Successful social media marketing on Instagram.

Case: @minoshoes

Mia Nummila

Bachelor’s Thesis
Degree Programme in IB
2015
 Abstract

03.11.2015

Author
Mia Nummila
Degree programme
Degree Programme in International Business
Report/thesis title Number of pages
Successful social media marketing on Instagram. Case 52
@minoshoes

The subject of this thesis is successful social media marketing on Instagram, and how to ef-
fectively use Instagram to build a strong brand and reach more customers. As a part of this
study a case study of MI.NO shoes was conducted. The objective here was to deepen the
company’s understanding of Instagram marketing and how the company can use it to im-
prove its sales and customer communication.

The theoretical part of this study consists of general information about social media and so-
cial media for business followed by more detailed findings about Instagram marketing. The
section also covers building a social brand, creating a promotional campaign and marketing
internationally as a part of a social media marketing strategy. The theoretical part utilizes arti-
cles, theses, and academic literature to present the findings. Other social media platforms
were also researched for comparison. Some figures were used to illustrate and visualise the
findings

The empirical part analyses the current situation and success of MI.NO shoes’ Instagram
profile and outlines new ideas for how the company can develop its Instagram strategy and
communicate with its customers more effectively online.

The thesis concludes with discussion on the current status of Instagram marketing and
makes suggestions for MI.NO shoes in order to develop their Instagram marketing strategy in
the future.

MINO shoes has been present on Instagram for a couple of years. In general, it is using good
content and getting good feedback. However there is room for improvement. The Instagram
profile’s level of engagement and number of followers is still quite low. This is mainly because
the company is not as active on Instagram as on its other social media platforms.

According to the analysis the company could improve its profile, by following other users,
commenting and liking other users content, posting its own content more often, using a
greater variation in content, using hashtags more effectively, starting to post videos, and cre-
ating more integration with the other marketing channels. Above all the company should build
a well-planned Instagram marketing strategy.

All in all there are great opportunities for the company in Instagram marketing and, when
used efficiently, it can help the company raise its brand awareness and create a more loyal
customer base.

Keywords
Social Media, Social media marketing, Instagram, Instagram Marketing, Content, Engage-
ment, Visual communication, Branding, MI.NO shoes
Table of contents

1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 1
1.1 The purpose of this thesis ...................................................................................... 2
1.2 Case company information ..................................................................................... 2
1.3 The structure of the thesis ...................................................................................... 3
1.4 Key concepts .......................................................................................................... 3
1.5 Research problem .................................................................................................. 5
1.6 Research objectives ............................................................................................... 5
1.7 Research questions ................................................................................................ 5
2 Social media marketing .................................................................................................. 6
2.1 Social media is growing its importance .................................................................. 6
2.2 Social media for business ...................................................................................... 8
2.3 Content planning .................................................................................................... 9
3 Instagram marketing ..................................................................................................... 11
3.1 Instagram in a nutshell ......................................................................................... 11
3.2 Instagram marketing ............................................................................................. 12
3.2.1 Branding on Instagram .............................................................................. 14
3.2.2 Visual communication ............................................................................... 15
3.3 Attractive Instagram profile ................................................................................... 16
3.4 Anatomy of posts .................................................................................................. 18
3.4.1 Instagram contests, coupons, and giveaways .......................................... 20
3.4.2 Who to follow ............................................................................................. 21
3.4.3 How to get followers and engagement ...................................................... 21
3.4.4 Best time for engagement ......................................................................... 23
3.4.5 How to use hashtags ................................................................................. 24
3.5 Mistakes to avoid .................................................................................................. 27
3.6 Social Analytics .................................................................................................... 28
3.7 Useful third-party tools for Instagram ................................................................... 29
3.8 Intellectual property rights on Instagram .............................................................. 30
3.9 Summary .............................................................................................................. 30
4 Empirical part ................................................................................................................ 32
4.1 Target of research ................................................................................................ 32
4.2 Methodology ......................................................................................................... 32
4.3 Research process ................................................................................................ 33
4.4 Validity and reliability ............................................................................................ 33
4.5 Current situation of MI.NO shoes Instagram account .......................................... 34
4.5.1 Content ...................................................................................................... 35
4.5.2 Engagement .............................................................................................. 37
 4.5.3 Tagging ..................................................................................................... 39
4.5.4 Hashtags ................................................................................................... 39
4.5.5 Integration with other channels ................................................................. 41
4.5.6 Videos ....................................................................................................... 42
4.6 Summary .............................................................................................................. 43
5 Discussion .................................................................................................................... 44
6 Conclusions .................................................................................................................. 47
6.1 Main Findings ....................................................................................................... 47
6.2 Suggestions for further research .......................................................................... 48
References ........................................................................................................................ 49

FIGURES

Figure 1 Daily avarage of time spent social networking (Globalwebindex 2015) ................ 7
Figure 2 Top social platforms, groth in active users during 2014 (Globalwebindex 2015) .. 8
Figure 3 The Golden Ratio - 30/60/10 by Kevin Lee (2014).............................................. 10
Figure 4 Screenshots from Nike's Instagram account (@nike) ......................................... 16
Figure 5 Screenshots from H&M Instagram account (@hm) ............................................ 18
Figure 6 Screenshots from Coca Cola's, Starbucks's and Tiffany & Co.'s Instagram
accounts (@tiffanyandco, @starbucks, @cocacola) ................................................. 20
Figure 7 Screenshots from Mango’s FALL15 #SOMETHINGINCOMMON campaign on
Instagram (@mango) ................................................................................................. 26
Figure 8 Screenshots from Perfectly Basics’ Instagram account (@perfectlybasics) ....... 27
Figure 9 Research process flowchart ................................................................................ 33
Figure 11 Screenshots from MI-NO shoes Instagram account in October 2015
(@minoshoes) ............................................................................................................ 35
Figure 11 Example of a monthly content calendar for Instagram ...................................... 37
Figure 12 Screenshots from photos of MI-NO shoes posted by the other users on
Instagram (@minoshoes) ........................................................................................... 38
Figure 13: Screenshot from @minoshoes Instagram account: tagging ............................ 39
Figure 14 Screenshots from @minoshoes Instagram account: hashtags 1 ...................... 40
Figure 15 Screenshots from @minoshoes Instagram account: hashtags 2 ...................... 40
Figure 16 Screenshot from @minoshoes Instagram account: integration with other
channels ..................................................................................................................... 41
1 Introduction

The Internet is increasing its role in the consumer’s daily life. People are using the Internet
for their information search, which has also become a vital part of their purchasing pro-
cess. In terms of marketing and advertising, this has created many possibilities for com-
panies to communicate with their customers. Being present in social media has become
an important part of the whole customer communication process for all companies. The
new technologies and social media network have enabled companies to market its prod-
ucts and brand in a totally new way. However there are some challenges too. What makes
social marketing different from traditional marketing is that the role of the consumers is
getting more and more significant. Companies cannot only create the kind of content they
want but they must take into consideration what their followers want to see. Also, users
can freely express both their negative and positive experiences on social media platforms.
This forces companies to actively interact with its costumers. (Trong 2015.)

