Tag: Instagram - Page 2

Research has revealed that people remember 80% of what they see, 20% of what they read and 10% of what they hear. Instagram’s effectiveness is undeniable, we as a society are hooked on subconsciously scrolling through Instagram, admiring strangers’ personal lives through their pictures and videos.

Running highly successful, productive, functioning marketing departments is a challenge at the best of times. Return on investment is always at the back of any competent marketing manager or CMO, and steering all marketing efforts to ensure that not only is the brand being promoted and gaining market share, but it shows up on the balance sheet, is a scorecard that no-one can ignore.

There’s speculation that over the last year Generation Z was actually more valuable to most organisations than millennials – why, and what does this mean for businesses and marketers? Is your brand ready to speak to Gen Z’s?

Anyone can buy followers and likes on Instagram, but what does that achieve? The numbers don’t mean a thing for sales when they have come from robots who don’t need their product and don’t even have credit cards! (ha..ha…)

Over the weekend, I was looking at our business plan, which is updated regularly, and I realised that I have absolutely no idea of what is to come. Like many entrepreneurs, we like to plan the year ahead, and have over-arching 5-year goals. 

As our online network of friends continues to expand, social media companies and their newsfeeds transform and evolve as well.

On March 15^th 2016, Instagram, the fastest growing social media network, announced their latest update: an algorithm-based, personalised newsfeed. This means that photos and videos will no longer appear in chronological order, rather, appear based on the likelihood you’ll be interested in the content, your relationship with the person posting and the timeliness of the post.

And I totally agree. When I first started Marketing Eye, I built it from a perspective that there was no global player in SMB marketing. While this makes perfect sense, it didn't reach the pit of what I really wanted to achieve as a business person, or a leader for that matter. I also had not thought it through.

"I was doing something from a very real, a very honest place, so I think that's why I was able to build an audience," said Gwyneth Paltrow to Fast Company in a recent interview posted on Facebook.

Super blogger Jeff Bullas describes this age as the Age of Visual Culture, and in this period of time where everyone has a camera phone on stand-by to capture one of life’s many moments, the moniker certainly stands true. 

Visual content has become a universal language. It is Esperanto in image form and has people from all over the world sharing the language with each other. The image may be of a dog named Pippa with her own Instagram account or it could be an infographic detailing the complex nature of how to bone a fish Masterchef style. It may be a moving image of someone repairing a car engine or attempting fine tapestry.

I must confess, I am a slow adopter of Instagram. It's not because I didn't believe that it is a good marketing medium or any less of a social media must-have than Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook - but due to the fact that there is only so many applications a person can learn well before you have a major overload and start becoming ineffective.

My business does a little B2C but to be totally honest, we are more B2B marketers than B2C.

Instagram has more than 75 million daily users, and accounts for more than 13% of all internet users. So, why did it take so long to adopt this powerful marketing medium? The truth is that many marketers are slow and lazy for that matter, and have not adopted this medium as fast as they should have and are now failing to provide clients with the right marketing mix to powerfully promote their products and services.

Last week, I was sitting at the airport awaiting my flight. In the US, you can travel with your dog, so Pippa, my trusted companion, accompanied me to the lounge. As we took our seats there were two young women sitting to our right. They both smiled and I did my usual uneasy smirk and quickly avoided eye contact. It's something that I always do although I know that I shouldn't.

I decided to go and get some water and after much fussing from the staff, who were incredibly dog-friendly, I felt that Pippa would be okay while I walked away. She sat patiently watching my every move and while people were trying to get her attention, her stare remained fixed.

Finally when I arrived back, and she was suitably relieved, one of the young women asked about Pippa and gave her a pat... and then more pats. Pippa couldn't be happier and that opened the door for conversation. 

We discussed where we were from, what we do and all the normal things airport conversations conjure up. 

The young woman was Ellie Goulding. She was travelling with her school friend and personal assistant Hannah, who was equally delightful.