The Social Commerce Maze ~ Focus On Instagram

July 22, 2020

By Abe Disu • Part 2 • 

Instagram has grown to a global monthly user base of about 1 billion, with half of those users logging into the platform daily. But its growth is only part of the reason Instagram attracts marketers and advertisers of every stripe.

Over 200 million users visit at least one business profile every day, 80% of users follow at least one business, and 60% of users discover products on Instagram. The platform is especially fond of user-generated content, which can see conversion rates of 4.5% and higher when used thoughtfully in paid ads and organic posts. With all this compelling data, it is clear why advertising revenues on Instagram continue to surge.

Best Fit


BUSINESS-2-BUSINESS ADVERTISING IS GROWING

The Instagram audience is young, mobile-first and global. As with YouTube and Facebook, advertising on Instagram has tended to favor and attract B2C marketers who want more eyeballs on their brands and products.

But with B2B companies like HubSpot, Intel, IBM, and General Electric achieving success on the platform with innovative storytelling techniques, that trend looks set to change. Currently, 33% of B2B companies are on Instagram, and 13% of B2B brands rank the platform as “very important” or “critical” for their social media marketing.

FOCUS ON VISUALS

Instagram has fewer paid ad options than Facebook/YouTube, but it covers all the right bases on a platform where the visual is everything. Marketers can see great success with boosting brand awareness but also with the nuts and bolts of selling products either directly on the platform or by driving prospects and leads back to a targeted landing page.

For e-Commerce transactions, product tagging is easy and seamlessly integrated with a product catalog. With the highest engagement rates across social media and a documented buying mindset within the user base, Instagram can be a powerful addition to any B2B or B2C campaign.

LIMITATIONS

Brands that target an older audience with complicated B2B services are unlikely to find great success selling on Instagram. Companies with sophisticated offerings routinely boost brand awareness in tangible ways on the platform, especially if they master the authentic storytelling modes that Instagram users love.

PHOTO ADS

The right photo can have a powerful impact on Instagram. The mobile-first platform provides a “one-at-a-time” scrolling experience to users, allowing a killer image to capture their attention. As with all marketing uses of photography, the photo should be on-brand, evoke something meaningful for your brand or campaign and adhere to the basics of good visual composition. Candid, behind-the-scenes pictures from your fan base often out perform glossy branded content. Still, brands must acquire permissions and rights from users before posting User-Generated Content. Photo Ads can appear in square or landscape format, and they can include working links to a website, landing page or e-Commerce store.

VIDEO ADS

Video is a powerful way to bring your brand story or products to life. In 2019, video on Instagram increased by 80%, and the growth will continue. With the development of its long-form IGTV video hub, the platform offers longer video ads to brands craving a more immersive experience. Video ads can appear in square or landscape format, and Instagram provides a useful breakdown of recommended aspect ratios for mobile consumption.

CAROUSEL ADS

This ad format is suited to brands that are strongly visual (think vacation travel, cars, clothing and furniture) and companies that want to humanize their image (think a tech company showcasing the people behind the software). Carousel Ads allow people to swipe to view additional photos or videos in a single ad, creating a more in-depth, layered experience. You can choose up to 10 images or videos to include in a single ad, each with its link.

Abe-Disu-Vyrill-med

Abe Disu

Sales, Vyrill Inc.

Vyrill is a user-generated video content (UGVC) discovery, analytics, licensing and content marketing platform powered by our proprietary AI technology to enable social commerce and product marketing.

Vyrill has trained machines to watch millions of videos on social media and web, and videos captured directly from customers to help brand marketers increase revenue and find new customers by leveraging user generated video such as video reviews, feedback, unboxing, how to videos etc for insights, demand-generation, licensing and content marketing.

With 70% more growth in video content and 50% to 500% growth in online sales in some categories due to Covid and with over 85% of consumers mentioning that videos influence their purchase decisions, user generated video has become essential to grow brand revenue and growth. Vyrill is developing the industry’s first video ranking and video reviewing system for commerce.

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