I have always believed that the fast-paced Digital media cannot replace the print medium, at least in the near future.
But of course, that does not take away from the fact that it can definitely be at par.
Today all the brands are leveraging various digital channels to promote their offering and it's come to the stage that quite often, consumers come to know about a particular brand online before they even see it anywhere offline.
And a crucial part of this digital medium is Social Media.
We are all there, we follow influencers on Instagram, News channels on Twitter, Friends or others on Facebook, etc.
So we are already using this medium in our day to day life, why wouldn't brands want to leverage on this then?
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You are their target audience, you have already formed communities on social media, they need to ensure to develop that strongly connects with you online.
The book 'Instagram Power' by Jason Miles, talks about various ways a brand can establish its presence on Instagram.
Now, this book is a little dated, it was written back when Instagram was newly introduced, however, the ideas or suggestions provided are still valid and more applicable now with the growth of Instagram.
Did you know there are 80 million people on Instagram in India as of January 2020?
That's a crazy number!
Most of them fall under the age group of 18-24 yrs, so that clearly shows that it's a great platform to target the young crowd.
There are various ways in which brands can leverage this platform, but most often than not, it's used as a 'communication' medium, whereas it works way better when its used as a medium of 'building communities'.
The book highlights the common triggers of buying that work on Instagram, let's look at a few of them below with Indian brand examples, of course!
1. Love
We know Instagram is an image-heavy platform, so as marketers you need to include pictures that your consumers love.
Images that resonate with them and create an instant connection.
Example: Lakme
Who doesn't like Makeup?
The best part being that makeup in itself creates such amazing imagery that you don't need to add any special effects to make the image grab attention.
Lakme leverages the Instagram platform with its profound imagery and the brand ensures that the pictures are appealing to the consumer's lens.
One of the most important things they focus on is pushing User Generated Content. On their feed, they include images sent to them by their users thereby creating a much more realistic connection with consumers.
2. Involvement or Ownership
Your brand should build a following so strong that your consumers feel a personal involvement with it.
They wish to take ownership of the brand and want to promote it for you.
Example: Netflix
When Sacred Games was launched, I think more than Netflix promoting it, consumers promoted the show among themselves.
If you haven't watched the show, you felt left out.
I remember my own story here, I was one of the last ones in my group of friends who watched this show, and I was left out from all the discussions revolving around it.
On Instagram, Netflix creates content around various shows in specific or around genres where they can promote multiple shows together.
The content is extremely engaging, wanting the consumers to react and spread the word. Even if you scroll through the comments section of their posts, you can see so many people tagging friends and recommending various shows.
3. Desire to belong
This is a very important trigger and the one that works the best, consumers do not want to be left out.
Share the belongingness with your consumers and they will definitely reciprocate
Example: Chumbak
Chumbak is an Indian start-up which deals with souvenirs and other items which have a specific Indian contemporary design.
Instagram as a platform, provides you with the liberty to experiment with things however, how well you do this, makes a lot of difference.
Chumbak follows a consistent theme across all their images, they have clearly identified the fact, that the best parts of their product are, the colors used and unique designs.
So every picture on Instagram is utilizing a white background to make the colors pop. The images are so well shot, that anyone who sees the products wants to own them.
If my friend has a Chumbak phone case, I wish to have one too!
4. Curiosity
What good is an image if it doesn't develop curiosity in your consumer's mind?
Ensure it has something that the consumer is interested in, something that makes the consumer relate to, something that a consumer connects to.
Example: Durex
When it comes to India, this brand is at a disadvantage because consumers don't communicate openly when it's a product like condom.
But the brand has ensured to look beyond this obstacle and still create an amazing community of followers on Instagram.
As I have mentioned, Instagram is all about images, with their quirky and curious posts on Instagram, Durex has ensured to engage consumers in the best possible way.
The posts have a lot of hidden interpretations that build curiosity in a consumer's mind and works very well for the brand!
5. Urgency
If it's not urgent, let's do it tomorrow.
This is what everyone believes in, but you never know if the 'tomorrow' will show up for your brand.
Hence it's important to highlight the urgency and ensure the consumers react NOW.
Example: Burger King
Now while this trigger is one of the most important ones to focus on let's face it, this can possibly work well for products falling under the purview of impulse buying.
I cannot use this trigger, for a luxury brand.
Burger King India has a very active Instagram handle and the majority of the posts promote urgency.
Firstly, when I am scrolling through my feed, If I come across a picture of a delicious-looking chicken burger, I am already pausing and admiring it.
They also promote their offers very well by creating an urge to go buy a whopper as soon as possible before the offer ends.
Instagram is definitely a very important platform in the plethora of social media options available.
As they rightly say, today we do not have a choice whether we use Social Media, the question is how well we do it!
Disclaimer: The images used are only for reference. The rights rest with the specified image source.