Chapter 5 Review "Marketing with Instagram"

I don't know much about Instagram, so I'm not sure if I should be considered an expert. Even though I see Instagram reels/videos on Facebook, I still don't understand its overall purpose. What I do understand it is a combination of Facebook and TikTok. It has fancy video and imaging design tools and the ability to make frequent posts, however dwarfing Facebook by the number of words you can post. There is also the hashtagging, which I can see being useful to find other related topics, but overall unnecessary. 

That was my take on Instagram, as for my understanding of Chapter 5. I can understand how Instagram can be a valuable tool for marketing. The chapter starts off very well by discussing the backstory of Instagram and its original purpose. I was originally unsure of its creation date and was very surprised that it was created very recently. I was aware of the acquisition by Facebook, obvious when looking at Facebook regularly. When it comes to marketing businesses, I was also generally surprised that it was very late to the party. Only programming business profiles in 2016, several years after its creation. I believe the chapter provided very good data on why Instagram is a useful tool for marketing, many people use it almost daily. The chapter provided specific sets of data that stated when a post should be posted, what days work the best, and how many people have already interacted with these posts. The videos imbedded within the chapter were really useful in my opinion when giving real-life examples of people/businesses using the platform to benefit their businesses. The uniqueness of this chapter, however, just felt like a repeat of the Facebook section. Some of the steps, like setting up a profile, seemed redundant with the addition of aspects only found on Instagram. 

Where there are similarities, there are differences between the two platforms. I must admit there are some unique qualities that Instagram has over Facebook. In some regards, Instagram is simpler and more efficient than Facebook. It is more picture/video-based, rather than post after post. There is also the ability to manipulate photos and videos which benefit advertising. The chapter finishes off by continually supporting its claims that Instagram is a great platform for marketing with its testimonies and success stories from Instagram users. Describing how their businesses have greatly benefited from their association with Instagram. 

Would I ever you Instagram, probably not. In my defense, I believe it to be a waste of valuable time. On the other hand, if someone else wants to use it, let them go right ahead. Where there are difficulties understand it, some people have mastered it and greatly benefited from it.