The newest Instagram statistics show there are currently more than 800 million monthly active users and many experts believe it could reach a billion in 2018. That’s more than double the monthly active users of Twitter and over three times as many users on WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger (18 Instagram Stats Every Marketer Should Know for 2018).
Over 60% of users log in daily, making it the second most engaged network after Facebook (41 Incredible Instagram Statistics you Need to Know (2018). TrackMaven analysed 51 million posts from 40,000 different companies over 130 industries to establish which social networks achieve the greatest engagement per follower. The results show that Instagram absolutely dominates when it comes to interactions per 1,000 followers (Global social media research summary 2018 | Smart Insights 2018). Results can be seen in the graph below.
Over 40 billion photos have been shared on Instagram since its launch in October 2010. Instagram clocks up 3.5 billion likes every day and on an average day, 80 million photos are shared. Instagram usage has doubled in the last two years. Beyonce’s pregnancy announcement is currently the most popular Instagram post ever, with 11.1 million likes (41 Incredible Instagram Statistics you Need to Know 2018).
There are currently 8 million Instagram Business profiles, up from 1.6 million in September 2016 (18 Instagram Stats Every Marketer Should Know for 2018). Instagram has grown considerably in two years and it is now estimated that 71% of US Businesses use Instagram. Businesses are becoming attracted to Instagram due to it's impressive marketing capabilities combined with huge follower engagement, as seen above.
The popularity of Instagram has risen since it introduced Instagram Business Profiles and new ad platforms. Promotions, ads and powerful analytics make Instagram very attractive to businesses. Hashtags allow products to become visible to those that search specifically for them and marketing campaigns can use hashtags to gain visibility by targeting certain audiences.
Hashtags are powerful and user-generated campaigns are created when followers drop hashtags into posts to promote products to their own list of followers. 70% of the most used hashtags are branded (41 Incredible Instagram Statistics you Need to Know 2018).
Boots Mini Club
A screenshot of the Boots Mini Club Instagram account can be seen below.
Posts made on Instagram include:
- Images of outfit ideas for inspiration.
- Notifications of sales, discounts and free gifts.
- Notifications of promotions including collection of Boots Points for advantage card holders.
- Promotion of fundraising days such as the annual Christmas Jumper Day.
JoJo Maman Bebe
A screenshot of the Jojo Maman Bebe Instagram account can be seen below.
- Sales notifications.
- Information regarding online orders around the Christmas season.
- Festive outfits.
- Pictures of children and infants modelling the season's clothes.
Clarks Kids Shoes
Posts made on Instagram include:
- Children modelling the newest season's footwear.
- Large and clear images of footwear against neutral backgrounds.
- Zoomed in and angled shots of footwear.
- Videos of children walking and playing wearing the Clarks branded shoes.
Mini Steps
The Mini Steps Instagram account has been created and includes the following features:
- A well recognised account consistent with the brand's identity, logos and theme.
- A selection of attractive images of products.
- Videos to help followers engage with the brand.
- Usage of hashtags to promote products.
- Instagram Stories to give followers snippets of information via video about new products, sales and discount codes.
- Creating a platform for customers to interact with the brand by using hashtags to send pictures or videos for competitions and promotions.
The Mini Steps Instagram account was designed so that it would be instantly recognisable by followers, I used the company's logo as the profile photo and an obvious username, ukministeps. The username matches the Facebook business page username and the name of the YouTube channel.
This continuity is important so that follows arrive at the correct place and not at a competitor's social media account.
I entered a small but appropriate bio to help explain to followers what the business is about, I also included two hashtags in the bio, these are #kidsfashion and #instashoes. The hashtag #kidsfashion has over 13 million followers and the hashtag #instashoes has over 4 million followers. The audience that these two hashtags alone hold is vast and using these hashtags will help get the Mini Steps brand noticed.
The most important asset (and downfall) on this social media network is visual content. On Instagram, it’s essential to add value to your customers and look pretty while you do it (Baranovska 2018). Users of Instagram want to see creative content, Instagram has a whole host of tools to create unique images and videos. Instagram has face filters, borders, stickers, it allows you to edit photos and create and customise videos using text font, music and superzoom features.
Pictured below is a screenshot of the Mini Steps Instagram home page. I have posted a variety of pictures and I have posted a video which welcomes followers to the brand. The video can be seen as circled in red.
The following screenshots of the Mini Steps Instagram posts were taken on a mobile phone. An app allowed me to place a number of images together on one post, this was very helpful as the post was created to show the new shoe range.
I included the hashtags #girlsfashion and #minifashion in the post, as highlighted in yellow. I went to search for each of the hashtags to check that my post appeared on their feed and it did, on both of them. Please see the image highlighted in yellow on each of the screenshots.
A relatively new but powerful tool for any Instagram business account is Instagram Stories. An estimated 250+ million active users view Instagram Stories every day. Stories content has only a 24-hour lifespan, so they generate a sense of urgency (Blasco 2018). The time-sensitive nature of Instagram Stories provides an excellent opportunity to advertise deals and coupons with a limited-time only. Instagram Stories are only up to 15 seconds long (unless an other app is utilised) and this quick shot can deliver a raw and informal glimpse into the business. I chose to create an Instagram story to announce the arrival of the light up shoes. I made the video appear fun and tried to capture the attention of the audience using a number of editing tools. A screenshot of the story can be seen below.
Here is the story video which is 6 seconds long, it is punchy and gets the viewers attention, I chose some techno music as a background because I thought it was fun and fitting for the product.
This second story is 6 seconds long and follows immediately after the first one, this one shows how the shoes look while they are flashing. It gives the chance for the viewer to see the product without being distracted by techno music or stickers!
Social media, when used correctly can be a very powerful marketing tool, each of the platforms that I have used; Facebook, Instagram and YouTube have strengths and outperform each other in different areas. The best thing about social media is being able to sync one account to another and post to all from one platform.
As you can see from the screenshot from the Mini Steps Instagram page taken from my phone, the Mini Steps Instagram page is integrated with the Mini Steps Facebook business page. The Facebook blog post includes a screenshot of the Instagram tab which is fully synced to the Mini Steps Instagram account.
REFERENCES
18 Instagram Stats Every Marketer Should Know for 2018. [Online] Available from: https://sproutsocial.com/insights/instagram-stats/.
Global social media research summary 2018 | Smart Insights (2018). [Online] Available from: https://www.smartinsights.com/social-media-marketing/social-media-strategy/new-global-social-media-research/ [Accessed 14 April 2018].
Baranovska, V. (2018) 7 Tips for Using Instagram for Business. [Online] Available from: http://sendible.com/insights/7-tips-for-using-instagram-for-business [Accessed 15 April 2018].
Blasco, V. (2018) 7 Ways to Use Instagram Video for Business. [Online] Available from: https://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/7-ways-to-use-instagram-video-for-business/ [Accessed 15 April 2018].
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