A common, and smart, question asked by many clients is, “should we be in Instagram?” The number of platform users certainly continues to grow. Interestingly, the question is often followed by something like, “I keep hearing all the kids are there.” We could replace Instagram with Snapchat in this scenario, but let’s focus on Instagram.

Everyone should be asking if they are utilizing the right social media tools for their business/brand. It’s an important question and the answer changes as more platforms become popular and businesses/brands evolve.

My answer always begins with the questions:

• What do you hope to accomplish with social media?
• How will social media enhance other activities and goals?
• Do you know your audience is there?
• Can you afford it?

My recommendation is dependent on how these questions are answered. Instagram requires a visual approach that can be difficult to communicate for many businesses/brands and very easy for others. For example, a clothing store has lots of opportunity to share their latest styles while an insurance company probably has fewer visual opportunities.

Are the “kids” really in Instagram? Apparently all ages of people use Instagram and the two largest age groups are 18 to 24 and 25 to 34, with 35 to 44 as the third largest segment. I guess it depends on who one thinks are “kids” and if the audience is important to larger strategic goals.

In addition to answering my questions, I advocate digging around in the platform and seeing what competitors are doing. Are competitors using the tool? Are they experiencing success? What are they doing that is working?

As you already know, being thoughtful in the beginning can save time and resources, as well as provide greater success in the long term.