Social media is fundamentally about connecting with people and companies. Over the
past few years, more and more companies have joined social networking and people have
become overwhelmed with the content. This in turn has lead to increased competition to
gain the user’s attention. People are trying to find new ways to filter the feed and receive
only the content and information they truly want. For marketers this means that they have
to be more strategic about creating interesting content that people really want. Otherwise
they will not be noticed. (Neher 2013, 1-2.)

Images are playing an important role in social media marketing and especially on Insta-
gram. Images and visual content are increasingly what people want online. The phrase a
picture is worth a thousand words relates to the fact that our brains can consume, process
and understand more information way faster through images than text. In terms of market-
ing this means that the consumers’ attention is easier to get by using images or videos as
opposed to using other types of content. Furthermore, it is visual content that is most con-
sumed, viewed and clicked on by social consumers today. (Neher 2013, 1-3.)

Instagram is one just of the many social media platforms that exist. It is a mobile applica-
tion that allows users to take and share photos from their mobile devices (Neher 2013,
64). Instagram has increased its popularity faster than any other social media platform,
and this is what makes Instagram so special (Klie 2015). In addition, Instagram is the first
significant social network built specifically for mobile usage (Miles 2014, 4.) On Instagram
there are 100 million active monthly users worldwide to be reached and this is what
makes Instagram such an effective marketing tool for companies (Wood 2015).

1
MI.NO shoes is a start-up company founded by Johanna Keltto in 2013. It is a women’s
shoe store that sells brands from various designers. In addition to the physical store in
Helsinki, the company has an online store. The company uses social media as a part of its
marketing strategy. The company has been present on Instagram for couple of years al-
ready; however, it is still looking for the right way to communicate to its followers. The
company hopes to better understand of its work on Instagram. The company is interested
in finding ways to improve its Instagram account in order to market more effectively to its
target audience.

The theoretical part of this thesis is collected to serve as a handbook for marketing on
Instagram. Hence it is important that the reader also reads trough the theoretical part in
order to get a better understanding of the analytics and suggestions for the case company
in the empirical part of the thesis. Additionally other companies can easily adapt the theo-
retical part and use it to improve their own Instagram profile to raise brand awareness.

1.1 The purpose of this thesis

The purpose of this thesis is to analyse the current situation and trends of Instagram mar-
keting and use this information to analyse the case company’s Instagram account as a
part of their social media marketing strategy. The main idea is to learn to understand cus-
tomer behaviour on social media sites and what customers are looking for when they are
following a company’s Instagram account or similar accounts specifically in the fashion
industry.

The goal is to provide the case company with useful tips to improve their Instagram profile
and customer communication, as well as help them recognise the strengths and areas for
improvement in its current strategy in order to get more followers and engagement. It is
also important to understand how to create a solid Instagram strategy and understand
how to manage it along the way. The reasons behind this research is the desire to get
more customers, increase the sales in both the store in Helsinki and the MI.NO shoes web
store and to build a social brand with a loyal customer base.

1.2 Case company information

MI.NO shoes is a multi brand women’s shoe store founded in 2013 by Johanna Keltto. It is
located at Galleria Esplanad (MI-NO shop Oy) and it also has an online store:
www.minoshoes.com (MI-NO webshop Oy).

2
The company offers a handpicked selection of women’s shoes and accessories from the
top contemporary brands, well-know designers and much-heralded newcomers. Their
mission is to provide women shoes that are simplistic pure design, high quality and
fuctional. (Keltto 2015.)

The company uses both traditional marketing and digital marketing in their marketing
strategy. In traditional marketing the company uses ads in magazines and in digital mar-
keting it uses SEO, paid advertising, email marketing and social media marketing (Face-
book, Pinterest, Instagram). (Keltto 2015.)

Instagram is the fastest growing social media platform at the moment and provides new
innovative ways, especially for fashion industry companies, to advertise and communicate
to their customers. The company is very eager to understand the possibilities to advertise
in this particular platform and learn how to engage more people on their Instagram profile.
Also the company is interested to know what kind of content and marketing strategies the
other companies are using. The company has been present on Instagram for couple of
years already. Their user account is called @minoshoes. (Keltto 2015.)

1.3 The structure of the thesis

This thesis consists of the introduction, theoretical background, research methods, empiri-
cal study and discussion. The introduction describes the current situation of social media
marketing and Instagram marketing in general. The theoretical background will delve
deeper in the subject and provide different ways to both advertise and communicate in
Instagram as well as provide the basic knowledge of creating and managing the user ac-
count. The empirical part will analyse the current situation of MI.NO shoes Instagram ac-
count in relation to the theoretical findings and other companies using Instagram. The
discussion part summarizes the main findings and provides future ideas and development
suggestions for the company.

1.4 Key concepts

Social media – Social media is a group of Internet-based applications that build on the
ideologies and technological foundations. These applications allow the users to create
and exchange content. (Kaplan, Haenlein 2010.)

Social media marketing – social media marketing is the use of social media by market-
ers to increase brand awareness and build relationships with customers (Foulger 2014).

3
Instagram – Instagram is a visual content sharing network for mainly mobile devices, fo-
cused on the taking and sharing of photos with friends. The application is free to use and
owned by Facebook. (Instagram 2015.)

Visual Communication – visual communication is information transferred through imag-

es, where the creator of the image has created an image specifically to communicate
something through which the viewer of the image then interprets and understands through
personal filters which are made up of personal experiences, cultural and social back-
grounds as well as attitudes (Jamieson 2007).

Content marketing – content marketing is a marketing strategy based on attracting and

retaining customers through the creation and distribution of valuable content, such as vid-
eos, white papers, guides and infographics (Foulger 2014).

Content – content in this study is understood as the photos and videos and other posts
the user updates on their account on social media platform.

Users – In this study the term users will refer to people who use a specific social media
platform.

Follower – A social media user who has subscribed to another social media account so
they can receive their news feed (Foulger 2014).

Unfollow – unfollowing is the action of unsubscribing from another user’s account in so-
cial media platform (Foulger 2014).

Liking – like on social media is an intention that is developed into an understood expres-
sion of support for content (Foulger 2014).

Engagement – engagement in this study is understood as liking, commenting, sharing or

following another social media platform profile and their posts.

Hashtag – The hashtag is a word presented by the #-sign. Hashtags are a simple way to
mark the topic of social media messages and make them discoverable to people with
shared interests (Foulger 2014).

Analytics – Analytics, in, general involves using technology to gather data, which ana-
lysts can study. The goal is to examine the patterns in behaviour. The data is most com-

4
monly gathering information about the pages visited, actions completed, interactions and
performance (Foulger 2014).

1.5 Research problem

Social media marketing plays an integral role in a business’ marketing communication

today. It is an entirely new way to reach your main audience and communicate to your
customers. There are many success stories for marketing in social media. However, as it
is a fairly new type of marketing it is important to learn how to use it effectively in busi-
ness. The main purpose for this thesis is to give the case company a better understanding
of how to use Instagram in marketing efficiently as a part of their social media marketing
strategy. It will analyse the case company’s Instagram account’s current situation and help
it to understand what it has done right and what it could do better. The findings will provide
the company with future ideas as well as suggestions for improvement.

