Instagram – 5 reasons to #filter out other social media sites for beauty brands

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Instagram filter

The success of Instagram has resulted its own infamous quote (amongst millennial females), admittedly it’s a reworked copy of the famous jingle of beauty brand Maybelline, if you wish to sing along click here.

However, Instagram’s success has also resulted in much more since its launch nearly six years ago. In fact it was set to be a success story from the outlook with one million users within just two months of its launch (WeRSM, 2014), and has since grown at a phenomenal rate currently with a community of over 400 million users.

 

instagram banner

Instagram — helping you experience the world through images and connect with others through shared passions (Instagram, 2016)

 

engagement rates

Instagram’s user base is growing far faster than social network usage in general and experiencing double digit growth, the site has greater engagement than that of rivals Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Instagram will grow 15.1% this year, compared to just 3.1% growth for the social network sector as a whole (eMarkter, 2016).

The success of beauty brands such as  Maybelline, L’Oréal Paris and Benefit Cosmetics, have now joined the millionaires clubs, (brands with over a million followers) with 2m, 2.2m and 3.9m respectively. The huge following received from their Instagram account has seen a flock of customers coming in-store to purchase specific products seen posted on the account.

Denna Singleton, who heads global marketing at Elizabeth Arden also stated that Instagram lowers costs, as a lot of resources are used to shoot original photos, so the brand also relies on user-generated pictures, these may be from collaborations with influencers such as beauty bloggers and celebrities or even pictures from users partaking in contests, campaigns and promotions. User-generated content is expected to lead to stronger and deeper relationships between brands and consumers, and more effective brand communities (Van den Bulte & Wuyts, 2007).

 

 

essena o'neill

Conversely to all this hysteria there are the cases such as Essena O’Neill, a 19 year old internet star who made global headlines when she uploaded a YouTube Video where she exposed the artificial world that she created on her Instagram of her ‘perfect world’ of beauty and fashion.

She stated, ‘[Instagram] has mutated into a behemoth of self-promotion where the more likes a person has, the more prestige and earning-power they can command’.

Although many have claimed this to be a publicity stunt to attract more attention to Essena and her brand, it does highlight the issue of hyper-reality. French philosopher and theorist of hyper-reality Jean Baudrillard, had a keen interest in consumer society and discussions on hyper-reality, this being the inability to distinguish between ‘real’ and simulation. He describes simulation as the process in which a representation of something comes to replace the thing which is actually being represented. The representation then becomes more important than ‘the real thing’ (Baudrillard, 1983).

However this critique doesn’t seem much of a problem at all, as users are aware of filtering images and enhancing visuals. Below are five reasons as to why your beauty brand should be using Instagram as part of your marketing campaign.

  1. Engagement – For beauty brands Instagram’s organic engagement is above all other social media platforms. Unlike the Facebook’s algorithm that filters posts and may prevent users seeing certain content of brands, you see all Instagram’s posts from an account that a user has subscribed and ‘followed’, the user would have to unfollow the account completely to block any content being viewed. This along with the option of turning on push notifications means more customers will see brand updates, which creates more recognition and engagement on a post is easy with a single ‘tap’ to ‘like’.
  2. Community – Jim Squires, Instagram’s director of market operations stated ‘There’s this very distinct sense of community [on Instagram] that just continues to get stronger and stronger as the years have gone by.’ Brands are able to bring together users where they can comment and ask questions, building relationships between brands and users.
  3. Content – Beauty brands have become more creative, this can help create some association and ‘feel’ of the brand if there is a theme that flows through the account. Brands can also share ‘how to create’ or ‘behind the scenes’ images that can let users relate and feel as though they’ve been given access and feel some sort of privilege to usually unseen content.
  4. Viral – ‘A photo speaks a thousand words’ – language can be a barrier from allowing content to be viewed by those of different nationalities but an image can be understood without translation, especially as 75% of users are outside of the US. Hashtags also aid in direct targeting, so that through the 80 million images posted throughout the day, customers can still find specific products or services, you can also target users without wasting time on users who are not interested.
  5. Advertisement – Users are aware of authenticity, Instagram provides a platform for a more subtle type of advertisement. Although marketing the product is important, it’s about brand awareness, conveying the brand personality and image. Instagram has also increased its ad formats, still imagery, videos with an increase from 15 seconds to 30 seconds, and lastly a carousel of photos. These can be uploaded organically or as sponsored ads that feature on users timelines, even if they’re not subscribed to that account.

All brands especially beauty brands should be utilising Instagram if they want to resonate with their target audience. Instagram is wonderfully simplistic and the most personal of the mobile platforms. Its full of potential for connecting with a brand on a more intimate level, (Ryan, 2012) find out what people are interested in, what they are talking about, and then provide useful information, advice, and content for them.


If you’re interested in reading similar articles to this blog follow the links below:

Forbes – Eight Reasons All Brands Should Be On Instagram

Social Media Today – 6 Reasons Brands Should Be On Instagram Now

 


References

Baudrillard, J. (1983) Simulations, Semiotext, New York.

Instagram (2016) Our Story [Online] <https://www.instagram.com/press/> [accessed 6th April 2016]

L2incDigital IQ Index (2015) Beauty: UK. New York: L2inc

Ryan, D. (2012) Understanding Digital Marketing. 3rd ed, London: Kogan Page

Van den Bulte, C. & Wuyts, S. (2007) Social Networks and Marketing. Relevant Knowledge Series. Boston, MA: Marketing Science Institute.

WeRSM. (2014) The Complete History of Instagram [Online] <http://wersm.com/the-complete-history-of-instagram/> [accessed 6th April 2016]

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