Up until April 2016, I was not an Instagram (IG) user. I created an account in 2013, posted all of 1 picture and abandoned the social without another thought. My Facebook feed, however, continued to be flooded with friends’ pictures, as they quickly linked both accounts together. At the time, I was not interested in sharing my memories across multiple social accounts. Today, however, I’m beginning to understand the ‘Why’ of IG.
It’s all about the visuals.
Yes, it shares information and yes, it provides a closer, more personal look at brands, but those are side-shows compared to the visual aspects that IG allows you to build. On this platform, the aesthetic of your brand is queen and the appropriate hashtags ensure your queen is liked and her reach is great.
Brands have been utilizing IG to tell their stories in a visually compelling way. Their core values and personality are meshed together in pictures, created and curated to appeal to an existing and potential audience.
A photo posted by WeWork (@wework) on Apr 26, 2016 at 7:44am PDT
The picture above is from WeWork and their IG embraces cute dogs, motivation (both visual and quotes) and open spaces. It’s fun, relaxing and, in many ways, makes you feel at home.
A photo posted by Overwatch (@playoverwatch) on Jun 9, 2016 at 5:27pm PDT
Let’s look at the IG for Overwatch, Blizzard Entertainment’s widely successful new First-Person Shooter (FPS), is relatively new. None of their other video games are on IG, so why include this platform among the other socials that Overwatch is currently featured on? For me, there’s two main reasons:
1. Much of Overwatch’s community was built organically, so the more social and accessible they are, the more eyes they have on their new IP.
2. The picture above shows clever cross-branding between the iconic World of Warcraft and a map in Overwatch called Hollywood, which features a cinema and movie posters.
There’s a long list of brands currently killing the IG game, using innovative styles to tell their brand story. Just look at the below video from Califia Farms – words don’t do it justice.
A video posted by Califia Farms (@califiafarms) on Jan 20, 2016 at 9:40am PST
AC Marketing recently launched our own IG account and, utilizing minimalism, we post industry-relevant quotes, including some of our own (my boss calls me #reporter for that one). I spend some time each week researching hashtags and their impact. Thus far, the results are compelling. IG allows us to establish the ACM brand in a visually pleasing way. It helps us focus on what we love most and we’re able to share that love with both our voice and the voice of veterans in marketing. In a previous blog, I spoke about attracting like-minded people to your brand, and this social experiment has proven as such.
A photo posted by AC Marketing Worldwide (@acmarketingworldwide) on Jun 1, 2016 at 6:07am PDT
Recently, IG hit half a billion monthly users, and continues to grow globally. The potential to introduce your brand to such a community is just a few clicks away, as I quickly learned with ACM. If your brand isn’t already using the platform, the only question that remains is ‘When?’.
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