1.6 Research objectives

The research objectives for the Thesis are as follows:

• Research the importance of social media marketing for today’s businesses
• Explore the possibilities in Instagram marketing
• Analyse the approaches and practises used on Instagram marketing
• Outline the characteristics of successful Instagram marketing

1.7 Research questions

• How to use Instagram effectively as a part of the social media marketing strategy?
• How can @minoshoes use Instagram effectively in their brand communication and
marketing?

By answering these questions the thesis will provide the case company with a better un-
derstanding of how to market itself on Instagram and allow it to increase its brand aware-
ness. This in turn will help the company grow their sales and business as a whole.

5
2 Social media marketing

This chapter will concentrate on the importance of social media for businesses and what
are the changes it has brought about in terms of customer communication. The chapter
also discusses how to use social media to build a strong brand and to reach more cus-
tomers.

2.1 Social media is growing its importance

In past, the only ways for a company to communicate and to market to its customers was
through traditional marketing channels. These channels consisted of print, TV and radio.
After the advent of online marketing this approach has changed radically. (Kabani 2010,
1.) In traditional marketing companies talked more or less at the consumers and there was
no real way for the customers to talk back. In contrast, in the digital channels, and social
media especially, the customers are more interactive. They are asking questions and
commenting on the content the company is posting; meaning that the company has to
answer back. Another change is that companies need a more multipronged approach than
before. It is no longer possible to reach the customers through one channel nor is it possi-
ble for companies to choose the channels they prefer but rather companies need to find
the channels their target audience are using and use those channels to communicate to
them. (Evans, McKee 2010, 4-5.)

This does not, however, mean that marketers do not still value traditional marketing but its
prominence has changed (Kabani 2010, 2-3). Consumers are now spending more and
more time on the Internet, often accessing via their smartphones and tablets. Below is a
diagram showing the daily average of time spent social networking by the average person
last year.

6
Figure 1 Daily avarage of time spent social networking (Globalwebindex 2015)

As the diagram shows, consumers no longer seek news and information from traditional
channels, but increasingly from social networks. (Young 2015, Trong 2014.) They also
use social networks to look for information about new products and services. On the social
media channels consumers are sharing their own experiences with brands, products and
services. Likewise, customers are more likely to investigate the feedback from other cus-
tomers online before making a purchasing decision. This is why the social media is some-
times referred as digital word-of-mouth. (Kabani 2010, 1.) Today the whole purchasing
process, that starts from expectations and information search and ends at sharing the
actual experience, most often happens online on social media networks. (Evans, McKee
2010, 4-5, Kabani 2010, 1-2).

Social media is definitely the key channel for reaching customers in the 21th century. The
Internet has created lot of opportunities for companies to communicate to their customers
but at the same time it has made the whole process more complex. And without the right
kind of strategy and knowledge of online marketing, it is often used ineffectively. (Kabani
2010, 2-3.) Through social media channels companies are seeking customer engagement
and increasing in brand awareness. It provides a fast and efficient way to reach their tar-
get audience. More and more companies have also seen the possibility of social media as
a channel for customer service. (Evans, McKee 2010, 4.)

7
Today, there are many different types of social networking sites including Facebook,
Linked In, Pinterest and Twitter. From all these different networks, brands are usually
choosing one or more as a part of their social media marketing strategy. (Hellberg 2015.)
Each social media platform has its own unique way of functioning and they provide differ-
ent possibilities for companies to communicate to their target audience (Evans, McKee
2010, 4). Below is a representation of the most popular social media platforms in 2014.

Figure 2 Top social platforms, groth in active users during 2014 (Globalwebindex
2015)

2.2 Social media for business

As the way people are buying and doing research online about the brands and products is
changing, it is important to understand how to use social media and how companies can
benefit from it. (Rouhiainen 2015.) Business-to-consumer markets are changing due to
the commercial development and this has made consumers easier to reach for compa-
nies, even on a global scale. Yearly there are more than 800 million shoppers online. The
Internet provides access to a totally new environment in which there are different ways to
sell and communicate to consumers all over the world. (Chaffey, Ellis-Chadwick, Mayer,
Johnston 2009, 619.)

Marketing and operations are the core elements that support the selling process in social
media (Evans, McKee 2010, 62-63). However the company also needs to understand how

8
its customers or stakeholders connect to its business. By understanding and actively lis-
tening to its customers, stakeholders and employees the company may gain significant
promotional value, as the business will respond better to marketplace dynamics and com-
petitive opportunities. (Dave, McKee 2010, 4-5.)

Most businesses can benefit from a social media plan and use social media as a key part
of their sales cycle. However, if the company does not have the resources, knowledge or
time to be active on the social media sites they should not be doing it. (Miles 2014, 39.)

Social media is a relatively inexpensive way of marketing. With social media marketing
companies can promote its products and services for a fraction of the cost, compared to
the traditional medias. With the right strategy a company can reach more customers and
build awareness regionally, nationally and even globally. Thus, an effective approach re-
quires commitment, planning and persistence. (Sedrati 2015.)

2.3 Content planning

According to Miles (2014, 39) most types of businesses can benefit from a social media
plan and use social media as a key part of their sales cycle. Being effective does not,
however, mean that it has to take a lot of time. The social media content can easily be
planned and scheduled beforehand. The company can create a content calendar in order
to plan ahead their next days, weeks or even months posts for their social media plat-
forms. Scheduling part of the social media content can be really worth it and save a lot of
time but not everything can be planned beforehand. Thus, planning content gives flexibility
to the schedule and the new and curated real-time content can be added as the week
progresses. (Lee 2014.)

9
Figure 3 The Golden Ratio - 30/60/10 by Kevin Lee (2014)

According to ´Golden Ratio´ -ratio there should be a balance in the content that is shared
on social media. The figure shows that 30% of the content should be owned, 60% curated
and 10% promotional in order to create the right kind of variety to the content. To sum up,
when doing a social media plan it is important to find the right times and right kind of con-
tent. When planning the content the marketer should think about the upcoming events,
product launches, posts scheduled on other marketing channels, how much content is
needed and what images can be created beforehand. (Lee 2014.)

10
3 Instagram marketing

This chapter will concentrate more deeply to Instagram and how it can be used effectively
as a part of the company’s social media marketing strategy. The chapter will present the
different objectives of Instagram marketing and how to use them efficiently in business
communication and marketing. The following chapter will also discuss what not to do and
what to avoid when creating content and communicating on Instagram.

3.1 Instagram in a nutshell

The cofounders Mike Krieger and Kevin Systrom launched Instagram in October 2010.
Instagram was the first social networking site born mobile. While other social media sites
have a mobile application, Instagram was exclusively created for mobile usage. This new
application became a hit instantly. After only one month it had a million users. (Bertoni,
2012, Malin 2014, Miles 2014.) In April 2012, another social networking site Facebook
bought Instagram and is now the parent company of the application (Klie 2015).

In general, Instagram is a free app that allows you to post pictures and videos (Wood, C.
2015). Like Pinterest, Instagram is not based on conversation, which makes it “social
media lite”. This makes it much more achievable compared with a conversation-intensive
platform like Facebook or Twitter. (Miles 2014, 11.)

