This is a guest post from Misha Talavera, CMO and cofounder of NeoReach.
Many companies have gotten interested in using Instagram for business. But where can you start? And what kinds of Instagram marketing strategies are really effective?
One of the best ways to build brand awareness is to connect with influencers who already have a substantial following. That could mean engaging them with hashtags, offering them control of your channel for a day, or hosting a contest.
Here are three brands that used Instagram to connect with influencers in order to drive business:
1. Influencer Engagement Campaign: #LAXisHappening
LAX is undergoing a multi-billion dollar renovation. They are building new restaurants, new entries into the airport, and new facilities for travelers. To raise awareness about these modernizations within the Los Angeles and traveler community, LAX recruited Instagram influencers that would showcase the airport renovations.
Throughout the course of a week, LA-based influencers that were flying in and out of LAX took pictures of the modernizations and published them onto their Instagram accounts using the campaign hashtag #LAXisHappening.
Among the influencers were fashion blogger Heidi Nazarudin, food blogger Julie Lee, and social media celebrity Alx James.
The campaign engaged 40 influencers, resulting in more than 60 posts and 300K engagements.
2. Influencer Channel Takeover: Express Runway
Influencer channel takeovers are an excellent way to attract users to your brand’s account. A channel takeover involves an influencer posting on their account telling their followers that they are going to “takeover” your brands account for a period of time, during which they will post pictures and answer comments.
Fashion brand Express Runway has built a loyal 200K follower-strong Instagram by using this strategy. For example, Anastasia Ashley, a professional surfer and fashion model, took over Express Runway’s Instagram account.
3. Fan Contests: Lancome
The most powerful way to connect with your fans on social media is by actually getting them involved. In 2014, Lancome launched the #bareselfie campaign, which encouraged women to publish pictures of themselves with no makeup on.
The campaign was wildly successful. In the following two months, more than 500 pictures were posted using the #bareselfie hashtag. In addition, the campaign fostered 50% of the sales for Lancome’s recently launched DreamTone serum product line.
Insta Growth for Instagram
By leveraging the power of influencers and fans, brands can see significantly more engagement and fan growth. Instagram isn’t just a visual medium, it’s a medium of hashtags – that means finding ways to start new trends and jump onto existing ones… and having influencers who can help spread the word along the way.
Instagram is a mobile-first social channel, but so is every other digital marketing channel today. Download our guide, “10 Quick Design Hacks for Responsive Emails” to start making mobile-first emails, too.