As everyone in the universe knows by now, Facebook has acquired Instagram (and its 30 million+ users) for $1 billion. Some (me) might call this "insane," others say it "makes sense."
Regardless of where you stand on the buyout and its pricetag, it's true that Instagram is a fast-growing and attractive service. And now that it has a stable parent in Facebook, and is finally available for Android users, it's worth considering how it may be able to boost your digital marketing efforts.
Some social savvy brands have already established a presence on the app, like Starbucks, for example, which has over 400,000 followers. It serves its followers with creative images featuring its products, accompanied by witty captions; and it encourages users to hashtag their content with #Starbucks (where applicable).
Bergdorf Goodman is another example to look at, and as a fashion retailer it has no shortage of attractive products to photograph and creative ways to do so -- hence it's posting more than 1,300 photos as compared to Starbucks's 160 (insert lame comment about that account needing a jolt of espresso *here*).
It's easy to see how creative content on a popular platform can excite the mobile masses. But, as always, there's no point in starting a social media effort without a strategy for getting it right. Here are some key things to keep in mind about how to use Instagram for the betterment of your brand:
Have a personality. As on Twitter, users don't want to feel as if they're socializing with an anonymous brand. Maintaining a likable personality on your Instagram profile and in your photos and captions will be key to establishing a following.
Be consistent and interact. Again, as on Twitter, the community will lose interest if you pop up once every so often, do a little self-promotion, and drop off the planet for another few weeks. Keep the account updated and interact with those who follow and communicate with you. Also key is to not post several photos in a row... or you'll come across as spammy.
Understand the user. Instagram has attracted a community of individuals that are passionate and emotional about the accounts they follow and the photos they Like. Users aren't going to follow your brand on Instagram unless you're serving them with creative content.
Take advantage of integration. One of the benefits of launching an Instagram account for your brand is that it will give your social media team the opportunity to spice up your Facebook and Twitter accounts with hipster-esque imagery (yes, that's right, this is now a billion-dollar benefit). Cross-posting Instagram photos to your Facebook Timeline, for example, will improve the look of that page and also let your Facebook followers know they can find you on Instagram as well.
And with all of that said, launching yet another social media presence for your brand will take time and energy. It means following the above steps, as well as being on guard to handle comments and criticisms on yet another public feed.
So as with any other digital marketing effort, the best first step to take here is to determine if going this route will serve a purpose, or if it'll just create more work for your team with little return.
Well, I think there are many conclusions we can draw about the fact that so much of people's time now is spent in passive observation of the mundane happenings of others' lives. But in the context of marketing, Instagram could help brands spice up their social media presences -- i.e., take advantage of the fact that people are happy to sit there looking at streams of pictures.
I just don't get why looking at photos is interesting to anyonw with a life. And amateur photos at that. I note that Google+ seems to have more than a small share of users that are photographers of all sorts and a look at the + page is just loaded with sometimes interesting shots, but more often than not, just an attractive looking gal or an unusual sign.
Instagram will certainly give time wasters an instant fix at a mindless few minutes, and commercial outfits like Starbucks can get some free advertising. But what does it say for us all when we spend any time just browsing photos?
Hi Waqas. Not all Instagram users are Facebook users, and vice versa. Also Instagram is photo-centric while Facebook relies a lot more on text and links. So Instagram presents an opportunity to be more creative with content. I think for some brands it's an obvious choice -- like Bergdorf Goodman, for example. Other brands that are less visual should really think this through and think about whether it can benefit.
If the users are the same as those on facebook and they are following facebook and instagram simultaneously, then there is no need to step into instagram to an extent of obtaining feedback, answering criticism and issuing announcements. Simple brand advertisement should suffice on instagram and facebook should be used as a mainstream forum. However, if the users are new or reacting differently as that on facebook, then instagram should be added by the marketing team as an added responsibility which might not necessarily be a bad one in terms of revenue-generation-source. Such surveys need to performed by marketing functions of enterprises before they decide to pursue presence on instagram to the greater extent of maintaining active forums.
Nicole Ferraro: "I would agree with you, but to my understanding Pinterest discourages efforts in self-promotion. It's not positioning itself as a platform for brands. So I'm not sure brands should spend their time and resources there when there are other social sites that are eager to cater to them."
I did a little playing around with Pinterest with another client just as a test and found out that it's got a surprisingly quick turn-around depending on subject matter. I have a feeling that Pinterest is a viable platform but brands will have to get a lot more clever and creative to use it.
A couple of years ago it was impressive enough to have a Facebook or Twitter account. No longer! In fact, any social business leader I've spoken to has said that it's often not useful to try to be on every platform. Rather, each brand should figure out which platform is going to serve its customer's needs. If you think your strategy should be "get an account on every network and figure it out from there" you're stuck in the past.
@smkinoshita: "I think what Nicole suggests could also be used on Pinterest..."
I would agree with you, but to my understanding Pinterest discourages efforts in self-promotion. It's not positioning itself as a platform for brands. So I'm not sure brands should spend their time and resources there when there are other social sites that are eager to cater to them.
Great point, Nicole, that a poor or feeble socisl networking attempt can harm more than it helps. It's obvious to today's savvy Internet user when a firm is simply throwing a few images against Facebook. That clearly says, "We don't care enough about our audience or customers to take the time to do this right!"
I agree @Chris Poley, especially with having a plan. A big issue for business as a whole is preventing or breaking down silos when there should be an overall strategy instead.
I think what Nicole suggests could also be used on Pinterest, which according to some sources I've encountered claim it's the #3 social network after Twitter and Facebook. If that's true, I can really see why FB would want to acquire Instagram.
It is interesting, Kicheko. I agree with you. I had realized that Instagram was for more than just the average consumer when I saw that the presidential contenders were using it a few months back. I do think it's a way to generate excitement around brands, particularly specific campaigns and contests.
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Brands looking to measure public opinion by reading Twitter tea leaves should take heed of a Pew Research report, which finds that Twitter sentiment is often very different from public opinion as measured by surveys.
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While NFC's original goal was to enhance mobile commerce applications, it is finding its way into a number of other uses, which is creating both opportunity as well as challenges for IT departments.
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Edmunds separates customers into segments based on the info it collects on its site and from partners, and uses that to push out custom content, said Brian Baron, director of business analytics for Edmunds.com, at Predictive Analytics Innovation Summit.
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M2M: Rise of the Machines? Not Yet David Weldon In the 1970 science fiction thriller Colossus: The Forbin Project, two giant supercomputers from the United States and Soviet Union secretly join forces to take control of the collective nuclear might of the two countries. In the film, the two machines discover each other's existence, communicate back-and-forth, share their collective data, and cut their human creators out of the process. It is the ultimate example of machine-to-machine communications, or M2M. CLICK FOR MORE
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