Exponential growth is nothing new. With the advent of websites like Upworthy and BuzzFeed, it\’s pretty much become the norm these days. Regardless, Instagram\’s trajectory over the last six months seems to be… a little more than just exponential growth.

In a release today, the Facebook owned company announced that they\’d hit 200 million active monthly users. If you remember, when Facebook first acquired Instagram – Zuck said that he\’d be happy if Instagram hit 100 million users – but now that number has been doubled.

The best part for the company however, is that 50 million of these users, all signed up in the last six months. It\’s an extremely healthy growth rate, and given the revenue Instagram is generating via ads on an ever expanding service, not a lot of people feel that Facebook overpaid for Instagram when they shelled out a cool billion.

We put together an infographic that talks about a few of the interesting stats that might interest you about Instagram.

Instagram Hits 200 Million Users.

With this reported increase in the usage of the service, no doubt you\’re thinking about porting your brand over to Instagram and spreading the word about your business. It\’s important to remember however, that the majority of Instagram users are between the ages of 18-29.

So if you\’re looking at generating interest around your mutual fund investment plan, Instagram is probably not for you. Regardless, if you\’re still looking at gaming Instagram, here are a couple of things you should keep in mind:

  • Always find a balance between business and casual posts. Instagram users will not follow you if all you talk about is your business. They also want to take a look at the fun stuff you do, the human stuff you do. I mean, it won\’t hurt if you tweet a picture of a Starbucks coffee every now and then.
  • Use Video. Video is one of the most engaging content formats, it\’s also one of the laziest to view – which is why Instagram\’s demographic loves it. Quick, snappy, short videos on Instagram will do so much good for your business.
  • Run Instagram Contests. Always a good idea to get a new following by generating interest around a contest.
  • Integrate Facebook and Instagram. While there are tons of ways to do this – the best way is to use Circus Social\’s Cover Photo Live app, it allows you to pull images from a particular hashtag on Instagram onto your Facebook page\’s cover photo and generate a collage – spiffy.
  • Please also engage. Don\’t broadcast. Engage with your fans. Make them feel special. It makes me feel silly saying this over and over again – but please do so!
  • Make Sure You\’re Visual. Don\’t forget Instagram is an incredibly visual network. No one pays attention to the text. It\’s images + hashtags – and that\’s where you win your following.
  • Move with the Trends. Always focus on what\’s trending on Instagram and create timely content around it. No one likes a boring brand.

Have you been using Instagram for a business? What\’s your experience been like and what tips would you give to other social managers?