What Startups Can Learn From Instagram’s Rapid Growth?

Only 5 years ago, Instagram was nothing more but another online startup. Today however, it is a word on everyone’s lips, so widespread in fact that soon it will enter the dictionaries like Facebook did. It is exactly this incredible performance and future potential of Instagram that made Facebook pay 1 billion dollars in order to acquire it. This may sound to some like a fairytale material but it is more than something real and in this way Instagram drew a pattern for any serious startups to follow. Here is what can be learned from their example.

Focus on Your Target Demographic

Jack of all trades, master of none- claims the old nursery rhyme, however there is often more truth to this than at first meets the eye. The wider your demographic scope may be, more likely you are to miss everyone. Because of this, it is the best course of action to pinpoint a single group as your target audience, and focus exclusively on them. This is pretty much what Instagram did. They focused on millennials exclusively and this simply worked out to be extremely efficient. Maximizing your efforts to reach only one demographic is usually all the startup needs.

Be Realistic About Your Budget

Always try to find balance between your profits and your investments. Although, you might get carried by a momentary success of your business, you always need to observe the long run. Sure, now Instagram has an unlimited budget (being the part of Facebook conglomerate and all) but it was not always so. Keeping it real is the thin line that stands between failure and success and it is exactly here that you will be on your first significant test as a business owner. Because of this, it might even be a good idea to ask for business advice from renowned professionals. A bit of help here goes a long way and when it comes to the future of your business you cannot afford to take any chances.

Focus on Growth

Focusing on growth of your user base is what attracts investors. Although we talked about the budget, there first has to be a budget to begin with. A growing client list is what will get you adds which means that it will get you the money you need to persevere and even succeed. Instagram knows this all too well since even today it is the fastest growing major social network. By targeting millennials exclusively they somehow managed to lure everyone in. Because of this, there is seldom a movie star or celebrity of any kind today without an Instagram profile. This is as brilliant publicity as it gets.

Keep It Simple

Try to describe in one word what is it that you do, and focus all of your capacities on that. This is a genuine Instagram inspired advice. What Instagram does is one thing, but at that particular thing (image sharing and management) they are the best. Everything on their platform and their application is subjected to this single function, processing and uploading pictures. This allowed Instagram to climb their ladders to success in an astounding pace. It does matter what line of work you are in as long as you are best in what you do.

Finally, success takes time. Even to Instagram, it took few years to get to where they are now. For that reason alone, it is an imperative that you arm yourself with patience to endure the bumpy road ahead. Some may think all of this to be too complicated, or too much work, however more often than not it is worth your while. Following an example of a successful startup is as good place as any to start.