Included in eMarketer’s social network marketing forecast this year for the first time, Instagram showed itself headed straight to the top of the charts. While only a third of U.S. companies are making commercial use of Facebook’s image gallery network—as opposed to the two thirds with a profile on Twitter—that’s about to change in a big way.
EMarketer forecasts that half of marketers will be sponsoring posts on Instagram next year, and that by 2017 it will surpass Twitter by achieving 70% penetration of U.S. companies. Social networks in total are currently used as marketing media by 88% of businesses.
“Now that Instagram is opening up advertising to all businesses, it’s not surprising that marketer usage will grow rapidly,” said eMarketer principal analyst Debra Aho Williamson in a report. “Its close ties to Facebook are a key advantage.”
Facebook has arrived at a plateau in penetration. It’s currently used by 84.7% of companies, a number eMarketer forecasts will inch up to 85.8% in 2017.
