Since its launch, Instagram has become the ultimate millennial platform for sharing photos. Approximately, 80% of Instagram’s 1 billion active monthly users now follow business accounts on this platform. As the platform continues to grow and introduces more interactive features such as Instagram Stories and IGTV, businesses use it regularly as a tool to humanize brands, recruit future employees, showcase products and company culture, delight customers, gain new followers and generate new business.
However, when it comes to increasing the number of followers on Instagram, it’s not as simple and easy as it was a year or two ago. With over 1 billion monthly users, an ultra-smart algorithm and innumerable unique, innovative and creative brands on the platform, it is a competitive place for a brand to grow their account and boost their follower count.
If brands want to stay ahead of the competition, showcasing products or services, and influencing more followers on Instagram, they have to work smarter as well as harder.
Some powerful marketing tips for increasing Instagram followers are as follows:
#1. Share relevant images
An Instagram account has to be original and authentic. Post original, unique and relatable images. Share photos (preferably real images, not vectors or stock photos) that the audience can relate to and establish a connection with them, thereby attracting more followers. These images can be a stylised photo-shoot, short videos of how favorite products are made, real customers unboxing photos or videos, behind-the-scenes at a shoot, tips and tricks with products etc. The important thing is to keep it real and not overly stylised or edited.
#2. Optimize Posts With Hashtags
When starting out on Instagram, brands can struggle with reaching the right audience. This is where hashtags can help a brand reach an engaged target audience. Similar to the high authenticity of users who search for a product/ attribute on Google, people search using hashtags on Instagram. By using relevant hashtags on posts, brands stand the chance to engage with high-quality users who are already interested in a similar product/service. Brands can use trending hashtags to appeal to a wider demographic or use more niche hashtags to appeal to a smaller, more engaged audience.
#3. Post at an Appropriate Time
For Instagram brands selling globally, the timing of posting can be a crucial choice to make. Posting multiple times a day, every day may be seen as spamming, therefore it is important to plan in advance, especially if the audience is widespread. The smart thing to do would be to prioritise the most important geographies and cater to them at their most optimum time (early morning, lunch hour, post-work & late night). Brands can also choose to post at one time and then share the same post as a story at the optimum time for another geography. Posting consistently, at the same time helps increase engagement & awareness.
#4. Host Contests or Giveaways
Hosting contests is one of the most effective ways to boost engagement and gain new followers on Instagram. It is a tried, tested and proven tactic on most social media channels specifically on Instagram since they can be easily run on the platform. It is vital to use different hashtags related to the contest so that it is easily visible to users. Brands should also cross-promote their contests on other social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter to reach a wider audience.
#5. Bring Influencers on Board
One of the fastest ways to gain potential consumers is by partnering with influencers who have a loyal follower base. If a brand partner with the right influencer, then they can reach out to an audience that is interested in their products or services. If a brand builds a relationship with different influencers, long-lasting brand awareness can also be achieved along with a new audience segment.
#6. Create Sponsored Ads
While brands cannot run direct ads to increase followers on Instagram, sponsored posts can indirectly help them gain followers. This limitation in Instagram’s ad service is what helps to keep the platform organic, authentic and reliable. Brands can showcase a single ad in a sponsored post or multiple ads in the form of a carousel/ video. In order to use these ads to increase followers, brands can choose the CTA to be ‘Visit Profile’ instead of a more sales oriented CTA such as ‘Go to Website/ Shop Now’. Chances are that a user who clicks on ‘Visit Profile’ is interested in the product/service and there is a high likelihood of the user following the brand.
As with any social media channel, the overall success strategy for Instagram is to be authentic and social. If a brand focuses on developing both its engagement rate and follower count, Instagram can be a great home for showcasing products and services that can lead to a healthy stream of revenue.
To know more on how to gain followers on Instagram, leave us a message and we will get back to you!
June 16 was not just another Sunday, but a day when dads were celebrated for their unconditional love and constant support worldwide. Just like motherhood, fatherhood is also a popular emotion celebrated by brands worldwide. The love of a father comes in many layers, which provides the perfect opportunity for brands to showcase their creative side and bring out the best stories.
Here are 5 social media campaigns that celebrated fatherhood in their own unique way –
1. Amazon India – Let’s #DeliverTheLove
The involvement of a father in the life of his child forms the crux of Amazon’s Father’s Day campaign. By depicting moments from real life, the video captures the multiple roles that a father dons, all to bring a smile to his child’s face. Whether it’s with his child, giving a shoulder ride, putting his little one to sleep or fixing a bicycle, dads do it all and Amazon urged its viewers to celebrate this unconditional love.
