Change is always daunting – especially when it comes to social media. It seems like every day we are presented with a new social media platform that appears so complicated to use that we just dismiss it until it reaches its height in popularity. From giants like Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat to the lesser known MyLife, Ning and Path, we’ve been so inundated with social apps that it’s easy to overlook and at times ignore most of them – we also don’t have enough storage on our phones to download them all.
When looking at adoption of new technology or products, there are five classes of consumers in the marketing world: Innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority and laggards. Although it’s dangerous to generalize, when it comes to adopting new social media platforms, the majority of Millennials fall between innovators and early adopters. The younger Generation X folks resemble the early majority and late majority, and in general, older generation X and baby boomers round out the group as laggards.
When Instagram was first introduced in October 2010, many fell in love with the ability to use filters. It became the filter capital of the world and was seen by most users as a way to post pictures that were more aesthetically pleasing than if they uploaded it to another social media platform. It was quickly embraced by innovators and early adopters. Since then, Instagram has shown a growth potential that trails only Facebook, which is now known by many to be the gathering place for laggards.
According to eMarketer, 89.4 million Americans will log on to Instagram at least once a month and it will add 26.9 million users over the next four years.
Content on Instagram is more sharable, easier to understand and more universal than other types of content. In today’s digital age, the ability to provide appealing visual content is vital since it’s what consumers want to see brands posting. In fact, according to research, visual content is currently the most important tactic businesses use for optimizing their social media strategy. Instagram allows companies to create the most visually appealing content and is the most personal of the mobile platforms, allowing people to connect with a brand on a more intimate level.
A lot of people – including those in the marketing profession – assume that a photo based platform is only for businesses that have products to sell. It is true that product-based companies are able to create more content that can be shared on Instagram than service-based companies. However, this doesn’t mean service companies don’t have any content to share. In reality, everything you do every day can be documented through photos. You just have to find creative ways to showcase it.
Whether your business is product-based or service-based, there is a story and a personality to show. Instagram is a tool that can help you achieve the most out of the story behind the brand. Do you celebrate milestones or birthdays? Do you celebrate the most obscure holidays? Are your employees participating in a local dodgeball tournament? All of these are opportunities to showcase your company’s personality without having a tangible product for sale.
Creating content for Instagram can be a challenge. The importance of visual imagery is a key to portraying a brand’s story. Regardless of the industry, any company can create campaigns to utilize this platform to reach its target audience by sharing alluring imagery and creative captions.
Six years after its release, Instagram already has been embraced by the innovators, early adopters and early majority classes. We will now see how much more of a following the social media platform is able to attract with the crowd of consumers that are always hesitant of change.
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