instagram - digital marketing tool

Presented byChristine Ma

History

"Fast beautiful photo sharing"

Instagram is a free iPhone app launched in 2010 by developer Kevin Systrom. The app allows users to add vintage camera filters and frame to photos on their phone. The modified photos can then be posted on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter and emailed with a description and a geographically positioned location.

History

The appeal of the program is that it allows users to quickly take a photo, play with it, and then

share their work with friends.

Target Group

Demographically:15-40 years old, single, students usually, and lives in an urban area. Psychographically:Digitally and socially connected.

Interested in: Art, fashion, music and photography.

Target Group

Students can add effects to “beautify” their snapshots without the use of a dark room, expensive lenses or Photoshop. For the hobbyist photographer, you can take photos at tight angles or impromptu moments because your phone is always with you.

Brand Building

Celebrities and companies use Instagram to share photos and get exposure.

Mobile phones are used everyday by people looking for entertainment. For a brand, they want users who will be seeking out entertainment to subscribe to the brand’s page for current news or personal glimpses into a celebrity’s life posted online moments after they were taken.

Brand Building

Kathy Griffin gives her Out-of-Home exposure some online exposure while Channing Tatum shows his

dance moves.

Consumer Engagement

Building a network of followers will increase your chances that a photos will end up on the popular page. "Action-text" photos get viewers to "like"

photos.

Consumer Engagement

Weekend Hashtags builds community photo competitions.

InstaMeets builds real-life friendships.

Communication Plan Role

As part of a communications plan, Instagram can direct people towards official company websites, Facebook and where to get more information. By posting photos of a product, it becomes another form of advertising as viewers see the photo and creative buzz for it when it is “liked” and its action is posted in the news feed of friends of that viewer. Those friends may want to go to check out what the photo that was “liked” is, and may themselves “like” the photo, creating a chain of positive results for a brand.

Communication Plan Role

Audi posts photos of their cars in action to show that they are a fun and cutting-edge brand.

Data Gathering Tools

See how many “likes” a photo received and whether it gains enough “likes” to show up on the popular page of Instagram. Another method of measuring how well Instagram does is to see how many other photos appear when a specific hashtag (#word) relating to your brand or campaign is used. If a lot of other photos use the same hashtag, then it’s a good indication that your brand has high awareness with consumers so that they remember to include it with their photos.

Case Study: channingtatumunwrapped

Actor, Channing Tatum’s used his Instagram account “Channintatumunwrapped” to actively promote his newest movie “21 Jump Street”.

Case Study: Engagement

A ticket contest and online events were promoted.

Case Study: Results

Tatum's photos have been “liked” from 2-3000 times and his dance rehearsal photo reached

4622 “likes”.

Glossary of Terms

RSS (real simple syndication) – Instagram’s newsfeed is like an RSS in that it gathers all the posts from Instagram accounts that you want to subscribe to all on one page in a real time order as they are updated.

Search engine – The app has a search engine where you can find photos of things you want to see more of. Hashtags used on Instagram photos can also be used to see what is popular online by seeing how many photos are tagged with the same hashtag. Social media – Instagram photos are shared and liked by viewers using the app. Smart phones – Instagram works with the photos on Apple iPhones and soon on Android mobile phones.

SourcesFuld, Hillel. “5 Things Instagram Got Right That Others Before Couldn’t.” <blog.appboy.com/2010/10/5-things-instagram-got-right-that-others-before-it-couldnt/> Appboy.com. October 15, 2010.

Ha, Anthony. “Instagram CEO Talks Advertising and Growth: Startup aims to turn photos into an 'entertainment platform’.” <http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/instagram- ceo-talks-advertising-and-

growth-135274> Adweek.com. September 27, 2011.

“Instagram FAQ: What is Instagram?” <http://instagr.am/about/faq/> Instagram.com. 2011.

“Instameets.” <http://blog.instagram.com/instameets> Instagram.com.

“Introducing Hashtags on Instagram.” <http://blog.instagram.com/post/8755963247/introducing-hashtags-on-instagram> Instagram.com. January 26, 2011.

“Weekend Hashtag Project: #rustingaway.” <http://blog.instagram.com/tagged/weekend- hashtag- project> Instagram.com. 2011.