With the underlying message of “chutkiyon mein nahi bani yeh kahani” – Amazon managed to trigger the right emotions to create a buzz on social media. The video gathered 10M views on YouTube, 30K likes on Facebook with 240+ reactions. Apart from that, the brand also encouraged followers to share their most memorable moments with their fathers.
Every father is there to support his child, but the way of doing it may be different. This is what SBI celebrates in the #PapaHainNa campaign. The video features playback singer Shaan talking about how fathers have different traits – some may be tough on their children while some go easy, some are sporty while others always have your back.
The campaign further urges fathers to find out their unique “Papa Formula” by selecting their personality traits as a dad. Based on the choices, a personalized formula could be created and downloaded in a musical format that can be shared with friends and family or on social media.
Source: Facebook
The campaign witnessed 6.4M views on YouTube and 5.7M views on Facebook, with 28K reactions, 490+ comments and 2K+ shares. Celebrities like actor Kunal Khemu, cricketer Harbhajan Singh, music composer Salim Merchant and others also participated in the campaign on Facebook.
The coincidence of the most awaited clash of India versus Pakistan in the ongoing World Cup on Father’s Day gave birth to the Father’s Day campaign by Star Sports. The video showcases a Pakistani fan telling a Bangladeshi fan that his father taught him to never stop trying as people who try never actually lose and are bound to be successful someday. It then shows an Indian fan asking them to recall when he said such a thing. The underlying pun of the video points that the Indian team is like a father figure and superior to the Pakistani team in the game of cricket. The cheekiness displayed in the ad was to add some more excitement to one of the most awaited matches in the World Cup.
Source: Social Samosa
The video gathered 4.1M views on YouTube, 473K views on Facebook with 18K reactions, 3.2K comments and 6.9K+ shares.
In times when people spend maximum time thinking about work and meeting deadlines, #TheUnmissableMeeting campaign tries to rekindle the father-child bond that maybe getting lost in the pursuit of a successful life. The video shows 3 hardworking millennials getting a surprise visit from their fathers, with the help of their bosses. The campaign urges the working generation to spend more quality time with their loved ones and cherish childhood memories.
Source: Facebook
The video gathered 266K views on YouTube, 3.2M views on Facebook with 17K reactions and 400+ shares.
Usha’s tribute to Father’s Day was in the form of a compelling and emotional digital film, highlighting the various lessons a father teaches his child, which later shapes the child’s future. The film explores the journey of a father and child and how it evolves over time – at one time fathers encouraged their children to follow their heart and years later, it becomes a role reversal where children encourage their dads to follow their heart.
Source: Exchange4Media
The digital film received 1.2M views on YouTube, 5.3M views on Facebook with 47K reactions and 5K+ shares.
“Research states that 56% of Generation X and 67% millennials prefer online shopping.”
The immense popularity of virtual stores has resulted in more and more customers turning to the Internet for making their purchases. As an online seller, if you want to be the best and stay ahead of competition, it is important to get into the mind of your customers. By understanding the psychology behind online sales and purchasing and how it affects the choice of consumers, you can strategize to boost your sales – even if you are a startup.
Take a look at the top 5 psychological aspects that may influence online purchasing –
1. Impulsive buying
Social media makes people impulsive buyers. “47% millennials spend up to 4 hours a day scrolling, and that leads to 38% scrollers purchasing something after seeing it on social media.” However, impulsive purchases can also be driven by sales and promotions. For example, when the total amount in the cart increases, with the option of add ons, an online shopper is most likely to add that product on impulse to the cart.
Source: Research Gate
Aesthetic website design also encourages impulsive purchase behaviour. A website with good UI/UX, minimum load time and customizations that enhance customer service is more likely to increase the likelihood of purchase.
2. The influence of colour
Colour has the ability to attract specific shoppers as well as change shopping behaviours among many. For example, blue shades have a tendency to increase flow experience – where customers enjoy as well as can concentrate on the website.
According to research, customer patronage can see an increase in websites with blue hues, irrespective of the price. Blue also denotes high quality. On the other hand, red shades can make customers sensitive regarding price, as the colour is mostly associated with sales or special discounts.
Source: Oberlo
3. Interactive website
One drawback of an online store is that customers cannot touch and feel the products they wish to purchase, unlike in a physical store. Studies have revealed that in such cases, sites that allow interaction with products with 360-degree views, detailed zoom in options, or the choice of switching easily between colours, patterns or prints have a more positive reaction.
Product categorization is also an important aspect that affects the psychology of online customers. Segmented subcategories give customers the idea that there are more variety of products available, and also makes browsing and locating products easier. This means that customers leave with a positive impression of your online store and are most likely to come back.