Anyone can create an account on Instagram to start sharing content and follow other indi-
viduals, celebrities, companies and brands (Trong, 2014). Instagram has two primary fea-
tures; it allows users to edit their photos and create beautiful images and it functions as a
social network for image sharing. (Neher 2013, 64). Instagram allows users to (Trong,
2014, Rohrs 2014, 164):

• take a picture or a video

• change the look and feel of the media by choosing filters
• add a description
• add a hashtag
• tag people in their photos and videos,
• geotag their photos and videos,
• search and browse other people’s images and videos,
• like, comment, or share other people’s images and videos, and

11
 • share their content on other social media channels like Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr
and other followers.

In the recent years Instagram’s user number has gone up rapidly, in March 2014 there
were 150 million active monthly users on Instagram and in early December 2014, Insta-
gram had already surpassed 300 million registered users. (Malin 2014, Klie 2015.) Com-
pared to Twitter, Instagram is only four years younger, yet it has already surpassed Twit-
ter in the number of users. At the same time Instagram is beating Facebook in the number
of posts and representing a 49 percent year-over-year jump. Furthermore Instagram is
getting new users faster than any other social media platform before. In addition, 2014,
Instagram had the highest growth rate in the audience engagement than any social media
platform. It delivers 58 times more engagement to brands than Facebook and 120 times
more engagement than Twitter. For brands looking to market themselves, Instagram also
presents an enormous consumer audience. This audience does not only search for con-
tent, but also shares photos of their experiences with brands and their products. (Klie
2015.)

Some disadvantages for Instagram are that the use of the app is fairly limited and the user
cannot update their account from a computer without third-party apps. Also Instagram
does not yet offer many possibilities for advertisers, like for example Facebook does. This
may, however, be expected to change in the near future (Rouhiainen 2015). Unlike Face-
book and Twitter, for example, Instagram does not offer analytics for its users nor it allows
the user to share the content they liked. In addition, it is not possible to make a text-only
post and it is primarily for phone-quality pictures. (Wood 2015, 48, Miles 2014, 9.) Fur-
thermore, adding “clickable” URL in the description or adding a clickable URL in a com-
ment is not possible on Instagram.

3.2 Instagram marketing

Marketers have been fast to leverage the new social media site, as more than 50 percent
of top brands are using Instagram. Instagram is definitely a valuable tool for marketers
who want to get their brand known. (Miles 2014). All businesses, both small and large,
can find value in creating and using an Instagram. This platform particular can give cus-
tomers a personal view into the company and can create a sense of community among
the followers. On Instagram is easy to share the company story and give a behind the
scenes look at how the company is managed. (Zimmerman 2013, 293.) The use of the
photo sharing for business differentiates from personal uses. For instance, the images the
company creates, the frequency of the posts, the messages attached to the images and

12
possible images you will share from other accounts will be very different from the content
the individual users are sharing. (Asad 2014, 2-6.)

Moreover, Instagram is different from other social media sites. Instagram users tend to be
a little more selective in what they post. As Instagram is entirely visual it allows brands to
promote their products in a totally new way. Not only can marketers use Instagram to pub-
lish their own photos and videos, but also to highlight what consumers are doing with their
products. (Klie 2015.) The followers on Instagram also appreciate when their content is
liked or commented on (Miles 2014, 42).

Instagram demonstrated the trend towards visual storytelling and shift from sharing imag-
es rather than text (Neher 2013, 63). Instagram highlights also another trend. Instagram
makes business and brand owners more relatable. Customers like to do business with
people they know, like and trust and Instagram gives you the opportunity to show con-
sumers who the people are working behind the company. (Wood 2015, 71, Zimmerman
2013, 82.) It is important for the company to understand and know their target users.
Without knowing the user preferences and attitudes that the company cannot necessarily
communicate to their audience in a way they are understood correctly (Hellberg 2015).

There are different reasons behind the social media use. The different social media sites
can be divided into five different categories which are information seeking, focused enter-
tainment, purpose driven, socially-driven fun and in the middle. Instagram belongs to the
category of mostly socially driven fun where social media is used for entertainment and to
share life experiences. This kind of social media usage is low-content-specific and high-
fun-focused which means that the content is more relatable, personal and playful. (Malin
2014.)

According to Rouhiainen 2015, successful Instagram marketing comes simply from being
active, posting great content, following interesting people and leaving comments and
questions to those people and starting to build relationships with the followers and influen-
tial people on your business sector. Starting the connection with the customers online
helps to create a loyal following, and allows for constant word-of-mouth promotion to help
to continue growing of the customer base. Instagram also allows the companies to have
free market research. By looking at what the customers are sharing the company can
learn what is most interesting content to their followers. Having an insight to what the cus-
tomers share can help to make design decisions, and help shape the content created.
(Zimmerman 2013, 301.)

13
3.2.1 Branding on Instagram

Instagram is an ideal tool for brand building, since the company can effectively compete
with the other companies on Instagram by leveraging the brand attributes. In order to ef-
fectively manage a brand on Instagram the company has to effectively manage it off In-
stagram. According to Miles, brand is the sum of the thoughts and emotions that individu-
als have about a product or company. When the brand is well designed and managed it
has a real power to drive sales. Its power comes from a combination of the invisible as-
pects, the visible aspects and the prospect’s experienced with the brand. (Miles 2014,
105, 110, 114.)

The skilful use of words and images woven together to tell an interesting story about the
company is the key to successful branding on Instagram. According to Miles, people tend
to like images that connect with them emotionally. Such pictures to raise emotions are for
example vacation destinations, sandy beaches, gourmet cuisine, sunsets, shoes, dresses,
pretty places and pretty faces. Unlike some would think, people are not responding to the
technical brilliance of an image but they want to see more relatable content. The images
on Instagram provoke the thoughts and feelings of consumers that are the basis for buy-
ing decisions. There are dozens of emotional triggers that marketers have discovered
throughout the time of marketing. (Miles 2014, 71, 83, 85.)

Miles (2014, 85-87) presents the 12 triggers that seem to be particularly prominent in In-
stagram marketing efforts, which are:

1. Love
2. Desire
3. Involvement of ownership
4. Justifying the purchase
5. Desire to belong
6. Desire to collect
7. Curiosity
8. Storytelling
9. Greed
10. Urgency
11. Instant gratification, and
12. Exclusivity

14
The easiest way to get enthusiastic response to the use of emotional buying triggers is to
have followers that are raving fans. Taking the time to build the follower strategy and iden-
tifying the commons buying triggers leads to followers feeling upbeat and passionate to-
wards the brand. (Miles 2014, 91.)

Furthermore, Instagram is not conversationally intensive, but still requires social actions.
Being proactive and not falling into the habit of just posting pictures without engaging so-
cially it can lead to the risk of having very low results even though the content itself would
be decent. (Miles 2014, 60.)

3.2.2 Visual communication

Due to the visual element of Instagram, it is relevant to understand the concept of visual
communication. This helps to gain an understanding of how images work and how they
affect the viewer. (Hellberg 2015.) In essence, visual communication is information trans-
ferred through images, where the creator of the image has created an image specifically
to communicate something through which the viewer of the image then interprets and un-
derstands through personal filters which are made up of personal experiences, cultural
and social backgrounds as well as attitudes (Jamieson 2007).

