June 27, 2023

Reaching its 10 year anniversary on the 6th of October in 2020, one of the fastest-growing social media platforms has certainly made the most of the decade by accumulating over a billion monthly active users, and becoming the 2nd most engaged network after Facebook.  We’ve already discussed why Social Media Marketing is the way to go, but in summary, you’d essentially be exactly where the people are looking- their mobile screens, and according to HubSpot; over 72% of Instagram users have purchased something they’ve seen on the platform. Seeing the potential of its platform, Instagram made alterations in its functions- finally creating fool-proof, effective marketing available for as little as nothing.  So we’ve taken the liberty of accumulating everything you should know about how marketing works on Instagram; considering both the app’s functionality and the psychological components.  Business Profile The days of using regular accounts for your business are gone; as the alterations mentioned before made it so that you can now open an Instagram Business Profile filled with useful tools that you can use for efficient SMM, and apart from that- they’re basically free! The Contact Button  This gives people the immediate option to contact your business upon visiting your page, taking away the hassle of having to turn to Google for its contact details. This minor improvement in convenience changes the disposition of the user, making the possibility of conversions more likely.  Scheduling Posts Even something as simple as posting has been optimized to become more convenient for businesses. With the ability to schedule posts, your Social Media Manager will no longer have to set reminders to manually post content at a certain time, and can just rely completely on automation. With the ability to link your social media accounts across multiple platforms like Facebook and Twitter to your Instagram, the need to post through each platform individually is removed.  Advertising  Truth be told, anyone can afford Instagram marketing, and that’s because it’s tailored to fit your budget, and won’t exceed it.   Apart from that, users no longer have to follow you to be able to see your content. With sponsored posts, Instagram will show your posts to users that seem like your suitable audience, and exclude anyone who seems otherwise. As it is with SMM, the ability to target your audience saves resources in comparison to conventional marketing, which has a lack thereof. Similar to its parent, Facebook, Instagram can narrow down your audience using anything from gender and interests to the model of their device- making sure that your content is only seen by potential customers.  From being able to display one piece of content at a time, Instagram now allows businesses to use multiple with Carousel advertising and stories that can feature up to 3 pieces of media at a time- expanding your room for creativity.  Shoppable Posts https://www.instagram.com/p/B60ClWdAQ8Y/embed/captioned/?cr=1&v=12&wp=447&rd=https%3A%2F%2Fshiftxmedia.com&rp=%2Fusing-instagram-to-promote-your-startup-business%2F#%7B%22ci%22%3A0%2C%22os%22%3A3684.6999999284744%2C%22ls%22%3A2466.2999999523163%2C%22le%22%3A3137.0999999046326%7D Besides just showing consumers what you have to offer, you can now immediately direct them towards purchasing it. With Instagrams new “Shop” feature, all you have to do is simply curate a list of products which can be tagged in posts just like regular users, allowing your viewers to go through basic product details with just one tap. If consumers are interested in what they see, an additional tap is all it takes to lead them to your Instagram shop where they can browse, save items to look at later, share them with their friends, or be directed to the website where they can purchase it. Insights Knowing how your users interact with your existing posts is vital to understanding just how you should adjust your content to boost engagement.  Instagram insights allow you to see just how each one of your posts is doing through their reach and impressions, and even calculates how many times people have interacted with your account and visited your profile. This will tell you which posts are more likely to lead to conversions based on how their performance has led consumers to engage with them.  Additionally, you could also get a breakdown of your follower demographics according to gender, age and location- information that you could use to create more personalized content that can be catered to your audience to boost their engagement. Besides that, it also analyzes the times your followers are most active, telling you exactly when you should be posting. Combine this with the scheduled posting, and it’s near impossible to go wrong.  About The Algorithm Much to the displeasure of many users, and following in its parent’s, Facebook’s, controversial footsteps, Instagram too took the life-changing decision to disrupt the peace on the platform by changing the order of its posts from chronological to basing it off relevance. This means that the platform tries to justify which posts would be most relevant to the individual user, and push them to the top of their feed. While it still displays recent posts, this is mainly based on users’ previous interactions with you and their engagement with similar content. While this will not affect any sponsored content, it could affect all posts that are not boosted.  Stories When you think SMM has reached the pinnacle of convenience, it takes one step higher. With stories, you’ll be right at the top of Instagram users’ feeds, meaning they don’t have to scroll at all to find you, and all they have to do is tap once to see you in their automated lineup. Apart from sharing new content, with the ability to add posts from your feed to your story, you could also revive old content, and draw more attention to the new. Stories are also the ideal place to conduct Q&As and polls, which are great ways to get some insight directly from your followers regarding what they want to see from you. Features like countdowns also prove to be useful tools to keep your viewers on the edge of their seats and get them excited for things like new campaigns, products and more- experiment with your options. The days of directing

