Brands on Instagram for Marketing

English: A Red Bull advertising car spotted on Perry Street in Durham, North Carolina. Blacknall Presbyterian Church is visible in the background. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The popular photo-sharing app, Instagram, gives its 50 million users the opportunity to become armature photographers with a unique photo editing feature set that has exploded in popularity over the last year. However, Instagram has not only provided a creative new medium for wannabe photographers, but for brands as well. Many brands have taken advantage of the opportunity to give consumers an artistic, behind-the-scenes look at what their products and services have to offer.

Today, some brands are using Instagram to give consumers behind-the-scenes looks at sporting events or fashion shows. Some brands have even enlisted highly influential Instagram users for advertising purposes. Here are a few brands that are effectively using Instagram for marketing, branding and advertising purposes:

1. Red Bull: From the average social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, to the new and uncharted social apps like the popular video sharing app, Viddy, Red Bull is definitely an industry leader when it comes to online marketing - and their Instagram presence is no exception. Red Bull posts a "daily awesome" photo, and maintains the tradition of "Flying Friday" to keep fans and followers engaged. However, Red Bull doesn't stop with just posting engaging content, the brand has also been known to "Like" other users photos as well.

2. Puma: Rather than simply celebrating shoes, Puma's Instagram was set up to highlight all the cool places that shoes take you. Puma has been known to send influential Instagram users to big events across the globe and take pictures. Puma even sent some very lucky and influential Instagram users to Abu Dhabi so they can Instagram the Volvo Ocean Race. Since Puma doesn't have the following of some other brands (like Red Bull), this strategy of employing influential users to photograph events was a good way of ensuring more people saw the pictures.

3. Tiffany's: Tiffany's adopted Instagram as part of its campaign about true love. They employed a well-known fashion blogging couple to take snapshots of love stories in Paris and New York and them on Instagram. Tiffany's also gave couples the opportunity to submit their own photos using the Tiffany's downloadable Instagram filter. Beyond just incorporating Instagram into their true love campaign, Tiffany's also used the photo-sharing app to give fans an inside look at how jewelry is made.

Though Instagram is still a fairly new medium for online marketing, many brands are realizing the power of and advantages of using the photo-sharing app for marketing purposes. Though it may require a great deal of creativity and thought to work Instagram into a company's social media strategy, those that have done so have seen amazing results and been greatly accepted by users on the platform.


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Using Instagram to Market Your Business

NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 09: In this photo illustration, the photo-sharing app Instagram fan page is seen on the Facebook website on the Apple Safari web browser on April 9, 2012 in New York City. Facebook Inc. is acquiring photo-sharing app Instagram for approx. $1 billion. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)

Photo sharing has been given a major social upgrade thanks to introduction of Instagram. The Instagram platform has become hugely popular with more than 80 million users, who enjoy altering their photos with special effects and cool filters before sharing them with friends and followers.

Businesses can start using this new type social media as a way to market their company and build up a following. People love strong visual images, so posting pictures of products and even employees will make them feel closer to you. This type of marketing is what helps forge brand loyalty.

So how can your business use Instagram for marketing? Here are some examples:

Geotagging

In Instagram's latest update, users now have the option to tag a specific location with their images, which are saved to a personal photo map. These can be shared with your followers.

This is great if you have a physical location or even if you travel around the city, state or country. If you have booths at local craft fairs or other vendor events, then you can snap a photo and tag your location to let your followers know where you can be found.

Inside Look

The whole idea behind social media is sharing. Your fans and followers are giving you a chance to reach them on a more personal level so make sure you are giving them the same. Take pictures of the staff in the office. Snap shots of upcoming products to give them a sneak peak. If you're on the road, take some pictures along the way. Give followers a real sense of how things are behind the scenes to help them feel like a part of the brand.

Use Hashtags

If you use Twitter, you know how effective hashtags can be at sharing. You can use the same on your Instagram photos. Use hash tags that relate to your business or industry to make it easy for people to find you. For instance, if you make jewelry, you can use hashtags like #rings, #customjewlery, or #necklaces. Look up popular hashtags that are being used by similar brands and add them to your images.

Encourage User Images

People who are already using your products should be encouraged to snap a photo of themselves using it and tag it with one of your hash tags. This will show people how to use your products and show how many people are happy with your company.

Hold Contests

People love a chance to win prizes and using Instagram to hold a photo contest is an exciting way to give them what they want. You can ask fans to send in a picture of them using your product and then choose a winner from among them. You could also go a different route by asking them to send in a picture that demonstrates something more abstract, like what represents summer to them.

There are any number of ways to get creative and get more followers by holding a contest using Instagram. Your followers will share with their friends who will also want to join in the fun.

Market Your Events

If you are going to be at a trade show or convention, take pictures and tag your location to let your followers know what is going on for your business. If you are holding a big sale, snap a shot of your sales flyer for your followers to see. This is also a good way to make your followers feel more special because you can offer them a VIP discount that only Instagram users can get. Get creative with them!

Instagram was acquired by Facebook for about $1 billion. That is a sure sign that this is an important part of social media. When you implement it in your marketing strategy, it is one more important tool to have.

People love getting involved and sharing with the businesses they love. Take part in this era of sharing and you can broaden your reach and strengthen your branding with a few snaps of the camera.

Are you signed up with Instagram yet? What are you doing to market your business with the latest social app?

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Facebook-Instagram final acquisition close

NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 09: In this photo illustration, the photo-sharing app Instagram fan page is seen on the Facebook website on the Apple Safari web browser on April 9, 2012 in New York City. Facebook Inc. is acquiring photo-sharing app Instagram for approx. $1 billion. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)

Facebook today announced that its acquisition of Instagram is complete. The mobile photo sharing network will continue to operate under the Instagram brand, but its 16 employees will join the team in Menlo Park, California, and Facebook will support the app with infrastructure and engineers.


More than 5 billion photos have been shared by people using Instagram, which now becomes part of a social network that has nearly 1 billion members. The cash-plus-stock deal would have added another "billion" to that sentence if it had closed in April, but because Facebook's stock price tanked after the company went public, Instagram now joins the social network for a mere $741 million instead of $1 billion.

In a blog post announcing that the deal had officially closed Thursday, Instagram said its team will be moving from San Francisco to Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park.


According to Associated Press, the deal closed on Friday August 31, at which point Facebook's share price was US$18.06. This places the value of the deal at US$715.38 million. After trading resumed on Tuesday August 4 (as August 3 was a public holiday in the US), Facebook closed at its lowest point ever, at US$17.73 per share.

Instagram's team, which recently celebrated the 5 billionth photo shared through its photo app, will now move to Facebook's offices. It reassured its followers on its blog today that the "Instagram app and its features will stay the same one you know and love."

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