Only nine months after reaching 300 million users, Instagram now has 400 million monthly active users.

Instagram’s 400 million active users are collectively sharing 80 million photos each day on the social network.

The last 100 million users that have joined Instagram are celebrities, political figures, global sports stars, and more.

The wide active use of Instagram has helped the social network prove itself as an upcoming (if not established) powerful online communication platform that lets brands share images relating to their products, sales promotions, or company values or culture to an enormous audience. 

Local consumer brands such as Vega and Lululemon have taken advantage of Instagram to achieve the objectives above by sharing pictures related to their brands such as hiking or healthy eating to advocate their core values. Brands also shares pictures of dishes that are created from their products to demonstrate to customers how they can use their products to make delicious food.  

  
(Vega’s Instagram account)

 
(Lululemon’s Instagram account)

In addition to advocating company values or product images, brands also use Instagram to demonstrate company culture.

HootSuite is a prime example of that. The social media software giant uses Instagram to show pictures of team outings, group activities, training sessions, and of course, cute dogs in their office. These images help HootSuite position itself as a vibrant and lively company and attract top talents.

  
(HootSuite’s Instagram account)

The growth in Instagram has helped Instagram emerged as a vital digital channel. Is your company on Instagram? If you are, how do you use Instagram for marketing? Let us know if the comments section below or tweet us at @SmarttCanada!