More and more consumers are spending the majority of their daily social time on Instagram. It now ranks third behind Facebook and YouTube. Of the one billion users accessing the platform every month, 80% of them follow at least one business account and 50% of them are scrolling through their feed every day.

If you want your posts to show up in the app’s search, you need to start using hashtags for Instagram. It’s a quick way to increase your visibility and reach people who aren’t already aware of your brand. The trick is to use the right hashtags. A common mistake some businesses make is using random hashtags they made up. In this post, we’ll share 10 straightforward ways you can use to increase your organic reach on Instagram today. Buffer for Instagram now comes with direct scheduling! Schedule single-image or video posts or set reminders to post multi-image posts at your best times to grow your Instagram following.

The new opportunities are due to:

1. Their new direct checkout process
2. Improved discovery and search
3. The viral acceptance of Stories

Social media platforms like Instagram are becoming powerful tools for direct selling, not just advertising. Instagram should be part of your marketing and branding strategies for eCommerce. Of the nearly two-thirds of online shoppers who have ever clicked on a social media ad, 33% made a direct purchase. According to a separate study by GfK, the percentage of shoppers who said social media “is quickly becoming my most important shopping tool” surged to 45% last year from 29% in 2015, as tech-savvy millennials and Gen Zers began to embrace social commerce.

Depending on your target audience and your desire to grow your eCommerce business, this platform is providing cutting edge opportunities other platforms are now trying to mimic (Here’s a comprehensive list of Instagram user statistics).

New Direct Checkout Process

Social commerce has been talked about in the past year as a huge opportunity, although the data currently shows otherwise. This may be about to undergo a dramatic change with the introduction of Instagram’s direct checkout process, allowing a consumer to go all the way from discovery to checkout without leaving the site.

When you tap to see a brand’s products in the post you will see the standard shopping tag, but once you tap into that tag you will be able to customize the size, color, and any other variables and then check out all the through the Instagram prompts. This offers a wonderful new convenience for shoppers. You only need to enter your email, address, and credit card information once and Instagram will remember it.

Think about that in light of the fact that in the past, “the most common actions people said they took after seeing products or services in Stories were browsing the brand’s website to get more information and looking for the product or service on eCommerce websites.”

With it’s new Instagram is creating a new base camp for providing shoppers with means to have fun in the discovery process of shopping versus just using Amazon to acquire things.

Instagram in the past year has accelerated its eCommerce development to leverage its reach among its more than 1 billion users worldwide. The app in September introduced a dedicated shopping channel in its Explore tab and added it to Stories, the popular feature that strings together several images into a single post that disappears after 24 hours.

In November, Instagram added a collection tab to let users save products tagged in Stories and posts, shoppable videos and a shop tab on business pages to showcase all the products from a single brand or merchandiser. Instagram extended the tool to 55 creators and five publishers for testing last month. All of this points to that Instagram is seeking to build itself out as an eCommerce platform.

How can this benefit your brand now?

1. Allowing consumers to check out right on Instagram, brands, and retailers may be able to inspire more impulse purchases because consumers won’t have to go through a laborious checkout process where they might get frustrated or just change their mind about the product
2. Selling directly through content creators on Instagram can boost merchants’ ability to capitalize on social media’s influence by making conversion simpler (58% of consumers say social media influences their purchase decisions)
3. In-app checkout use by influencers will allow brands to track that influencer’s effectiveness more directly

Look at the high-end DTC products that have jumped into this shopping channel including Nike, Adidas, and Outdoor Voices. There is over 23 total at this point, several who have never sold on an alternative platform.

Currently, consumers will only be able to see the checkout function on brands that they follow. How many followers do you have on Instagram? Is it time to install their new checkout app on your site?

The platform allows you to bring your brand to life in a very immersive way unlike the limitations placed on you by Amazon regarding the presentation of your product (small thumbnail images).

Instagram is pushing eCommerce because the market opportunity is, in fact, greater than marketing: In 2018, US retail e-commerce sales totaled $513.6 billion, up 14.2% year-over-year (YoY), per US Census estimates. US ad sales are about half that, totaling $207 billion in 2018, up 6.9% YoY, per Magna estimates.

Improved Search and Discovery

Digital changed things. IF a shopper knew what they wanted Amazon provided the vehicle to use the hunter mentally to acquire it. But shopping for your high-end outdoor products is a different mentality; the discovery mentality. This new platform and what you can do with your e-commerce site means that the true exploratory, immersive discovery is going to initially begin more frequently through the digital space.