In using images as a tool for brand communication, the visual comprehension means con-
sumers can process brand messages much faster than through textual approaches (Ja-
mieson 2007). Visual communication can affect a person, both emotionally and logically.
Viewing, purely visual advertisements may affect viewer’s perceptions and attitudes to-
ward a brand that can turn into beliefs about that brand. In the relation to marketing the
visual communication is an effective tool when it comes to communicating with the con-
sumers. However, it does not guarantee or specify the nature of the beliefs created in the
viewers mind. By learning to understand the meaning of visual communication the brand
can use the different aspects of visual marketing as a benefit in their brand communica-
tion. (Hellberg 2015.)

In terms of Instagram brand posts, for example Nike posts pictures of people and celebri-
ties doing sports, with the caption “just do it”. In this case, the represented aspect to the
image are the people in the picture, the products they are wearing, the action happening,
and the caption of the brand slogan whereas the hidden aspect is the viewers mind and
the beliefs the pictures will create, like being part of a community or wanting to adopt the
similar lifestyle. (Hellberg 2015.) To illustrate the discussion above, below are screenshots
taken from Nike’s official account in September 2015.

15
Figure 4 Screenshots from Nike's Instagram account (@nike)

Both the swift from traditional medias to digital medias and globalization is creating new
challenges and requirements for marketers. Due to the world getting smaller the compa-
nies can easily reach the people around the world, even little and middle size companies
can go international faster and with lower costs. Instagram is based on networking and it
will suggest content to its users that share similar interests. This creates a connection
among people that they otherwise do not know. Also the liking and commenting is sup-
porting the profile surfing. Many feel that Instagram is bringing the people around the
world closer to each other and this applies also between companies and consumers. If the
story and content attracts the consumer they want to engage with the brand and they
might start ordering the products around the world. However, the social media marketing
channels forces the companies to act faster and in real-time. (Vaartimo 2015.)

3.3 Attractive Instagram profile

Similar to most social networks, a company user on Instagram can create a profile with
basic information about the company (Neher 2013). The Instagram profile must express
the brand values for a business to get the most value out of. The profile needs to have all
the necessary information and also additional information that makes the profile interest-
ing. (Zimmerman 2013, 176: Wood 2015, 189).

Adding the right images to the Instagram account is extremely important but if the basic
information on the account profile is not properly set up it can greatly reduce the number
of visitors as well as the number of followers. There are some restrictions as well. These
restrictions include the limited characters to use for headline and the size of an on the

16
main page of the profile. Understanding the restrictions, knowing what limits are in place
and understanding what can be done, are a few things to keep in mind when developing
your page. (Asad. 2014, 2-6.)

The company profile picture should support the business values, mission and vision. The
customers should easily recognise these already on the profile page. The profile picture
for the account should either be a professional photo or a logo of the company to accu-
rately represent the brand. (Asad. 2014, 2-6.)

The user name should be easy to recognise and it should include brand name. The name
should be either the same or as similar as possible than on the other social media plat-
forms. (Asad 2014, 1-2.)

Notification section allows followers to find site from anywhere and allow them to receive
information about when something new is posted, or new images are being uploaded to
the company’s Instagram account page (Asad. 2014, 2-6).

The site URL that leads to the company’s web page must be clearly visible. If a visitor
does not know where to find the company outside of Instagram, the link between market-
ing on Instagram and growing the business by attracting new visitors to the web page will
break. (Asad. 2014, 2-6.)

In concluding the profile, the company should include the relevant information a customer
might need in order to get in contact with the company. This includes a company phone
number, email address, location and URL to the web page. Additionally a company can
add a site link or the usernames to the other social media platforms, like Facebook and
Twitter, in the description. The more ways is give to the customers to reach the company,
the more likely it is they are going to contact them, to visit the online store or to visit the
physical store. (Asad. 2014, 1-6.) For the description the user has 150 characters to cre-
ate an interesting text. It should be snappy, to the point and explain what your company
does and represents. (Zimmerman 2013, 184.)

Furthermore the company should make sure that is not profile is not set to private. Insta-
gram allows making a profile private, however, for companies this is not en effective way
to go. To get as many followers and engagement as possible, the privacy settings need to
be turned off. (Wood, C. 2015, 98.)

17
The company needs to follow the community guidelines, which are laid out when signing
up for an account. Adding images of new product lines, future product releases or events
will enhance the presence on Instagram. It will also allow the customers to connect with
the company in a visual manner rather than simply reading about what the company does
from other sources. (Asad 2014,1-2.)

In terms of Instagram brand posts, for example H&M is very active on Instagram and
posts a great variety of different content like; videos, pictures, campaigns etc. To illustrate
the discussion above, below are screenshots taken from H&M’s official account in October
2015.

Figure 5 Screenshots from H&M Instagram account (@hm)

Even though Instagram is mainly focused on the visual the language used on the descrip-
tions is an important tool in explaining the photos and referring them to their connections.
Many brands choose to use English on Instagram. Also the language used on hastags is
heavily English centred. The reasons for using English instead of native language are
both to maximise visibility and to attract multilingual users. (Malin 2014.)

3.4 Anatomy of posts

The first step in creating a post on Instagram is capturing an interesting image. It is im-
portant to have quality images with great focus, as well as relevant content for your busi-
ness and your brand. The best images are the once that will have some emotional con-
nection with the viewer. (Zimmerman 2013,198-206.)

18
After taking the image for the post the user can increase the quality of the image with 20
filets and 4 manipulation features. These features also allow rotating the image, adding a
border, adding water dew effects and changing exposure on the picture. There are also
some third-party applications that can also be used to change elements of your images.
Some examples will be presented in the chapter 3.7. (Zimmerman 2013, 211.)

Next step is to add a description. Description is an important part of the post. There are
some elements that can help getting the most reach. Firstly, @mention “tags” the user in
the post and allows them to be notified about the mention. Tagging other users is a great
way of sharing the posted content. (Zimmerman 2013 p. 211.) Secondly, a #hastags are
used to curate images that have the same hashtag in their descriptions. Using the correct
hashtag on images can mean getting the most reach. Hashtags will be discussed more
deeply in the chapter 3.4.4. A good description guides more traffic to your account. An
effective way to catch attention and enhance engagement among followers is by asking
questions and starting conversations. Starting a conversation can also help create a
sense of community for the followers. All of these elements bring value to the Instagram
account and increase traffic. (Zimmerman 2013, 223-224.)

A company can easily connect with their followers by sharing pictures that interest their
customers. An image of a new product will be far more descriptive than any paragraph.
People can see colour, the fabric, the texture and the details – all within few seconds.
When deciding which images to add it is important to always tell a story. By adding both
fun and personal photos in connection to the brand a company can make the brand stand
out and to get people to connect with them on a human level. There are many to do this.
The posts can be about; product lines, employees, events or other interesting phenome-
na. With the right mix of content about the business, the product or service and the type of
clients that engage with the business the story is complete. “The more you can connect
with people and the more you can connect to those who are seeing these photos you add
over time, the easier it is going to be to build your brand” (Asad 2014, 7-11.) According to
Neher (2013, 115) posting 3-5 times a week on Instagram is more than sufficient. Hence
there should be a variety in content and in addition the company is expected to be proac-
tive in liking and commenting other users content.

