AUDIENCE(64)

Inspiration. Nike’s photos often seek to inspire FOLLOWERS to #justdoit, #makeithappen, or one of their other famous slogans.

Language. As an international brand, Nike tailors its captions to the language of the most relevant segment of their FOLLOWERS.

Products. Nike teases new products, giving FOLLOWERS a first look and AMPLIFIERS an opportunity to be the source of fresh Nike news.



You may not be Nike, but ask yourself if your company has:

Behind-the-scenes images it can share

A clearly articulated brand that can be distilled to a hashtag

Celebrity (national or local) relationships it can leverage

Inspirational elements to your brand, culture, or EMPLOYEES

Products that lends themselves to interesting photos

Passionate CUSTOMERS who share photos with your products or logo



If so, you have a reason to be on Instagram. And if you’re facing some skepticism internally, share how these vastly different brands are using the channel to build FOLLOWERS and create visual content for AMPLIFIERS.

Oreo (@Oreo): One of the kings of social media surprised everyone with an ad during Super Bowl XLVII that ended with a CTA to follow Oreo on Instagram. Their FOLLOWERS shot from around 2,000 to over 80,000, and have become key AMPLIFIERS of Oreo’s humorous visuals, new recipes (www.snackworks.com), and contests.

Maersk (@MaerskLine on Instagram, @Maersk on Twitter): The worldwide energy-shipping giant may seem like the last company you’d find on Instagram, but they use the channel to connect FOLLOWERS with the scope of what they do and the value of people who do it.3

TacoBell (@TacoBell) supported its Doritos Locos Taco launch with a “snap and win” contest for Instagram FOLLOWERS. Interestingly, it was CUSTOMERS posting Instagram photos on their own that spawned the contest and Instagram-inspired TV commercial.4

TaylorMade Golf (@TaylorMadeGolf): The club maker gives FOLLOWERS a truly behind-the-scenes look at tournaments around the world, which generates Earned Media on the backs of AMPLIFIERS.



In short, if your brand is highly visual or the nature of your business causes your CUSTOMERS to take a lot of photos, then you should be looking to attract Instagram SEEKERS, AMPLIFIERS, and FOLLOWERS. They’re an army of photojournalists (and now, videographers), capable of telling your story from an exponentially greater number of angles than your own internal marketing team ever could.

The Vine That Instagram (and Facebook) Hope to Cut Down

With the move beyond pictures into 15-second video clips, Instagram fired a clear shot over the bow of Twitter’s Vine app. If you’re not familiar with Vine, don’t feel bad—it’s not that old. The original, short-form video app launched on January 24, 2013, and led many to question how a six-second video (the time limitation on Vine) could be of any value.5

Just weeks after launch, however, Vine found its niche as creators took the six-second limitation as a challenge rather than a limitation. Instant distribution to Twitter allowed AMPLIFIERS to share vines (what the videos are called) far beyond the walls of the app itself.

One of the early adopters, comedian Will Sasso (@WillSasso), took to Vine like no other. He’s built a Vine audience of over 1 million FOLLOWERS on the back of hilarious impersonations of Hulk Hogan, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Al Pacino—as well as an ongoing battle with lemons (watch his Vines and you’ll see). But his major contribution to the Vine was to demonstrate that funny, episodic content is a great way to grow your FOLLOWERS. Brands like Lowe’s (@Lowes) have similarly shown that stop-motion animation, behind-the-scenes footage, and how-to videos can also make Vine extremely useful not only to FOLLOWERS but also proprietary audiences of every type.

Vine has an audience. Instagram has an audience. Instead of looking for one to beat the other, perhaps we’re looking at the mobile app version of Coke versus Pepsi where there’s no winner, just a matter of personal preference.



SNAPSHOT: INSTAGRAM

LAUNCHED: October 6, 2010 as an iPhone app (purchased in April 2012 by Facebook for a purported $1 billion in cash and stock).6

PROPRIETARY AUDIENCES: FOLLOWERS as well as SEEKERS and AMPLIFIERS.

EFFORT REQUIRED: Low to moderate depending on composition of photos shared.

WHO OWNS THE DATA: Intellectual property belongs to copyright holders, but you grant Instagram (Facebook) a nonexclusive, royalty-free license relative to content you create. Your FOLLOWERS are yours, but not portable to other channels.

TOTAL USERS/UPLOADS: As of July 2013, 130 million Monthly Active Users (MAUs) worldwide and 45 million photo uploads per day that generate 1 billion likes daily and 1,000 comments per second.7

SKILLS REQUIRED: Ability to take a photo and add a caption. Social engagement management.