A. Nosik, A. Sachuk
А.А. Носик, А. Сачук
БрГТУ (Брест)
Научный руководитель П.Н. Резько
INSTAGRAM AS SELF PROMOTIONAL TOOL
Инстаграм как инструмент саморекламы
After its launch in 2010, Instagram rapidly gained popularity, with one million registered users in two months, 10 million in a year, and 1 billion as of May 2019. The user engagement rate of Instagram was 15 times higher than of Facebook and 25 times higher than that of Twitter [1].
The platform’s rapid evolution and growth mean that what worked in the past isn’t going to score you the same sort of engagement today.
No social media marketing strategy is complete without Instagram. It’s become a top platform for brands, advertisers, and consumers alike.
This platform has 800 million monthly active users. And 500 million Instagram profiles are active on a daily basis.
Here’s something else that may surprise you: 70 % of Instagram hashtags are branded.
If you’re not active on Instagram, your competitors definitely are.
Those of you who already have an account set up are on the right track. But just having an Instagram profile doesn’t necessarily translate to sales.
If you want to drive sales and make real money from Instagram, you need to come up with a viable strategy.
We’d like to present you some tips and strategies that you can apply to your Instagram marketing strategy today.
Firstly you should define Your Style.
If you decided to become a model, you probably already have interest in fashion, clothes, or photography. You have clothes from specific brands in your wardrobe and know your style well. Still, it needs improvement.
Clearly define what type of an Instagram model you would like to be. Some of them promote traditional high fashion clothes, the others tend to be more "underground" but no less popular. Your personal style will define the brands with that you will collaborate in the future.
Secondly – go for quality. Take amazing photos. That might sound easier said than done, but there are simple ways to improve your photography. And when it comes to photo editing, there are a million apps that can assist in the process. Popular apps include Snapseed, VSCO, and A Color Story. Avoid using the Instagram-provided filters and stick to the editing tools: bump up the contrast, straighten your image, add some “structure.” 2. Focus on the first impression of your page
First impressions matter. This statement holds true in the real world as well as the virtual world.
As a marketer, you need to recognize that. It’s the same reason why writing an irresistible blog post introduction is vital to your content strategy.
When an Instagram user clicks on your profile, what’s the first thing they see?
They see your profile picture, biography, and your most recent posts. Going back to our last point about following users to grow your own follower base, when a user clicks your profile, they shouldn’t have any questions.
What I mean by that is this. Your profile should say who you are and what you do.
Having your logo as your profile picture makes the most sense. It’s much more recognizable than a random picture of a person or one of your products.
Thirdly. Use hashtags wisely.
If you can type it, it can be a hashtag. But to make a hashtag work in your favor, you'll need to think strategically. #You #Do #Not #Need #It #All.
Instagram will let you add up to thirty hashtags in one post, but it’s better to select the top 12 or so that are extremely relevant to your image.
Your profile should be build on engagement. It is very important aspect as engagement is allowing your follower base to come to know you (or at least a version of you). Consider telling a story or anecdote in the Instagram caption. You can also be witty – whatever your narrative calls for the caption is best area to express that outside of images. When you’re commenting on another account's post that you love, share your thoughts and try to personalize it so it doesn’t come across as spam. If you’re traveling abroad or staying local the engagement via the local community can be quite beneficial. Through geotags and localized hashtags, engage with the community around you as they may be interested in your posts while you’re sharing from that location.
At the same time engagement on Instagram feed posts has been steadily declining for a couple years now, and in 2019 it’s time to change your definition of «Instagram engagement» and focus on engaging with your followers through Instagram Stories instead of just your regular feed posts. Instagram Stories has exploded in the last couple years, with over 400 million people watching stories every single day. Here at Later, we actually treat Instagram Stories as its own social channel, tracking traffic from stories separately from traffic generated through the link in our Instagram bio [2].
In conclusion we should mention that 95 % of prestige brands have an active presence on Instagram and include it in their marketing mix. When it comes to brands and businesses, Instagram's goal is to help companies to reach their respective audiences through captivating imagery in a rich, visual environment.
Literature
1. Social media engagement – Statistics and Trends [Электронный ресурс]. – 2019 – Режим доступа: https://www.invespcro.com/blog/social-media-engagement/ – Дата доступа: 12.09. 2019.
2. Top 5 Instagram Marketing Trends for 2019 [Электронный ресурс]. – 2019 – Режим доступа: https://later.com/blog/instagram-marketing-trends-2019/ – Дата доступа: 17.10. 2019.