In terms of Instagram brand posts, for example Tiffany & Co., Starbucks and Coca Cola
uses storytelling in many of their posts. The companies want to create content that any-
one can relate to and the goal is to create connection between the product and the view-
er’s personal life. To illustrate the discussion above, below are screenshots taken from
Tiffany & Co.’s, Starbucks’ and Coca Cola’s official account in October 2015.

19
Figure 6 Screenshots from Coca Cola's, Starbucks's and Tiffany & Co.'s Instagram
accounts (@tiffanyandco, @starbucks, @cocacola)

3.4.1 Instagram contests, coupons, and giveaways

By giving discounts or even by giving away something for free is a great way for the com-
pany to promote engagement on Instagram. This works in every industry and in various
situations. Below is presented three very different monetization strategies for Instagram.
(Miles 2014, 129.)

Contests work well on Instagram and an effective contest is a great device to generate a
stream of interest and enthusiasm. There are many types of contests for the company to
choose from, and the company should consider the best one to support their brand. As
Instagram is mainly based on the visual content also the contests focused on images are
found the most effective. (Miles 2014, 134-135.)

Another great way to enhance engagement are posting coupons on Instagram. Coupons
usually include a special offer or a discount such as ”20 % off today only”. In addition a
great form of special offer is to provide free shipping for limited time. (Miles 2014, 130,
134.)

Another way to get attention are giveaways. This tool is not used as commonly as the
other two but by offering giveaways the company can easily energise prospective as well
as existing customers. There are different variations of this theme and the company needs
to find the best one that fits to their business. (Miles 2014, 131.)

20
3.4.2 Who to follow

When it comes to Instagram, it is not enough to get followers but it is important to follow
others too. If someone follows you and you don’t follow back, they may unfollow. Further
more when the company is active by commenting and liking others content the followers
are more incentive. The interaction with the followers gives a reason to engage with the
company and visit their web page. (Wood 2015, 129, 205.)

“Explore” page on Instagram shows images currently trending on Instagram. By looking in

for the page the company can easily fin other interesting profiles to follow. The company
should select to follow the profiles are relevant to their business and the leaders in their
industry. The company can find the other companies by typing the company name into the
search bar. (Zimmerman 2013, 266.)

When users start interacting with the company and like and comment on the photos, also
the company should follow them back. It is easily identified who is interacting with the
posts on the “news” tab. The company should learn if the users liking the photos could be
valuable to their network. The company can always unfollow the other users if their con-
tent does not end up being relevant to their account. (Zimmerman 2013, 276.)

3.4.3 How to get followers and engagement

On Instagram, everybody has to start with no followers, but one can work through that
quickly by adding value for existing customers. In the beginning, the time should be stra-
tegically engaged with the right prospects, not just random people. Also there are some
negative catalysts that may slow down the growth. (Miles 2014, 70.)

To get followers on Instagram the easiest way to start is by leveraging the networks on
other platforms. The company can do this for example by simply sharing the Instagram
posts on their other social media sites and invite people to follow them on Instagram. Fur-
thermore, the company can inform their customers through other channels like newsletter
or printed advertisement that they are present on Instagram. (Zimmerman 2013, 288.)

The key characteristic of followers is that they’re seeking for curate information and they
often want the social attention that comes from sharing it. All the followers do not neces-
sarily have a passionate relationship towards the brand but are looking for information,
insights or other content that interests them. (Rohrs 2014, 52.)

21
Engagement is the key metric to provide information about the audience development.
Engaged audience is active and responsive (Rohrs 2014, 77). The active audience is lik-
ing, commenting and sharing the posted content (Miles 2014, 8). Interacting with the fol-
lowers and amplifying their content can increase the level of engagement. In contrast, by
overwhelming them with irrelevant or unrequested messages they may as well be pro-
voked. (Rohrs 2014, 77.) There are many ways to get more followers and more engage-
ment. This can be done by:

Sharing interesting content. With better content that inspires the followers to like, com-
ment and share the content the followers will be more corresponsive. This in turn, in-
creases the likelihood that the followers will also view the upcoming posts. (Rohrs 2014,
77.) The same pictures should never be posted again. The content should be different
every time. Also, the images should be contextually relevant to the content that they link
to. (Neher 2013, 40.)

Promoting other people. A company can comment and like other users content. In addi-
tion the company can ask for permission to post a image of their own products or events
taken by the other users and then giving the credit by tagging them to the post. This in
return will promote their profile. (Wood 2015, 231.)

Asking questions. To get the audience commenting and participating more the post de-
scription should include an open-ended question(s). The company can for example ask
questions about their products, about suggestions for improvement or for example which
of the presented products they would like to have or liked the most. (Wood, C. 2015, 239,
Neher 2013, 40, Rohrs, 78.)

Blending both branding and fun. It is not preferable to just post high quality look book pic-
tures of the products. The company should also post pictures just for fun, or videos of their
employees having a good time at work for example. By being a little playful and posting
more about what is happening behind the scene makes the brand more relatable and eas-
ier to confront. (Wood 2015, 239, Neher 2013, 40.)

Talking to the followers directly. By listening to the feedback and actively responding to
the comments left by the viewers gives the assumption that the company really cares
about their customers. The customers can also ask questions about the problems they
may have with a product and get a response faster than by sending an email. (Wood, C.
2015, 248, 259.)

22
Using good photography. As Instagram is managed with a mobile device it is difficult to
get pictures with great quality. However, the quality of the images can easily be enhanced
for example by using filters, shooting the photos from different ankles or shooting them in
better lighting. In addition, there are third-party applications available that allows the user
to transfer the pictures from other devices, like a computer, to Instagram. (Wood 2015,
259.)

Using third-party apps. There are countless of apps that will help the user to enhance the
Instagram experience as was mentioned on the previous paragraph. In addition to the
third-party apps for making the images and videos look better there are some apps that
allow you to post more conveniently, schedule your posts and some will check on current
trends or provide analytics about your Instagram account. (Wood 2015, 268.)

Using Videos. Videos are getting more and more popular in social media marketing and
so also on Instagram (Heinerth 2014). However, even though the Instagram videos are
getting very popular also in the means of advertising, the environment is still fairly different
from other video streaming (Delo 2013). Similar to another video sharing app, Vine, the
videos are limited in length. Instagram allows you to share videos that are only 15 se-
conds long. (Wood 2015, 41, Zimmerman 2013, 82, 55.)

Learning from others. There are many successful companies marketing on Instagram. By
looking at their profile and trying to learn from them can bring out new ideas. By studying
what they post, how frequently they do it, and what type of hastags they do the company
can save time from doing all that work themself. The best sources for learning are the
successful companies that are similar to the company’s brand. (Wood 2015, 295.)

Experimenting. Even though learning from others is a good way to get new ideas, howev-
er, not everything works for everyone. Sometimes it is worth it to try something new. The
only way to really know what works well to a one brand is by experimenting different con-
tent and finding the most successful ways to communicate to the followers. (Wood 2015,
311.)