Think about how your feed streams on Instagram. It’s not one query that is happening. Meaning if you type something on Amazon and press search or type something on Google and press search there is one result that is coming back: Page one, page two results. If you want to change your search you have to type in something else.

With Instagram, if you are looking at a feed and you like something and scroll down again, they are literally re-querying: I like this therefor next query maybe you combine two things together and then maybe you combine three things together and that is much more how people have conversations in real life in a store.

Instagram sees its biggest opportunity in product discovery — which can “broaden the spectrum” of what a user is looking for. More than four in five Instagram users say the app helps them to make purchasing decisions, with 83% saying it helps them discover new products or services.

Consumers are providing input, after input, after input and changing how the platform searches and the type of information returned. All of this input allowing Instagram to personalize to their interests, all the while staying in the same platform.

This is super powerful because it marries this idea of having multiple conversations that refine getting you to an outcome you really want versus this single process that is happening on Google and Amazon.

This is another critical juncture for brands that engage in DTC and sell through brick and mortar to work with retailers to improve their product experience in-store. A key reason why consumers still go to physical stores is for the discovery experience. As this new immersive digital discovery experience being offered by Instagram grows, retail will be further challenged to be relevant.

Stories

Since introducing Stories, Instagram has seen user engagement exploding. Their engaging format is providing a means for consumers to be quickly immersed with a brand. Stories are on track to become the main format for social media consumption, providing brands with a massive and vital opportunity to reach consumers. Engagement rates for Instagram Stories are already high, with Instagram revealing one in five stories gets a direct message from viewers.

Brands need to pay attention to what they need to do in creating successful Stories campaigns that consumers want to watch and don’t create overexposure.

“Did you know that videos hold our attention 5x longer than still images?”

Developing your brand’s own Stories campaign is something you and your internal staff can do with this article from HubSpot or which you can leverage your team’s resources and supplement with outside help. Brands looking to build successful Stories campaigns and make meaningful connections with customers should incorporate the following best practices.

• Update your current social media brand kit to ensure you have consistency across platforms in the areas of fonts, colors, style of product presentation, filters used, and tone of voice
• Utilize readily available templates for the creation of consistent Stories branding and rotate between the two or three you select that best fit your needs
• Utilize your brand logo
• Shoot vertical content that’s uncluttered
• Post no more than seven Stories within a 24-hour period
• Your key message should be short, sweet and to the point in an Instagram Stories
• The new trend with Instagram Stories by brands is to have them feel more authentic, real and ‘home-cut’
• Create a strong call-to-action in your Stories
• Utilize the carousel feature to lengthen engagement
• Add music

Also read:Avoid These 4 Ecommerce Conversion Deal Breakers

Source: https://www.revenueriver.co/thedigitaloutdoorsman/ecommerce-marketing-campaign-idea-3-trends-why-one-should-be-instagram

Instagram has become the go-to place for visual content marketing.

It’s a veritable mecca for media, with over 600 million engaged users sharing nearly 100 million photos and videos with their friends, fans and followers every single day.

Between Instagram Stories, Instagram Live, Carousels and more, the visual media platform is constantly introducing new ways for users to explore content creation.

As a business, it can be tough to keep up with these trends and tools. Sometimes, though, all you need is a handful of good ideas from which to draw inspiration.

Luckily, I’ve put together 15 of the best Instagram marketing campaigns from 2017, featuring examples from brands like Airbnb, Amazon, Nintendo and more.

Let’s get into it!

1. Adidas Originals

Adidas cemented their position as a key fashion figure in the hip-hop industry with their latest Instagram campaign. Using the hashtag #ORIGINALis, Adidas partnered with big names like Snoop Dogg, Desiigner, and Stormzy to highlight and promote their Originals lineup. Though Adidas has different product lines for different sports, like football and basketball, Adidas uses the video below to build their Originals brand as a totem of hip-hop culture.

I love this campaign firstly because it uses influencer marketing to appeal to a wide base of people within Adidas’ target market. Partnering with influential figures in the hip-hop world helps Adidas establish additional credibility and the videos it has created for this campaign are intriguing and engaging.

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2. John Mayer

John Mayer used Instagram extensively to promote his recent set of EPs, The Search for Everything. Though his team has been running a multitude of campaigns on the visual marketing giant, one campaign that rocked the marketing boat was John Mayer’s use of Instagram Live to better engage his followers and push the songs on the album.

John used the Live platform for a variety of purposes, including performing songs from his new records for his fans, answering questions, and telling stories about the writing process of his new music. Using Instagram Live to market your business makes it much more accessible to your followers - it’s a feature that allows you to interact directly with them to help build your brand.

