5 things brands should be doing on Instagram

Instagram, the free photo-sharing application which allows users to share photos and short videos on its own service and across other social media networking services, including Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, Tumblr and Flickr, has become immensely popular among brands and consumers alike.

The latest statistics reveal 75 million people use it every day while 25 percent of all Fortune 500 brands are active on it, as well.

And while some brands “get it” as to how to best use the platform to benefit their particular brand, some still struggle.

To those struggling to find their way on Instagram, I offer…

5 things brands should be doing on Instagram

1. Monitor Instagram for mentions, because every mention is an opportunity for marketers to engage (see No. 4 below). Since the platform introduced tagging last year (see Instagram Now Lets Anyone Tag You [Or Brands] In Photos….) it is important for brands to see what, or if, they are being tagged. When they are, and presuming it is in a positive image, brands should consider a ….

2. Regram. This is re-sharing others’content that reflects well on your brand, your products or your services and your values. A brand adding re-shares to its own Instagram is building an image-based community – it’s not just the brand’s images but also the fan’s images. To do this you’ll need one of the tools that makes this possible with Instagram. For a list of these tools see How to Repost Instagram Photos.

3. Profile yourself on Instagram. Using the Profile page feature that Instagram added a little over a year ago smart brands now use their collected images as a way to tell their story. This visual storytelling drives interest and possibly regrams of your images by others. To learn more, see  Announcing Instagram Profiles on the Web.

Ben & Jerry's successful Instagram profile

For examples of brands doing Instagram Profiles see Ben & Jerry’s with its 340,000+ followers and the NBA page with its 1.8 million followers. Notice how both use a combination of their own images and videos to tell a behind-the-scenes story and to highlight the content of real fans (see “Regram” above).

4. Engage. This can be by responding to others’ posts on Instagram, the aforementioned Regramming, offering special deals to Instagram followers and running such things as photo contests. The latter is easy to do on Instagram: Ask Instagrammers to follow your brand, give them a topic to photograph and a hashtag to use (so you can easily search for the posts). If you offer a prize or two people will remember your hashtag. Heightened engagement in this way places your brand in the social feeds of others, thereby multiplying your reach. For solid tips on contests see the Instagram blog post How to Host A Photo Contest on Instagram.

5. Feature your customers and employees. What is your brand without these two important groups? Find ways to make stars of your customers and show how they use your products and services and mix in images of your employees on the job or out in the community. This humanization of your brand will feed into the growing desire of all social network users for authenticity. By its nature Instagram images look less polished and more genuine. Displaying your people and your customers in this way will make your brand come alive for viewers.

For a great read on “…brands that are using Instagram in unexpected and creative ways…” see Stay Authentic, Build An Instagram Cult Following: 6 Brands That Get It Right from the The Idea Lists blog.

So, what will your brand do to leverage Instagram on social media marketing? Do you have other ideas? Please share in the Comments section.

NOTE: This post was originally written for the Responsys New School Marketing Blog

Social Marketing: Clearly connect business objectives, says author Aaron Strout

What are the most important skills for graduating college students if they want to have a future in social marketing?

Aaron Strout

I’m asking three questions of some of leaders in the field of social media marketing and this is what I learned. This is the fifth in the series (see the links below for earlier posts in the series).

Today: Aaron Strout, Group director at WCG (a strategic communications counseling firm) a member of the advisory board at Vintank (a company that offers software to connect wine industry with its customers in social spheres) and co-author of Location Based Marketing For Dummies:

Clearly connecting business objectives to actions in social, is what separates a successful social marketer, says Aaron Strout.

"While social media can be fun and a great way to connect, companies aren't paying you to mess around," he says.

"However, if you’re engaging and connecting with people on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook leads to good things for your business, it is a worthwhile activity."

Therefore, what separates a successful social marketer from the others is "being able to clearly connect business objectives (sales, awareness, loyalty, foot traffic) to actions."

Strout says success for a college grad will depend on strong communication skills.

"Making sure you are clear and concise and don't come across as too serious is also helpful," he says.

"One rule of thumb I always use any time I update on the social web is a.) would my boss be comfortable with what I'm writing and b.) would my wife be comfortable with my update (for younger folks, you can always sub in parents for spouse).

"The key is, it's OK to push the envelope a little," Strout says. "But you should always be aware of the potential outcomes/consequences."