3.4.4 Best time for engagement

Since Instagram is mainly managed through mobile phones it is easy for the user go and
check their Instagram feed basically at any time of the day. Normally by using analytics
the company can easily find out the right times to post content on their social media plat-
forms. However, the posting, viewing and interaction habits on Instagram are quite differ-
ent compared to other social media sites. On Instagram it more difficult to determine a

23
certain time or date when the users are most active. When a business wants to find the
best time to post content on their Instagram account they need to think about factors such
as, the age and lifestyle of the target follower as well as the demographics and time zone
differences. The adults working from 9 to 5 tend to be the most active in the morning and
during lunchtime. On the other hand, the young adults usually check their phone later in
the evening. According to some analytics the most popular day to post photos is on
Thursday and the highest level of interaction happens on Wednesday and Sunday. Videos
on the other hand should be posted after work/school hours. (Moreau 2015.) Furthermore
if the company has followers all over the world the process is much more complex and
posting at specific times of the day may not get the same results. The best way to find out
the best time to post content is simply by experimenting the habits of the target audience.
(Wood 2015, 214.)

3.4.5 How to use hashtags

Hashtags are an essential part of Instagram marketing. Similarly to Twitter, Google+ and
Pinterest, also Instagram uses the hashtag system of categorization (Miles 2014, 12.) In
other words, Instagram allows the user to post hashtags and make their content searcha-
ble (Wood, 2015). The images can then be search on the feed by using hashtags. By
picking up a very popular hashtag with the image, it will likely be at the top of that
hashtags fees for just a few seconds, but many people might still see it. In contrast by
picking a less popular hashtag, it will stay on the first page of the feed for a longer period
of time, but fewer people may see it. (Miles 2014, 27.)

Miles (2014, 27) states five powerful ways for business marketers to leverage the hashtag
system:

1. Creating hashtags and using them creatively in the relation of the business
2. Using hashtags to research popular trends in the business niche.
3. Using hashtags to participate in conversations within the business industry or
niche.
4. Identifying new prospects by using hastags.
5. Sharing images with a much broader group of people than just the followers.

Furthermore, business’ can use hashtags to indicate a campaign. A business should use
hastags that are relevant to their brand. (Asad 2014, 12-14, Wood, 2015, 181.) They may
also make up a new hashtag especially made and that can be used when referencing to
the company itself. This can be for example the company name or one made for their
campaign. Miles (2014, 29) presents tips for marketers for creating and utilizing hastags:

24
 1. the hashtag should be brief – either one word or a short phrase
2. the hashtag should be memorable and easily understood
3. the hashtag should not be open to multiple interpretations, or else it runs a risk of
being used for the wrong purpose
4. the hashtag should not already be broadly used
5. the hashtag should not include another company’s brand or product name
6. after the creation the hashtag will become a communication tool for anyone to use
and this cannot be controlled by the creator.

When the customised hashtags are used consistently it will support the growth in brand
awareness. For example, a company name should be included in every post the company
makes. The followers can also reuse the hashtag to connect their post to the brand. (Asad
2014, 12-14, Wood 2015, 115, 181.)

A great way to get attention with hashtags is running a contest that has a hashtag special-
ly made for it. With a contest the company can encourage the followers to share their pho-
tos on Instagram using company’s own hastags. Another effective way to promote the
company hashtag is to promote it among employees, customers and partners. (Neher,
2013,115-116.)

In terms of Instagram brand posts, for example Mango uses the #hashtags effectively in
their campaigns. For spring 2015 they have a campaign called #SOMETHINGINCOM-
MON and they use the hashtag on every related post and also use it on their other mar-
keting channels. To illustrate the discussion above, below are screenshots taken from
Mango’s official account in October 2015.

25
Figure 7 Screenshots from Mango’s FALL15 #SOMETHINGINCOMMON campaign
on Instagram (@mango)

Instagram has its own trends and frequently used hastags, As such; the companies
should use the trendy hashtags in the posts if they are relevant to the content. While
popular hastags change, there are few that have been huge for many years, like #tbt, #in-
stamood, #photooftheday, #follow #tagforlikes, #nofilter. Another popular hastags are the
ones that are related to your location, like country, town or building. (Wood, 2015, 167.)
According to #TopHashtags 2015, the three most popular hashtags currently are #fashion,
#friends and #smile.

When company uses the trendy hashtags they are likely to get more attention. More visi-
tors are more likely to look at images that have a catchy headline and hastags. In addition
the visitors are more likely to share these with other potential followers. All of this is going
to come as free publicity for the company and it is a great way for the company to engage
with their followers. The more attention the company can get the more the people will see
the brand and are going to learn about the company and the products. (Asad 2014, 12-
14.)

In comparison, Miles (2014, 30) presents an idea that instead of simply using popular
hashtags, the company may research hashtags that are commonly used in their industry
and use them rather than the most commonly used hashtags in general. Miles says that it
is better to attract prospective customers that are interested in that industry than random
people.

26
In terms of Instagram brand posts, for example Perfectly Basics is posting relevant pic-
tures of their products and also effectively using business related hastags. Even though it
is a fairly small business and only based on the Internet it has been able to raise aware-
ness and get a loyal customer base in a fast and cost-efficient way. Mainly they have
done this by effective social media marketing and communication. To illustrate the discus-
sion above, below are screenshots taken from Perfectly Basics’ official account in October
2015.

Figure 8 Screenshots from Perfectly Basics’ Instagram account (@perfectlybasics)

There are also couple of things to avoid when using hastags. For example if you use has-
tags that are too broad or general your content will not be found among the other user’s
content in the search. Another thing to note is that some hastags are banned, meaning
they don’t show up in the search at all. And these are not always the most obvious ones
either. Some to mention are #iphone, #photography, and #loseweight. It is also possible to
use too many hastags. Too many hastags makes the profile look sloppy, and it ends up
being distractive. Most people suggest using between 2 and 10 hastags in one post, but
no more. (Wood 2015, 104, 174, Miles 2014, 35.)

3.5 Mistakes to avoid

According to Rouhiainen (2015), the biggest mistake for Instagram marketers is probably
not having a clear strategy. Moreover, it is very important to understand the etiquette of
Instagram and use the different features correctly in order to attract the right followers and
share the right content (Zimmerman 2013, 240).

27
Zimmerman (2013) gives helpful tips to successful marketing on Instagram. Firstly, there
should not be too much of the same content. By flooding followers feed with the same
content may just annoy and overwhelm them. Secondly, to get attention on Instagram the
content needs to be interesting and creative. If a company is sharing the same content as
everyone else they will not be noticed. (Zimmerman 2013, 230.) Instead of using clichés
the company should post something with that will make them stand out (Wood 2015, 123).
Do not use too many hashtags and clutter user’s feeds with an excess number of
hashtags (Zimmerman 2013). Thirdly, the content should be shared in regular basis, once
a week at the very least. Yet, too much content sharing is not good either. If the company
posts photos of every single thing it is just making followers wanting to unfollow the ac-
count. (Wood 2015, 123, 135.)