3. Ryu

Vancouver-based athletic clothing retailer Ryu ran a marketing campaign through their Instagram account called “#WhatsInYourBag”, to promote their various products with a giveaway. I like this campaign for a number of reasons. Firstly, I love that it’s a giveaway - hosting a contest is always an incredibly effective way to engage your target audience and spread the word about your brand (if you’re looking for a contest app, check out Wishpond).

Next, though the brand created promotional posts on their Instagram profile to highlight the giveaway, they also promoted it extensively on their Instagram Story. This is a helpful strategy to help push marketing campaigns, as the Stories feature sits atop Instagram users’ feeds. Promoting on your Story is a great way to keep your campaigns top-of-mind with your followers, and ensure that they reach as many people as possible.

4. Airbnb

Airbnb took to Instagram to show their full support for acceptance of people from different places and backgrounds. Though they didn’t directly address it, it was clear from the timing of this campaign (which revolved around the hashtag #WeAccept) that Airbnb was voicing their opinions on recent political developments, cementing their position as a world-renowned brand with a focus on acceptance.

Though political statements in marketing can often be hit-or-miss, Airbnb successfully capitalized on this trending topic to take a stance on an important issue while strengthening consumer perceptions about their brand. Running marketing campaigns that are relevant to current events - whether that’s the Super Bowl, the Grammys, or an upcoming holiday - makes for content that’s inherently more engaging to your Instagram followers.

5. DJI

Drone industry leader DJI consistently puts out high quality content on their Instagram profile - and their latest marketing efforts have been no different. Recently, they’ve partnered with various Instagram filmmakers to promote their latest drone offering, the Phantom 4 Pro. This is not only an expert utilization of user-generated content, but also of Instagram video.

Since Instagram increased the maximum length of its videos from 15 seconds to 1 minute, the possibilities for video marketing have increased drastically. DJI shows off the capabilities of its flagship product through the videos it shares on its profile - the one I’ve highlighted here features the drone flying high above a variety of beautiful locations. Using video in a creative way to promote your products is one of the best ways you can sell on Instagram to your target market - and that’s why this campaign is so great.

6. Amazon

Amazon ran an Instagram marketing campaign to thank their users and fans for rating them #1 in corporate reputation. The ecommerce giant posted a simple image showing their top-notch reputation ranking with a caption telling customers about a new discount they created in celebration of their big win.

This campaign, first and foremost, is great because it’s a discount. It can be difficult to reliably turn Instagram engagement into sales for your business, but providing followers with a discount code or linking to a promotional pricing page is one of the best ways to do it. I also love that Amazon is thanking their customers - it’s something that many brands don’t do enough. It makes fans and followers feel appreciated, strengthening their connection to your brand.

7. Orangetheory

Popular fitness center Orangetheory uses Instagram as one of their primary online marketing platforms, and for good reason - their strong visual branding makes the media they post eye-catching and engaging. Though Orangetheory explores a variety of visual media marketing strategies on their Instagram profile, Orangetheory’s best content campaigns are their user testimonials.

This not only shows a more “personal” side of your business, but also serves to increase your business’ and product’s credibility to potential customers who follow you on social media. Testimonials create social proof - a psychological “boost” that shows people within your target market that others like them use and enjoy your product. Orangetheory does an awesome job of highlighting their users and telling their story in a genuine way.

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8. Daniel Wellington

Famous timepiece maker Daniel Wellington partnered with YouTube music sensation Joseph Vincent to promote its watches to the singer-songwriter’s fans. As you can see in the image below, Joseph Vincent created a genuine-looking Instagram photo highlighting both a men’s and women’s Daniel Wellington watch.

In the caption, you can see he’s tagged the brand and also provided a discount code for his followers to use when buying a Daniel Wellington watch of their own. This is especially effective because it can push these followers into making a purchase they may not normally have made. Partnered marketing is awesome for helping you bridge the gap to certain segments of your target market - they result in more relatable marketing efforts from influential social media figures.

9. Lokai

The Lokai bracelet has become a world-famous accessory thanks to the brand’s inspiring message of positivity, dedication to exploration, and commitment to helping a variety of causes.

Lokai’s widespread fanbase has allowed it to craft a social media marketing plan revolving primarily around user-generated content to promote its products. Take a look at Lokai’s Instagram feed - it’s full of gorgeous images from around the world, most of which are taken by its fans. This results in an exciting feed that’s still entirely product-focused - not an easy task by any means.

