There is value in making sure that Instagram is an essential part of your marketing strategy – a small part perhaps, but definitely not the only part responsible for the “heavy lifting” of turning complete strangers into fanatical returning customers.

Too many people try to have Instagram do all of the heavy liftings for them never to realize that number one Instagram wasn’t established to do all of that heavy lifting and number two the results they get from using Instagram as an “entry point” into a fine-tuned marketing funnel would provide them with much better results (and cost a lot less as well).

Think of Instagram content as a headline that is designed primarily to capture the attention of your perfect prospects and then move them quickly deeper and deeper into your social media accounts, your marketing funnels, and eventually your shopping cart. A picture is definitely worth 1000 words (that cannot be debated), but you aren’t going to be able to sell products and services directly from your Instagram account alone.

By using Instagram as the entry point into your funnel, you’re able to capture the attention and interest of your perfect prospects while pushing them deeper and deeper into other web properties you offer. By capturing their contact information or getting them to engage with you on other social media platforms, you increase the strength of the relationship.

This is definitely going to transfer into better influence and a higher opportunity for converting them into a paying customer – and that’s the bread and butter of turning social media into marketing power.

by   Amélie Mazoyer Happy CEO | Author | Social Media Marketing Expert