And just how important is social marketing as part of the marketing mix?

"Increasingly more important," Strout says. "Many companies now realize that having a balanced mix of offline, digital and social marketing are critical to a company’s success."

"One of the forces driving the need for more social marketing is that budgets are tighter and resources are more scarce," he says "So doing 'more' with 'less' is the new reality."

So, what do you think? How important will social marketing be in the future and what MUST students know?

Related posts:
Social Marketing: Don’t be timid, says Ford’s Scott Monty
Social Marketing: Communication is the key, says Cheryl Burgess of Blue Focus  
Social Marketing: Hubspot's Sam Mallikarjunan Tells All
Social Marketing: Mark Schaefer on What Students Must Know

Social Marketing: Don’t be timid, says Ford’s Scott Monty

What are the most important skills for graduating college students if they want to have a future in social marketing?

Scott Monty

I’m asking three questions of some of leaders in the field of social media marketing and this is what I learned. This is the fourth in the series (see the links below for earlier posts in the series).

Today: Scott Monty, Global Digital & Multimedia Communications Manager for Ford Motor Company who writes the excellent The Social Media Marketing Blog and is found on Twitter as @ScottMonty:

"A successful social marketer is one who is not timid," says Scott Monty. 

They’re someone "who will try new things and be willing to fail, and who will constantly learn from his or her mistakes," he says. 

Asked what sets a successful social marketer apart from the rest, Monty says: "Piecing together trends and creating new and exciting opportunities rather than rehashing old ideas will make their efforts stand apart."

"It is important to know the overall practices of advertising, marketing and communications, and to understand the fundamentals of the business you’re using it for," he says.

But, aside from specific knowledge of industry or practices, it’s also "important to be curious and to understand what makes people tick."

And how important is social marketing as part of the marketing mix?

"It’s currently a small piece of the overall efforts in communications and marketing, both in terms of budget and impact," Monty says. "But it’s something that is on everyone’s mind."

"Understanding how to truly integrate it into the traditional mix is the challenge," he says, "Rather than treating it as an afterthought or add-on."

So, what do you think? How important will social marketing be in the future and what MUST students know?

Related posts:
Social Marketing: Communication is the Key, says Cheryl Burgess of Blue Focus
Social Marketing: Hubspot's Sam Mallikarjunan Tells All
Social Marketing: Mark Schaefer on What Students Must Know

Social Marketing: Communication is the key, says Cheryl Burgess of Blue Focus

What are the most important skills for graduating college students if they want to have a future in social marketing?

I’m asking three questions of some of leaders in the field of social media marketing and this is what I learned.

Cheryl Burgess

Today: Cheryl Burgess, Managing Partner at Blue Focus Marketing – a social branding consultancy that was the winner of MarketingSherpa's 2012 Reader's Choice Award - "Best Social Media Marketing Blog" – and who is on Twitter as @ckburgess: 

"Communication is absolutely essential in order to succeed as a social marketer," says Cheryl Burgess. 

"At its core, it means communicating among all the different departments in a business," she says.

However, a brand’s customers don’t see a company as a series of departments; they see it as a unified front. 

"This means all employees must be truly unified behind the scenes," says Burgess.

"If not, a brand risks presenting an inconsistent, potentially schizophrenic message." 

Strong communication also implies the ability to court influential people in your audience, whether that’s other business professionals or potential customers willing to help spread your message, she says. 

"Here, strong communication also means strong listening skills," says Burgess. "You have to keep your ear to ground and know where to spend your time in order to get the most bang for your marketing buck.

"According to Burgess, a successful marketing message will invariably take on a life of its own, one not necessarily expected when the campaign was first designed.

"The best social marketers aren’t afraid of this," she says. "In fact, they embrace it and do what they can to further this process. 

"In other words, they don’t act like a robot, blindly following 'the plan' until the campaign has run its course.

"They let the campaign take its own course, following it where it wants to go and clearing more space for it along the way.

"This organic approach ensures the presentation and execution of another key trait of social marketing: authenticity," says Burgess.

And, how important is social marketing as part of the marketing mix?

"It’s becoming more important every day," says Burgess. "No marketing campaign should be without a social component. A 30-second commercial, for instance, shouldn’t be the beginning and ending of a campaign. You will only reach a small part of your audience, and you won’t be offering them any chance to engage."

