase their brands.
My personal favorite, Kate Spade NY, uses Instagram pictures and shares them across all of their social networks. They take pictures of products, photo shoots, and places around New York City and their office. I love seeing inside their office; the birthday parties, late afternoon cocktails and hot spots around New York City.
Kate Spade also uses hashtags like #livecolorfully to showcase quirky themes to their photos, and these hashtags follow them around their social networks.
Do you think that because your brand isn’t a fashion powerhouse that you can’t join in on the fun?
Certainly not true!
All office spaces have fun quirky moments and design elements that showcase well on Instagram, and now that Instagram will be a focus of Facebook, Instagram should become higher on the priority list in your social media strategy.
Which brands do you love on Instagram? Do you think Facebook’s purchase of Instagram will influence it in a positive or negative way?
