#Manship4002 Instagram Lecture 8 - Tips for Brands

1. Instagram
MANSHIP4002

2. How Brands Are Using
Instagram for Social
Marketing
By Jessica Cassin
“When brands first started having a social presence, content
on social channels was usually just content taken from
traditional media and reformatted to fit social. Now, many
brands have embraced real-life imagery.”

3. Many brands have jumped on to
Instagram to share content and to
show off their products in a new and
different way.
◦ “a different, more personal side of
their brand.”
◦ “Instagram allows brands to enhance
their overall image and sentiment with
product offerings and promoting core
values visually.” - Jessica Cassin

4. Promoting Core Values on
Instagram
Charity: Water has asked users to raise awareness by tagging images of
water with the hashtag #charitywater

5. James Beard Foundation
Inspires Diners to Snap Food
for Charity
"Food photography is so hot right now and on Instagram people share
their experiences through images in a way that’s really compelling,"
says Kris Moon, Director of Charitable Giving and Strategic Partnerships
at JBF. "Diners can now say, ‘Look at this amazing dish!’“
http://instagram-business.tumblr.com/
As part of the Taste America national traveling food festival, JBF enlisted
162 restaurants in 10 cities to feature a limited-time dish celebrating
their city’s local flavors. Participating chefs used Instagram video to
announce the promotion: For every local dish ordered, the restaurants
would donate $1 to the JBF’s educational programs.

6. http://business.instagram.com/blog/

7. http://vimeo.com/86331819

8. Top tips for Instagram …
from Instagram
Be true to your brand: Ensure that your imagery expresses a clearly
defined personality and voice. Photos from eyeglass retailer
@warbyparker never feel overly staged or serious, but instead draw
from trends in the Instagram community to reflect the company’s quirky
creativity.
Share unique experiences: Think GoPro

9. Find beauty everywhere: Show how your company
sees the world and make it meaningful to people.
@generalelectric showcases the beauty of their
technology … capturing the machines with elegant
symmetry and imparting the grand scale of these
man-made wonders.
Inspire action: Start a movement around your
brand, whether that means inspiring people to
capture photos while running like the
#runfree campaign from @nikerunning, or to
celebrate a delicious yogurt concoction, as
@chobani has done with their #creationaday hashtag.

10. Know your audience: Learn what people love about your brand, and explore
how can you capture the imagination of new customers. @missionbicycle takes
the beautiful simplicity that customers love about its bicycles and uses imagery
on Instagram to turn these everyday objects into works of art.

11. Instagram in the Museum
“Instagrammers work to construct their own narratives from their
visits” to museums, etc.
People are increasingly bringing their mobile phones with them
everywhere – their mobile applications influence and mediate their
experiences in the real world.
Museum goers are not only documenting their visits on Instagram, but
are sharing those experiences on social media.
Museums, as well as other organizations, are being called upon to be
more responsive, democratic, and reflective, to “reach outside their
own buildings to connect with broader segments of the public.”

12. social photography
Platforms such as Twitter and Instagram facilitate social interaction through
multimedia.
Instagram = smartphone + cameras + constant access to social media
Smartphone camera use: “to capture the more fleeting and unexpected
moments of surprise, beauty and adoration in the everyday”
Tagging: done for both oneself, to organize photos for later, and for
others, to communicate about and add context to photos
Why do we engage in social photography?
◦ Reminiscing: looking at photos we have shared, to remember an event together
◦ Storytelling: telling the story behind the picture to others who weren’t there
Telling stories WITH images…

13. The use of filters…
Creating a mood
A form of aesthetic expression
A departure from un-manipulated photos of photo-journalism … instead
instagrammers use their photos for self-expression and storytelling
It’s like you try to get some kind of feeling into
the picture […] try to deliver an idea about the subject […]
add a different shimmer to it. Make it better or more funny or
interesting.

14. Choice of subjects…
Instagrammers often take pictures of subjects that embody or
otherwise symbolize a location or event…
Things that are… “peculiar. Or interesting. Or imagination stimulating.”

15. Captions…
Jokes
Word games
Funny
References to popular culture: “Lions are frequently captioned with
Simba or Mufasa from the movie […]”
Location and name of the museum
Storytelling… ”ran through the ocean department. the ocean makes me
panic. feel much more safe by the hipster owls.”
”my pulse is? sweeping through the whole museum due to
terror that something might move if I stay too long”
Add an extra dimension to the interpretation of the photo

16. Social Media interactions affect our
here and now experiences…
Instagram is social & dynamic.

17. It’s Alive
“The fact that Instagrams are mostly shared live, during the event that
the photos are taken, makes it possible for the community to provide
synchronous commentary.”
Conversations around Instagrams can continue in real time on
Twitter, Facebook.
How does this affect how we use Instagram as individuals? As brands?

18. “Museums have so much potential to increase attendance through
social media with little effort or cost on their side. Museums could
create a hashtag unique to them and post signs encouraging visitors to
use it on the photos they post. Those visitors’ followers will see the
beautiful, interesting photo of pieces of history and click the hashtag
to see what else the museum offers. This would raise curiosity and
intrigue new people into visiting the museum themselves.”
- Madelyn Duhon

19. How Your Class Members
Use Instagram
“In my opinion to get the perfect
photo it needs to be at an angle that
highlights the subject with a subtle
filter that deepens a particular
aesthetic. When I am posting a fun
photo of my friends & I the caption is
the most important aspect to me.”

20. Note: Instagram has yet to receive significant attention from the
research community.
What questions do you think we could address with research on
Instagram? What questions would you like to see answered?

21. What are YOUR
best Instagram tips?