The Pros and Cons of Instagram Marketing, According to an Expert [+ Research]

I was in high school when I made my first post on Instagram, and now that I’m almost 30, I can confidently say that I’ve changed a lot since then.

The same can be said for the social media platform, and these changes have led to some pros and cons of Instagram marketing.

With Instagram having been around for so long, you may be wondering if the platform is still relevant when it comes to marketing or if the pros of Instagram marketing still outweigh the cons.

Luckily, I asked an expert for advice and looked at the findings from our most recent Instagram marketing report.

Here is what I discovered:

Is Instagram Marketing Still Effective in 2024?

In our Instagram Marketing Report 202488% of marketers surveyed say Instagram marketing has been effective for their business this year.

Additionally, 71% of marketers who sell products directly in the app say its social shopping features generate high ROI.

With these numbers in mind, I would say that Instagram marketing is still valuable and effective in 2024. Samantha Meller, Social Media Manager at HubSpot’s The Hustleagrees – but with one condition.

“Without a doubt, I would say that pretty much every brand should be on Instagram,” she says. “That said, the traditional Instagram playbook is gone.”

Meller says marketers must be agile and adaptable to succeed on the platform.

“You can’t rest on your laurels and what has worked in the past,” she says. “You always have to continue to innovate and have a mindset that is tuned into what’s happening right now so you can relate to your business.”

Additionally, think about how your content can provide value to their audience.

For example, one of my favorite Instagram accounts is Fenty Beauty. The makeup brand doesn’t just post stunning images of its products; it also uses Reels and Stories to show its audience how to use products for timely looks.

Her latest video features a tutorial from beauty influencer Alegria Jimenez, showing viewers how to create a holiday look.

Image source

While Instagram certainly has its value when it comes to marketing, it’s not without its challenges. I asked Meller about the pros and cons she’s experienced in Instagram marketing. This is what she told me:

4 Benefits of Instagram Marketing

1. Instagram is great for brand awareness.

As 40% of marketers In our Instagram marketing report, The Hustle’s main goal on Instagram is to increase brand awareness.

“It’s a way for us to connect with our audience and potentially reach new members who, ideally, would become customers at HubSpot,” she explains. “It’s a way for us to showcase all the different content we do across The Hustle brand, such as videos, podcasts, long-form editorial articles, our newsletter, etc.”

Meller notes that Instagram followers are more valuable than on other platforms because they are more invested in the account and its content. They are also likely to see your content constantly.

“When you follow someone on Instagram, it’s much more of an engagement than following someone on TikTok,” she says. “If you follow someone on Instagram, it’s because you want their content to appear in your feed. But if you follow someone on TikTok, you might not see their content for months.”

2. Instagram helps marketers determine what their audience is interested in.

“Instagram is valuable for finding out what kind of content our audience is interested in, what kind of stories they want to hear, and what they don’t want to hear,” says Meller.

“I believe knowing what your audience doesn’t want can be even more useful or valuable than knowing what they do want.”

Meller says The Hustle uses this information to enrich its content, including podcasts, newsletters and more, on and off the platform.

3. Instagram makes it easier to interact with the public.

54% of marketerss say their goal in 2024 is to increase engagement on Instagram, and Meller says engagement is one of the benefits of the platform.

“We’ve made a lot of changes to our Instagram and social media strategy over the past few months, and we’ve seen some really interesting metrics come out of our new strategy,” she shares.

“We’re getting a big lift in impressions and engagement, which means our audience is responding to our content much more than in the past.”

Interacting with your audience is the most popular and successful engagement strategy. You can do this by responding to comments and sharing images and videos of your followers using your products.

4. Instagram can introduce your content to new audiences.

This pro doesn’t come from Meller. Rather, this is my own observation as an Instagram creator and user. Instagram has implemented new features and algorithms that help you get your content in front of new audiences.

For example, collaborative posts allow you to display the same content on two different accounts. Let’s say I’m a small business that managed to get a well-known creator to feature my product in their Instagram content.

This creator can post the content in collaboration with my account and their followers will see both my account and the product, thus granting more visibility to my brand.

Instagram is also experimenting with showing recommended accounts on users’ feeds.

4 Disadvantages of Instagram Marketing

1. Instagram’s algorithm is volatile.

If there’s one thing my creative friends and I complain about Instagram, it’s its ever-changing algorithm. Meller says.

“The Instagram algorithm is always doing something new. Just when you think something is working, it changes and something doesn’t work,” she says. “You might have a week or a month where your content is really hot, and then the next month you’re wondering, ‘What’s happening?’ Have people forgotten us?”

2. Instagram is constantly introducing new features.

New features aren’t always bad, but they can be overwhelming for marketers if new rollouts are constant and those features are critical to your content’s visibility.

“A lot of social managers joke that every time Adam Mosseri posts a video, there’s panic,” Meller laughs, “because we’re like, ‘What now? What feature are they going to introduce that the algorithm is going to favor, that we all have to bend over backwards to meet our needs so that our content continues to be seen? »

3. Budgeting for influencer marketing can be a challenge.

Again, this is not from Meller, but based on my own observations.

For many marketers, influencer marketing seems out of reach. After all, don’t you have to spend a lot of money to partner with mega-influencers? Fortunately, there are ways to fit influencer marketing into your budget, even if you’re a small or up-and-coming business.

While it seems like a good practice to partner with influencers with large followings, HubSpot Instagram Engagement Report says your efforts are more worth it if you partner with influencers who may have fewer followers but a more engaged community (called micro-influencers).

Micro-influencers offer a smaller, highly engaged audience without the high price tag of a mainstream celebrity, making this type of marketing more accessible to diverse brands.

With 86% of marketers saying that influencer marketing has been effective for their business, I still say it’s worth a try.

4. There is tons of competition on and off the platform.

“There is a lot of competition not only with other brands or content on the platform, but also with Instagram itself which competes with other apps, like TikTok,” says Meller. “All apps are competing for your attention, so the more other platforms gain popularity, the less people go to Instagram.”

Why Instagram can be a challenge for brands

In summary, Instagram poses a challenge for many brands due to its unpredictable algorithm, fierce competition, and constant rollout of new features that need to be prioritized.

But Meller says marketers shouldn’t be intimidated by these factors. Instead, they should roll up their sleeves and start doing research.

“I’ve been doing what I do for almost a decade now,” she says, “and there are a bunch of resources, newsletters, and people that I follow in the social media space to make sure I ‘have a pulse on everything.’

Here are some sources Meller recommends:

“For better or worse, I am chronically online. I consume content, read, watch and listen,” Meller says. “I like to be informed. That’s what makes a good social media manager. You really have to live and breathe being online, experiencing online culture and knowing what people are talking about.”

Final Thoughts

Instagram is constantly evolving, but it remains a great platform for businesses trying to increase brand awareness and audience engagement. That said, it is not without its challenges, such as an ever-changing algorithm.

However, the resources and tips above can help you navigate the platform and build a valuable Instagram marketing strategy.