Today, brands have the luxury to choose from a selection of marketing channels to promote their product and service. One of them is, of course, on social media. Unfortunately, it is a digital jungle out there, and social media platforms are flooded with thousands of products and services with brands competing for the same pie of attention from their customers.
How do you then rise about the noise amidst an ocean of competitors?
Whether it is to inform, announce, engage, or call-to-act, producing creative content is essential to draw a response from your organic group of audience.
As a content producer, the underlying element of producing any content is always to consider how our products or services can help solve our customers’ problems. When you focus on solutions to their issues and bring value, there is a high chance of triggering an emotional response, get them engaged, and lead to conversion.
Let’s focus on one of my favourite social media platforms – Instagram.
Instagram is the heaviest visual platform on social media, and the chance of getting a captive audience and following are almost guaranteed. People love images and they tend to respond faster to visuals. Taking into consideration our audience’s short attention span, this channel provides one of the best options to raise your brand visibility to your target audience instantly. How? Through smart visual content tactics.
Some key statistics from Brandwatch.com shows why choosing Instagram as a preferred social media to market your brand is worth considering.
Instagram has 1 billion monthly active users.
Over 60% of users logging in daily, making it the second most engaged network after Facebook.
60% of Instagram users discover new products on the platform.
Engagement with brands on Instagram is ten times higher than Facebook, 54 times higher than Pinterest, and 84 times higher than Twitter.
Over a third of Instagram users have used their mobile to purchase a product online– making them 70% more likely to do so than non-users.
Now, considering the above factors, here are some tips on how we can boost our Instagram posts better.
Focus on visual storytelling.
The power of Instagram is that it is image populated. So, take advantage of utilising attention-grabbing visuals through visual storytelling. With advanced technology on our smartphones, we don’t have to invest tons of money on professional photography. Smartphone cameras do the same wonders! Just click, save, and post.
Worried that you do not have enough images about your product or if the services you offer are non-glamorous? No need to fret. This is where creative storytelling comes in.
Let’s say you own an ice-cream parlour. Besides uploading visuals of the different types of flavours you offer, throw in suggestions of ways your customers can enjoy their ice cream. Show images of how they can DIY their ice cream indulgence with their favourite toppings and relaxing over Netflix in the comfort of their home.
Take advantage of the ‘talk of the town’ or what is in season? Is it the durian season? Capture appealing and delicious images of the king of fruit and excite them on your latest durian flavoured ice cream in the post.
Are you an electrician? Go behind the scenes of the work that you do and show the human touch to your trade.
List the services that you do or offer. Next, show ways how the services are being used at home, in schools, industries, or anywhere in the world. Inject an emotion in your audience that everyone needs an electrician. Get your customers excited about how your service can make them happy and meet their end goal.
For example, you can consider an image of freshly baked pizza fresh from the oven on your post. In this example, you are telling your customers that to have a successful pizza party going; you need electricity for the oven to work. By doing this, you demonstrate how basic running electricity is crucial in any household or restaurant.
Are we experiencing harsh weather lately? Take advantage of such weather to reflect how coming home to an air-conditioned cooling home is a relief at the end of a hectic day.
Images of special moments that people create, such as a picture of a happy family sitting together for a nice dinner in a cool room, is a fabulous idea. Provide direct, fun, or quirky captions to get them to follow you, so they know where to find the next time they need an electrician.
Of course, there are many other tips on how Instagram is an excellent platform to get your audience to action. The first step is to realise that visual content is king, and it can do wonders to even the most straightforward service or product — all you need a little creativity and think out-of-the-box.
Don’t have an in-house professional to help you develop cool content?
Chat with us on how we can help you.
All you need to do is to sit back, relax and watch your engagement grow.
(This article was first published on Marketing in Asia on 30 Oct 2019)