Instagram for Insta-Marketing

My first post on this blog was about the company Sugar Bear Hair and the online celebrities they use to promote their product. I spoke a bit about the influence that these Instagram famous people have, but now I want to expand on why Instagram is an ideal e-marketing platform.

Popularity
Instagram is ideal because almost everyone has it. It is a fun app which people use to search for photos for inspiration, connect with friends, expand their network, and just share photos.
All companies with visual elements (anything that can be photographed, really) should have an Instagram account. Through the use of hashtags, users can easily locate you as well as similar content.

Accessibility
A huge facet (and positive point) about e-marketing is that your audience is more available. Everyone always has their phone in hand, which makes advertising a lot easier. Marketing products to an already aware audience makes the job much easier. I have personally accidentally enjoyed advertisements because I was scrolling through my timeline on Instagram and my attention was on the pictures.

Influence
Like I mentioned previously, influence is a huge factor for marketing products. There are many gatekeepers on Instagram that exist as mini-celebrities. These people are not always necessarily endorsing a product openly (such as the Kardashians posting ads for Fit Tea, for example) but they do display a certain aesthetic that their audience follows them for. This is an easy way for companies to extend their reach to a target market they can already be sure will be interested in their product. Companies can then choose to either pay the online influencer to promote their product (through a post), or send the influencer samples of their product and have them post photos of it with the company mentioned in the caption.

Here is an example of both kinds of advertisements:

As you can see, the photo on the left gently tells users where the clothes come from by listing the brands through a tag.
The photo on the right however, uses clear advertising language in its caption and is a more obvious form of advertising.

Marketers are taking advantage of the e-marketing aspect of Instagram by including ads on their site.
When companies began rolling out their ad campaigns, however, many users swore they would leave. Instagram worked with its advertisers (as well as its internal team) in order to create algorithms that would match user interests with relevant ads.

This combination proved successful, because while ads were still not the preferred content for users, ads more similar to their interests resonated better with Instagram users.

Vine and It's Influencers

Vine is a popular social media application that allows its users, Viners, to create 6 second video clips. Since its launch in January 2013, the app has had so much success that it is able to pay its influencers between $20,000 to $50,000 per ad campaign.

The app uses popular Viners as one of their main sources for income. Companies such as Sephora, Marc Jacobs, and Burberry have all created flashy advertisements, all 6 seconds or less, which has gotten them successful results. 

Newly made Vine stars such as Nash Grier, Cameron Dallas, and King Bach each have net worths in the millions. They have reached a level of popularity on the social networking app that the company pays them for simply posting non-ad related content. Wendy's, a popular fast food chain, pays Viners like Jessi Smiles $3,000 for simply mentioning them in a Vine. 

You may be thinking to yourself, "What is it about these videos that are so interesting?". Well for starters, the app has an "Explore" page that consists of various categories. These categories range from animals, art, and comedy, to a do-it-yourself (DIY) video that instructs watchers on how to create things. 

Businesses such as the San Francisco Zoo uses a clever marketing technique of posting Vines of their animals. The company then places the clip under the animal category and sit and watch as people begin tagging their friends on the video of the cute group of penguins. 

Vine further stretches its influence by patterning with popular social media network, Twitter, to facilitate sharing and viewing Vines. This further expands its e-marketing influence by becoming accessible on a different platform and by allowing companies to advertise through Vine on Twitter. Vine actively engages with users on a daily basis providing feedback on funny Vines and also by providing customer and technical support. 

It is without a doubt that in little as 3 years Vine has dominated the e-marketing network. 

Uber (Marketing) Everywhere

Who hasn't heard of Uber in 2016?
It's a long shot, because it is safe to say that the company's e-marketing strategies have been successful.

The reason companies are popular now is because their communications and marketing teams put in a lot of work in the past.

In 2015, Uber focused on direct mail and e-mail marketing.
Their physical postcard packets were well designed and high quality, modern, content-focused, and engaged users with free rides (up to $20!)

Their emails were appropriate and went exactly for the objections the new company new they would be facing as a mobile based taxi program: safety.
In a clear and concise way, they basically told users, "Look, we understand you're worried about safety, but here's why you shouldn't be when you ride with Uber."

Uber's e-marketing strategy now almost runs itself. The company was a step ahead of dealing with the competition aspect of entering the market since they began before Lyft, but they still had to deal with different forms of competition. People are lazy, and if something seems easier, they gravitate to the choice that requires the least amount of effort.

Uber provided just that and positioned themselves expertly with e-marketing to prove it.

Their app, available on all smart phones, provides users with ease of accessibility and their support and tech team has worked hard to ensure the app runs smoothly.

Uber's Twitter account is also quick to respond to any concerns users may have.

On top of word of mouth marketing, Uber doesn't have to do much to get the attention of their target audience. When they announce a collaboration for delivering puppies or kittens to offices, the news pops from social media platform to social media platform.

Other perks like Uber VIP (users who have ridden over 100 times) and promo codes (available to all who join) keep users interested.

Uber has built up the excitement and now they get to coast.