User-generated content is great for a number of reasons. First, it’s a more genuine way to promote your products to your followers; they’re real images from real people all around the world. Next, it allows you to pad out your content schedule without much effort on your own part. Finally, it’s an awesome avenue through which you can connect with your users, showing them you’ve got your finger on the pulse of the content your fans post about you.

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10. Cellucor

Popular fitness supplement seller Cellucor ran a giveaway campaign to promote the “on-the-go” version of their beloved C4 pre-workout drink mix. This giveaway post has everything it needs to be successful. First, it features an engaging and humorous video that features the product prize and mentions the giveaway itself.

Next, the caption mentions the giveaway again (for people who might be unable to watch the video) and clearly outlines how people can enter this social promotion. I love that they asked users to follow them, like the photo, and tag three friends to enter. This increases their follower count, and more importantly, increases the post’s engagement, meaning it’s more likely to show up on potential customers’ Explore feeds.

11. Nintendo

Video game giant Nintendo took to Instagram to build hype for the upcoming launch of their latest console, the Nintendo Switch. Instagram is one of the best places to build interest for a product launch - the content posted on the platform is easily shareable, which means you can rapidly spread the word about your exciting new product.

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This specific post is an awesome product preview. The image itself shows just enough to excite viewers - it doesn’t give too much away. Having two different people using two different controller colors shows off the Switch’s collaborative nature, as well its different product options. Finally, the caption clearly states how long it will be until the product launches. It’s mysterious, intriguing, and engaging.

12. ASOS

ASOS’ Instagram strategy is one of a kind. Instead of simply partnering with influencers to create sponsored posts, ASOS goes a step further and creates “sponsored accounts” for its influencers, like @asos_ashley and @asos_megan. These accounts are run by the influencers (who also have their own well-known accounts, of course), but differ slightly in that they primarily feature ASOS clothing.

This is an interesting strategy because it pulls influencers’ existing followings to new accounts with content more relevant to specific brand. Influencer marketing in this way helps ASOS widen its reach significantly through its influencer marketing efforts.

13. Disney

Disney’s a brand that needs no introduction - its a huge, household-name brand, but it still continues to use Instagram marketing best practices to push its latest offerings. In this campaign, Disney got actor Luke Evans to promote the upcoming Beauty and the Beast film with an Instagram takeover. Evans posted images throughout the day of his time at the film's world premiere, sharing them with Disney’s massive Instagram following.

Hosting an influencer takeover is an Instagram strategy that’s proven to be effective time and time again. It draws the influencer’s following to your account and helps you reach additional segments of your target market. The posts give your followers a (much-welcome) break from your regular Instagram content, and are often more engaging based solely on their subject matter. Look for influencers within your target market and reach out to them for your next takeover!

14. Forever21

Forever21 is a brand that’s mastered Instagram marketing. Beyond its impressive mix of original and user-generated content, Forever21 is an expert at the Instagram sale. How? Well, Forever21 utilizes a monetization platform called Like2buy, which helps it turn the engagement and interactions it garners on the visual content platform into sales. As you can see in the image below, Like2buy takes Forever21’s photos and links each item to the relevant store page.

Forever 21 makes sure to include a CTA in each of their photo captions (“Shop link in bio”) to make sure each follower knows where they can find each item. Using a monetization platform is the simplest and most efficient way to drive sales from Instagram - it’s a great option for any ecommerce business.

15. Shake Shack

East Coast burger joint Shake Shack took advantage of Instagram’s new Carousel post format to tell the story of its Downtown Detroit location opening. Though this campaign didn’t have the hugest reach, I love that the chain immediately used a new Instagram feature to adopt it as part of its Instagram strategy. Next, I like that Shake Shack mixed media types - there’s a collection of hi-res photos as well as simple phone-shot videos that help document the new location’s launch.

Carousel posts are great because they allow you to introduce multiple pieces of media, making it the ideal format to use when you’re trying to tell a story. Though you could theoretically do this in your actual Instagram Story, a Carousel post allows you to eternalize it - letting it make a lasting impression on your timeline.

Wrapping it up

There you have it - 15 of the best Instagram marketing campaigns of 2017 so far! Hopefully this have given you some great ideas on Instagram marketing campaigns you can run for your own business.

Best of luck with your Instagram marketing!

About the Author

Carlo Pacis is a marketer at Wishpond who lives and breathes all things social media. He also has an obsession with music, sneakers, and coffee. Find him on Twitter or Instagram @carlonathan.