She says good examples of this are the recent Old Spice commercials, which were so successful they helped redefine the concept of "manliness" in pop culture.

"While the commercials themselves were incredibly iconic and memorable, Old Spice made sure the level of engagement went much further than that," says Burgess.

"The Old Spice Guy engaged fans daily on Twitter, and answered fan mail on YouTube.

"Old Spice made sure its message was everywhere, and users ate it up."

What do you think? How important will social marketing be in the future and what MUST students know? 

Related posts:
Social Marketing: Clearly connect business objectives, says author Aaron Strout
Social Marketing: Don’t be timid, says Ford’s Scott Monty
Social Marketing: Hubspot's Sam Mallikarjunan Tells All
Social Marketing: Mark Schaefer on What Students Must Know

Social Marketing: Hubspot's Sam Mallikarjunan Tells All

What are the most important skills for graduating college students if they want to have a future in social marketing? I’m asking three questions of some of leaders in the field of social media marketing and this is what I learned.

Today: Sam Mallikarjunan, Head of Experimental Marketing at HubSpot – a supplier of "all-in-one marketing software" – and found on Twitter as @Mallikarjunan:

Sam Mallikarjunan

Having patience, being attentive to small details, being creative and developing a "thick skin/sense of humor" and an analytical mind are the key skills in social marketing, says Mallikarjunan. 

People new to social marketing must be patient because: "social media is not an immediately gratifying endeavor," he says.

"It's a long, ongoing process of relationship building. Expecting easy wins is a guaranteed way to get frustrated and fail."

Paying attention to detail is key because: "People usually don't make big mistakes in social media, they make small mistakes that have big consequences."

Because social media is, to an extent, a discovery and entertainment media you must be able to create something interesting (whether it's unique ideas, interesting content, or just witty one-liners), says Mallikarjunan, or you're not going to be successful with social media marketing.

Developing a thick skin and a sense of humor is essential because every brand has its trolls.

Mallikarjunan also says an analytical mind is important because he has noticed that some social media marketers are starting to think of themselves as artists.

"Stop it," he says. "You're not so special that you get to argue with data. "If your data says tweet twice an hour 24 hours a day, don't argue that 'you know' that that will 'annoy' your followers."

When asked: What separates a successful social marketer from the others, Mallikarjunan says an understanding that social media feeds off unique content is the biggest key.

"Without some kind of unique content, you're not going to be successful in social, he says.

"Just 'having conversations' isn't enough if you don't have anything to say that's adding value to your customers' social ecosystem."

And he believes social media is THE key part of the marketing mix.

"It's implausible that you're going to be successful as a major brand in the future without integrating social into your regular media mix.

"I'll add that the opportunity cost from being engaged in social is higher than other areas of marketing.

"It doesn't take an expensive piece of complex software and systems to implement; engaging in social media actually has a really low barrier to entry. Therefore the net benefit from gains in social media are proportionately more impactful.

"You're already creating content, you're already doing customer service, you're already engaging with influencers, so wrapping these efforts into a social strategy isn't actually that hard and the consequences of not wrapping them into it are potentially dire."

What do you think? How important will social marketing be in the future and what MUST students know?

Related post:
Social Media Marketing: Mark Schaefer on What Students Must Know

Social Marketing: Mark Schaefer on What Students Must Know

Mark Schaefer

What are the most important skills for graduating college students if they want to have a future in social marketing?

I put three questions to some leaders in the field of social media marketing and this is what I learned.

Today: Mark W. Schaefer, author of Return On Influence and The Tao of Twitter:

"A competency in math and writing is crucial, especially for entry-level jobs," says Schaefer because "the real future of marketing is in content creation and data mining."

He says it goes without saying that college grads need to grasp the basics of marketing, but beyond that math and writing will be the keys.

When asked: "What separates a successful social marketer from the others?" he says any social marketer needs to show measurable results that align with the organization’s strategy. 

"In this day and age, there is no excuse not to measure what you do and constantly improve," he says.

And just how important is social marketing for business?

"That is totally dependent on the structure of the industry in which you compete," Schaefer says.

"The place of social media in the marketing mix for a brand like MTV would be quite different than a company that sells coal or lumber, for example."

What do you think? How important will social marketing be in the future and what MUST students know?