Chalk up the lack of media buzz around Instagram to the vagaries of our what-have-you-done-for-me-lately digital media world. While the 6-year-old platform is far from past it—in fact, you could argue it’s only hitting its stride now—it’s hard to find much business news lately about it. Press coverage of Instagram seems to get bumped by stories featuring app du jour Snapchat and of course the behemoth (and Instagram parent) Facebook and Facebook Live.
Still, with 500 million monthly active users of Instagram and 300 million daily active users, the platform shows few signs of weakening. In fact its user base is growing faster than social network usage generally, says eMarketer. It will grow 15% this year vs 3% growth for the social network overall. By next year more than half of all social media users will be using it, notes Leslie Drate, social media manager, U.S. consumer print, at HP. By 2020, eMarketer predicts, it will add 27 million users, well more than any social platform. It’s also very hot with millennials. While there are 48 million U.S.-based millennial Instagram users, by 2019 some two-thirds of all millennial smartphone users will use Instagram, eMarketer says.
With those user figures in mind and PR News’ Big 4 Social Media Summit starting in a few days, we asked Drate and other Summit speakers to share their knowledge about Instagram. Specifically, we asked how brands can best use it to tell stories and engage followers. We also asked about working with influencers and using Instagram when you’re on a small budget.
Before You Start: For Drate and HP, a visually oriented brand, Instagram’s visually oriented platform is almost a no-brainer to feature lifestyle photography of the brand’s product. “Experiencing our brand visually has gotten customers and fans engaged, and Instagram is one of our best performing platforms for organic engagement,” she says.
For brands without an obvious visual tie-in, Erin Flior, senior director of digital communications, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, urges communicators to “start with a lot of reading” and researching. “What content is of value to the community you are trying to engage? Who are the influencers and how do they talk about the topics important to you? What are the critical hashtags and…the themes the conversation is happening around?” After that, “determine where there are authentic overlaps between the message you want to convey and the conversations happening organically. Don’t be afraid to test and abandon themes or hashtags if they aren’t getting the response you are looking for,” she says.
Is there a magic number for hashtags? “Some say 12 is the perfect number, but even more important is being authentic and tagging to join conversations that are relevant to your post,” Drate believes. “They can help you find new audiences who might be interested in what you have to say.”
As in nearly every PR initiative, “determine what your goal is and how you will measure success in advance,” Flior says.
Content Takeaways: Drate believes “every social media platform requires a unique approach.” The timing, tone, variety “as well as when and how to incorporate product stories” all are aspects of “a recipe that has to be fine-tuned as you collect data and learn.” Another tip: “Keep in mind that users experience the content almost exclusively on mobile devices and a large portion of content is viewed without sound.”
Flior stresses authenticity. “For us, highly produced and edited content performs much worse than in-the-moment, real, feeling moments. That might not be the case for every brand. Listen to feedback…and take time to glean lessons from what content performs and what doesn’t. Replicate your successes and move away from your misses.”
While it’s great to have a significant budget, Drate counsels quality over quantity. “As a rule, I suggest fewer, better images or videos for this platform,” she says. “Even if you don’t have a lot of creative resources, your iPhone and filters can save you in a pinch. In fact, filters are proven to increase your engagement, so it pays to use them well.”
What about working on a tiny budget, when the entire Instagram effort is you? Flior suggests booking two separate times in your day: one for reading and engaging with other people’s content and the other for publishing. “It’s so important to not just be pushing content on Instagram,” she says, “success happens with engagement.” She urges small communications departments to “take the time to respond, comment on and share other peoples’ content.”
Flior also believes in engaging with influencers. “Even if your team is one person, you can build a large group of advocates and supporters over time to share your content effectively growing the capabilities of your [one-person] team.”
Piggybacking:If your brand has a social presence on other platforms, build off existing relationships you have and extend them to Instagram,” says Karen Do, senior manager, brand social, at Adobe. Similar to Flior, Do urges communicators to follow “influencers creating content relevant to your brand. Engage with what they share and consider direct message outreach if there’s more you want to say. If you simply love the work, consider asking their permission to regram with full attribution and share the context in how you’d use the image.” In addition, you can negotiate a channel takeover with an influencer or sponsor a post they share on their profile, Do says. She advocates agencies that provide influencers. Such agencies “have expertise in negotiating the cost and terms of engagement, and can sustain the relationship on behalf of the brand.” Still, brands, at least so far, have been on the hook for infractions of Federal Trade Commission regulations committed by agencies and their influencers ( PRN, July 18). The obvious lesson is for communicators to be vigilant overseeing agencies and influencers.
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This content first appeared in PR News Pro, August 1, 2016. For subscription information please click here.