4. Waiting time
Waiting time is an important perspective of online shopping that needs to be looked into. A research revealed that “an average person perceives the load time of a webpage to be 15% slower than it actually is, and will recall the experience later to be 35% slower than the actual speed.”
Taking care of this psychological perception is important, else sales can be affected. Make sure that your pages have a minimum loading time, and in order to make your customers feel that it’s faster, integrate progress bars and spinners to keep people engaged. However, remember that sometimes progress bars are associated with wait time and can make the page seem slower, so avoid it if you have less than 5 seconds of loading time.
Source: Muzli – Design Inspiration
It’s not just the time taken for page loading that is important, but also the one taken from viewing to purchasing a product. A study by Visa revealed that “49% of shoppers find setting up an account with each site they visit to complete a purchase the most annoying part of online purchasing.” This is why having the option of guest checkout on your site is very important.
5. Social proof
Social proof is another crucial psychological factor that plays on every customer’s mind before making an online purchase. Be it reviews, testimonials, social media mentions or blog posts – shoppers feel comfortable when they know that others have had a pleasant experience when shopping from the same website.
84% of people trust social reviews as much as their friends’, which highlights the power it has on the online shopper’s purchasing behaviour. Always share testimonials on your e-commerce store and link all your social media platforms to instil trust in your customers.
Source: Facebook
In the last few years, online purchasing has become the most preferred way of shopping, with over 60% of millennials going this route. Having a clear understanding of how online customers browse or shop and what it takes to prevent them from cart abandonment can help you tailor your approach in the right way. To know more about how the mind of an online customer works, leave us a message and we will get back to you!
UI (user interface) and UX (user experience) largely focuses on customer satisfaction, therefore making it an important contributor to business success. Today, websites that boast of easy responsiveness and efficiency are the most successful websites and applications.
Quick navigation and ease of understanding drives more user satisfaction leading to happy customers which brings in the revenue. A good website experience also increases customer confidence in the brand and therefore helps in business growth.
For a start-up or a small venture, UI/UX Design is extremely important as the first impression is often the lasting impression and a favourable one can increase brand recognition and credibility.
Below are some UI/UX design guidelines to provide an awesome user experience:
Simplicity
A visitor comes to a website either to look for some specific information or to complete a particular action. Therefore, adding unnecessary design elements which have no functional purpose makes navigating the website difficult. From the perspective of user experience and usability, a website should be simple.
For instance, colours that are chosen should go with the brand’s theme and it should be part of the same colour palette. The typefaces that a brand chooses should be a maximum of 3 and in 3 different sizes. Graphics should only be used if it helps a user complete his or her motive of visiting the website.
Navigability
Anyone who visits a website should be able to reach it easily and not have to think too much about what to click next. Having instinctual navigation on a website is very important to ensure that visitors can find what they are searching for.
It is, therefore, crucial to keep the structure of primary navigation simple and understandable. Navigation on the footer of the page is helpful. Apart from the homepage, use of breadcrumbs on every other page is advisable so that visitors are aware of their trail.
Add a “search” option near the top of the page so that it is easy for people to look for products or services. Also, include links within the page copy and clearly show where those links lead to.
Multi-Device Optimisation
As per research, 80% of internet users own a smartphone and according to Google “61% of users are unlikely to return to a mobile site they had trouble accessing and 40% visit a competitor’s site instead”.
In order to provide a better and improved user experience, a website should be optimized for different devices like mobile phones, tablets as well as operating systems and web browsers to enable ease of use. Therefore, this indicates that the design of the website should be responsive and flexible.
Adding alt-text to the images can help visitors on the page understand the content even without being able to view images. Adhere to platform-specific design conventions instead of stuffing in random elements that might not gel with that platform.
Social Share and Follow Buttons
The impact of content becomes limited if visitors of a website do not have the freedom to share it. Social share buttons are small clickable buttons that are placed at the top, bottom or at the sidebar of web pages. These buttons are icons of different social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram etc. that allows a visitor to share a page of their choice directly on social media channels.
If a website lacks these buttons then a large amount of social media traffic that is generated from visitors reading the content or blogs is lost.
Call-to-Actions
Call-to-Action buttons direct a user in taking the next step on the page. Include proper call-to-action buttons that lead visitors to content that educates them and assists them in solving problems. Some useful call-to-actions are “click here”, “watch video”, “sign up for a webinar” etc.
In today’s age of instant gratification, the most successful websites are the ones that are quick, responsive and efficient. Design and software are now heavily based on user experience because it is all about the consumer in business. Even if users are simply browsing, it is up to the brand and its UI/UX designers to make the users navigate through their site in the most efficient way possible so they can get the product or service they need.
For more information on UI/UX design tips, write to us in the comments section and we will get back to you!
