Saying it with Pictures! Will Instagram change Digital Marketing?

In the good old days-which was only yesterday-you could just stick to few social media channels for your broadcast, and hope harvest a percentage of the audience to engage with your brand. There were few social media channels you could not just ignore for their sheer size. And yet there are so many small, yet highly relevant channels out there, which can help brands tap the proverbial “Long Tail”. And yet, there are also some significantly large digital channels which still haven’t been harnessed optimally, by marketers and channel alike, for brand engagement. The case in the point being- Instagram. It has 300+ million subscribers and 75+ million daily. While brands have been using Instagram for quite some time as part of a social media tactics, it’s still used only as a flanking strategy and not an independent one. Things are set to change with Instagram now. Come Sep 30, 2015, Instagram is making it easy for any company to pitch its products next to filtered photos of sunsets and celebrity selfies. Any company in 30 countries can advertise on the platform with a “self-serve” option.

Is an Instagram ad the right fit for your brand?

Brands across sectors, from fashion, F&B, sport products, airlines to telecom use Instagram. Some notables include Starbucks, Louis Vuitton, Red Bull, Burberry, Banana Republic, Nike, Levis, and Samsung among others. Also, there are brands that cater to B2B markets as well. Take Hootsuite, a B2B social media management products/services provider, Intel, which is a semiconductor behemoth or Oracle, a software/hardware giant. The target audience (TA) for all these firms are niche, but Instagram helps them create a brand presence, weave stories and engage with audiences.

It was initially thought that Instagram was ideal for products (fashion, food and beverages) because of the visual appeal, but in reality, anybody can tell a story well. FedEx, a courier services company, does a great job by way of aesthetically planned photos (of trucks, planes) making a brand impression. FedEx caters to both B2C and B2B markets.

While you are at it, remember that the biggest audience for Instagram are millennials who love brand engagement. Whether you cater to a B2B or a B2C market, you need to tap into this young audience, and grow along with them together.

Carousel ads

While several brands have already been using Instagram, the sponsored posts feature lets them reach out to larger audiences. One of the newest options Instagram has rolled out is called the carousel ad feature. Brands can make use of this feature to narrate interesting stories in a sequence. You can swipe to see the next in the sequence, and also click on the ‘like more’ button to go to the advertiser’s website.

Lessons from the early birds

Levis recognized how to use Instagram for business early on. Their Instagram feed has sponsored images of people wearing their brand and sharing moments spent outdoors. The ads were only seen two times by users, but it reached 7.4 million people in the US and had a 24 pt. lift in ad recall. The smart use of hashtags is important; #LifeinLevis seemed to have worked.

Another example is McDonald’s which cashed in on an experience, that of summer and all the associations that come with summer. The feed had beautiful images evocative of summer, and all the decadence, fun and inspiration that comes with summer. Since the advertiser used their brand colours in a subtle manner, their sponsored posts blended into the feed of users rather seamlessly.

PayPal also wooed users to share their experiences that come with using PayPal’s services by using the #paypalit hashtag.

Other strategies

Posting organically and creating a solid presence for your brand on Instagram before you opt for sponsored advertising is crucial.

Instagram advertising is also all about making use of trending hashtags and the flavours of the season. The PayPal branding exercise comes to mind again. For July 4, the company sought five Instagrammers to guest post on their account. The images followed one theme, that of Independence, freedom and holidaying.

Whether it is via paid search or Instagram ads, what matters most is the need to understand the medium, and use it accordingly. Who wouldn’t want to cash in on a network whose revenues are predicted to touch $2.81 billion, come 2017!