Instagram has been adopted by more than 40 percent of the top global brands, and companies are seeing strong engagement from visual elements of their social marketing content.

A report from Simply Measured found that 40 percent of top brands have made Instagram a part of their social media marketing strategy by sharing visual content with their fans and followers. Instagram’s ascent in the last year has made it an ideal and easy way for marketers to share content and improve visibility on the web.

While Instagram still trails other social platforms in terms of landing high volumes users, its growth since launching in 2010 has positioned it well to become a critical part of social strategies moving forward. Moreover, Facebook’s acquisition of the company has come without any disruptions in terms of its integration with other platforms.

Instagram can help marketers add some personality to their social media content. Sharing links to website content is important to demonstrate a brand’s authority in its industry. However, consumers respond well to visual content, and it can help a company give its prospects, fans and followers a closer look into a business. Additionally, a report from Buddy Media found that visual content shared on Twitter generates twice as much engagement as other Tweets.

Since the rollout of its Android app earlier this year, Instagram has made substantial additions to its user base. Brafton recently reported that the company now has more than 80 million users, who have shared more than 4 billion images on the platform.

Joe Meloni is Brafton's former Executive News and Content Writer. He studied journalism at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and has written for a number of print and web-based publications.