Storytelling has been around as long as communication; it has integrated itself into the lives of people and communities, and has grown from relying on mouth to mouth transactions to being just a click away. Today, stories can be told through anything- from images to campaigns. They have always played an integral part in the human life; even from the time of being a toddler. They teach morals, history, values and facts that have shaped us into the people we are today. With the technological advancements in the last few decades, and the importance of maintaining an image on social media; storytelling has become more significant than ever, especially in the global commercial hub. What is storytelling in a business? It is as simple as using a narrative to connect to an audience of consumers through your brand via shared values. Storytelling is the ability to capture the essence of a brand; how it’s driven, the non-material factors that make it unique, and the values that define it.  This technique of advertising allows consumers to connect with brands on a different, more personal level; creating an atmosphere of mutual values and opinions.  As the entrepreneur Ben Horowitz said; “a compelling story puts the company in motion”. Why do we do it? Research has proven that the human response to stories is more significant than to raw, unseasoned facts. Thus, telling a story is more likely to keep your customers interested. With less than 10 seconds to get a person’s attention in today’s world; it is important to create an attraction that will draw consumers in immediately, and stories are a great way to do it. They are known to trigger an emotional response in people; be it through an article, an image or a video- something graphs and tables cannot do. The rush of emotions from just a few impactful seconds could lead to making a purchase, or even an investment. A study done by Hubspot shows that the most shared advertisements rely greatly on their emotional content. Consumers are naturally more able to connect to stories; empathizing and relating to the characters and the plot, and research even shows that there is a direct link between empathy and commercial success. Thus, this vital tool is not just about profitability; it’s also about increasing your visibility, and creating an image for your brand. Besides that, the newly formed democratic nature of the internet has resulted in more consumers demanding that the companies that request their support deserve it; which is determined based on whether their efforts are making an impact or not.  Today, companies are expected to have a purpose and drive beyond profit; to be more human. Buying from the businesses that are supporting the right causes and doing more social work makes consumers feel that they too are helping through their own purchases; increasing the chances of gaining consumer loyalty.  With the high pressure that exists today to have eco-friendly, cruelty-free, vegan etc. products and to be supportive of diversity, consumers are setting the standards that they expect companies to follow. In return, companies can share their support with the world by sending out a message that they care about their consumers’ needs and wants, via their stories that portray it. How do we do it? We answer this question with one more; what is the lasting impression you’d want your consumers to have of you? The story you tell will determine how your brand is presented.  Content Use storytelling elements; characters, plots, settings, climaxes and conclusions. Whether they are real or fictional, they are much easier to follow and remember than statistics and facts, and can be used as bait to draw consumers in instead of forcing your product on to them. Keeping the content of your story simple is also an important measure to take; while it could be thought-provoking and have depth to it- consumers should be able to understand what is happening clearly. Themes Paul Ekman states that there are 6 basic emotions; happiness, anger, fear, disgust, sadness, and surprise. In making your story; you could choose which of these elements to focus on- the underlying consumer response unveiled by each one varies. Many companies want to be associated with positive emotions, and so stick to happiness and surprise. This could be through the use of touching, motivating stories, heartwarming situations, and even advertisements with comedic value.  As shown below, this popular technique can be seen in many Coca Cola advertisements; which frequently portray their product being shared between friends, lovers, siblings and parties- all of which instil in viewers the comforting feeling of developing relationships, and community.  Positive emotions can also be brought out through empowerment and embracing diversity. For instance, the brand Dove has had many of its campaigns go viral for their body positivity; challenging the unrealistic beauty standards that exist in the industry. Brands like Nike use stories that inspire viewers to conquer all obstacles; giving them an adrenaline rush by using inspirational people like Michael Jordan, partnered with climactic music and slow-motion edits; compelling people to buy a pair of shoes and be as free and great as the people who wear it in the story. As for the more negative emotions; companies tend to focus more on these when they want to press their audience to make a change. Although many companies don’t want to be associated with such feelings; the strength of these emotions are underestimated.  Here are a few examples; Chevrolet does this by using relationships and sad milestones in people’s lives; be it the death of a family member or pet- ending each commercial with the characters getting into a Chevy, either as a flashback or as a new beginning. Either way, it gives the audience the impression that the car will be with them from the beginning to the end- through thick and thin. People are temporary, but a Chevy is forever. Pedigree’s Adoption Drive advertisement shows its audience a heartbreaking video of