Social media is a great way to foster a personal relationship between a brand and its followers. With over 400 million users and 80 million posts per day, Instagram has become an essential social media marketing tool for all business. Yet, with frequent changing of social media use patterns and preferences, it can be challenging to assign the right strategy to the right social media platform. The purpose of this case study is to explore how Instagram can improve as a mobile app for businesses and consumers. The study begins by exploring the rise of multi-platform use. The study will also evaluate and compare major social channels in terms of consumer and brand preferences. The study will then analyze and provide insights on ways Instagram can improve as a marketing platform for businesses. Data collection is achieved through case study analysis as an empirical way to examine social media platforms. This study provides individuals and businesses engaged in social media a comparison of major social media platforms and provides insight into digital marketing strategies for Instagram and businesses alike. The application of these conclusions could increase the survival rate of new social media platforms and provide a better understanding of Instagram as a strategic tool for practitioners. The study is significant because this research widens contemporary assumptions about strategic thinking for social media mechanisms. Social network marketing is becoming a popular marketing strategy for many business people. Follow after the well-known social media network such as Facebook and Twitter, Instagram has joined in the trend in 2010 and provided another favorable marketing platform for marketers to interact with their customers. Instagram is a worldwide used social media network, which has been used as a marketing tool by many global business companies. It is a significant marketing tool that allows business communication to take place. Through Instagram, marketers are able to interact with their customers by sharing photos and videos and leaving comments as a way of sharing information; receiving comments and likes as a way of gaining feedback from customers. In this paper, discussion on how Instagram can be used as a marketing tool in social network marketing will be done.

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Keywords: Instagram, Social Network Marketing, Marketing Tool, Businesses, Consumers.