Why Instagram is your best source of pictures?
Pictures are taking over the internet.
Dating with Tinder, communication with Snapchat, blogging with Tumblr...
It does not take a lot of vision to see that directories are going to be the next ones to jump ships and integrate more and more pictures for their listings.
Instagram pictures feel real
As opposed to pictures taken by professionals, Instagram pictures tell the genuine story of a place.
How is it this bar on a Saturday night? How crowded is it? What kind of people go there? Are they having a good time? What kind of drinks? Of lightning?
Instagram pictures tend to depict the place as it is in a live situation, not edited, raw.
Users will be able to project themselves in the environment depicted and make better decision for themselves because they will grasp the reality of the place.
On the other hand, professional shots are to restaurants what photoshop is to models: the plates might look beautiful but they seem still, life less, atone.
You will bring much more value to your users providing them with user-generated pictures that will help them in their decision-making process.
Let me illustrate my point with a quick example. Here are two pictures of the New York-based taqueteria Toloache.
Tacos from Toloache - Time Out - Photograph: Jakob N. Layman
Tacos from Toloache - @kwestenhiser - Instagram
These two pictures look amazing, right? But which one brings more information about the actual food you can expect to find at Toloache?
The user-generated picture from Instagram, of course. That's the kind of information your users will be looking for.
Of course, there are many ways to integrate pictures to your directory website. With WayWay, you can start integrating Instagram pictures easily.
What about you? After reading our article, would you go for professional or user-generated pictures?
Answer our micro-poll on Voice here and comment on this article!