Stealing others images and not remembering to give the credit is not good for the compa-
ny image. When sharing another users content credit can be given to the creator by
@mentioning them in the description of the post. Using the images from other users and
reposting them can be a great way to meet other users on Instagram, however the per-
mission for use should first be asked from the person owning the copyright to that image.
(Zimmerman 2013, 249.)

Unlike in traditional marketing, in social media the customers actually does not want the
companies to brand too much. The consumers on Instagram want to see what is happen-
ing behind the scenes rather than getting posts just about the brand and the products.
Personalised content also makes the brand much more relatable. (Wood 2015, 142.)

3.6 Social Analytics

On Instagram the followers may like or comment on your photos, or both. If customers like
the post they will tell this by commenting or linking the photo. If, on the other hand, the
followers dislike the image or seem to be upset or otherwise insulted by certain images
they either are not engaging or they will tell this by commenting. This will guide the com-
pany as to which type of content they should be sharing. To make sure that the visitors
are getting the most out of the shared content the company needs to listen to the feed-
back they get. It is important to read into the likes and dislikes for the images, as well as
the comments. This information is not only going to help a company to determine which
type of content the visitors enjoy, but also allow them to modify it in the future. (Asad
2014, 7-11.)

The engagement happening on Instagram also starts discussions about the brand and the
products. By keeping up with the comments and interaction between followers is great

28
way to learn about what they think about the brand and the content posted on Instagram.
By analysing the outcomes the company will get the advantage to post interesting content
and so to stand out from their competitors. (Asad 2014, 7-11.)

Instagram does not have its own analytics tool. Yet, there are many third party applica-
tions providing analytics for Instagram. By using analytical tools that the company can
optimize their work on Instagram. The analytic tool will help the company to dial in the
Instagram sharing so that they can accomplish more in less time. (Miles 2014, 201.) The
analytic tools can provide the answer to the following questions (Miles 2014, 201):

1. How to increase the number of followers more quickly

2. What time of the day should the content be posted
3. What day of the week should the content be posted
4. What type of content should be posted
5. How many people are coming from Instagram to the company website
6. Which are the most effective hashtags

3.7 Useful third-party tools for Instagram

There are a lot of tools available for Instagram users to manage their posts. These tools
can substantially improve the Instagram content and help to work according to the com-
pany’s strategy. They can be used for example to edit the images, manage the account,
an integrate Instagram into website and other social media accounts. (Miles 2014, 199.)
Just to give few examples, below there are few of the popular tools presented and their
main idea explained.

Iconosquare - Iconosquare gives the user the key metrics about their Instagram account.
The tool gives the user information about the total number of likes received, your most
liked photos ever, the average number of likes and comments per photo, the growth
charts and more advantaged analytics. (Iconosquare 2015.)

Simply Measured - Simply Measured offers marketers analytics tools for social media
platforms, also Instagram. It offers full reports on web, excel and power point (Simply
Measured 2015).

Latergramme - Latergramme allows a user to manage and schedule their posts. This
enables them to make sure that the posts receive the most engagement as possible. The
tool also enables the user to add team members to collaborate on Instagram. (Latergram.)

29
Splitpic 2.0 – Splitpic is used to create creative pictures. It provides the user the ability to
divide their camera into several sections allowing them to take some interesting shots
(Google 2015).

Instasize – Instasize allows the user to edit and post entire photos and videos. It offers
also professional film inspired filters, localized creative stickers and borders, perfect
touch-up adjustments and unique collage frames (Apple Inc. 2015).

#TopHahtags – shows the current most popular hashtags on Instagram (#TopHashtags

2015).

InstaFollow – lets the user to see who is following them, who they follow that is not fol-
lowing them and who is following them but they are not following (Miles 2014, 197).

3.8 Intellectual property rights on Instagram

Intellectual property rights apply also on Instagram. Instagram is helping their users to
protect their intellectual property rights. The Instagram Terms of Use do not allow posting
content that violates someone else’s intellectual property rights. This includes both copy-
rights and trademark. (Instagram 2015.)

Copyright protects the original works of authorship, like books, music, film and art. Gener-
ally, copyright protects original expression such as words or images. In addition trademark
protects work, slogan, symbol and design that distinguishes the products or services of-
fered. Instagram allows users to inform in case the notice that there is a violation of one of
the two on the site. (Instagram 2015.)

Instagram does not claim ownership rights of any content posted through the service. In-
stead, the user grants a non-exclusive, fully paid and royalty-free, transferable, sub-
licensable, worldwide license to use the content to Instagram. (Instagram 2015.) This
means that the photos posted on Instagram is still owned by the user who posted them.
When user posts a photo to Instagram they are not giving up ownership for most uses
outside of Instagram, any third party should be obtaining permission from photo owner.
(Harris 2015.)

3.9 Summary

After online marketing and social media marketing came along the approach has changed
radically. Consumers are using more and more time on the social media sites. This means

30
the companies need to adapt this new way of communication as fast as possible in order
to keep up with the competition.

Today, social media is definitely the key channel for reaching customers. The Internet has
opened many new possibilities but also challenges for companies to market to their target
audience. Hence it is important to understand how to use the social media and how the
company can benefit from it as a part of their marketing strategy. The process includes
planning and testing.

There are many different types of social networking sites for companies to choose the
most suitable ones for their business strategy. Instagram is definitely one of the most in-
teresting social media sites at this time. Instagram was the first site that was “born mobile”
and it became a hit instantly.

Instagram is a valuable tool for marketers who want to get their brand known. It’s secret
lies on the fact that it is mainly based on the visual elements. The consumers can process
brand messages much faster through images than through textual approaches. This does
not only make Instagram very effective but also time-efficient and easy to manage.

Already more than half of the biggest brands are present on Instagram. The Instagram
account should be created to support the brand and it should be easily recognised. The
profile needs to have all the necessary information and also additional information that
makes the profile interesting.

The actual magic on Instagram happens with the images and videos that it shared with
the followers and other users. Engagement refers to the interaction that is posted on con-
tent shared on Instagram. This can be understood as likes, comments or people following
the profile. All these interactions are important for the overall Instagram marketing and
they are metrics that show how the company is doing their work. To provoke the level of
engagement the company needs to understand the different factors that are affecting the
shift. The main factors to enhance engagement are: creating great content, following other
interesting users, being proactive, and using industry related hashtags. Instagram can
also easily be integrated with the other social media sites that a company uses.

Social analytics helps the company to understand the results of their work. Instagram
does not have its own analytic tools but there are many third-party apps available for that.
The third party tools help the company to make their Instagram account function better
and according to their strategy.

31
4 Empirical part

4.1 Target of research

This study was conducted in order for the owner of MI.NO shoes, Johanna Keltto, to im-
prove the company’s understanding of its customers’ behaviour online and also to under-
stand the significance of Instagram as a part of their social media marketing strategy.

For MI.NO shoes, social media offers an effective and cost-efficient way to market to its
customers and raise brand awareness. Instagram is one of the most popular channels
and as such is a great channel for MI-NO shoes to get to know and interact with its cus-
tomers. It offers the company the opportunity to share creative and personal content to
attract more followers.

The theoretical findings provide the foundation for the empirical analysis of the case com-
pany. Primary focus is given to the company’s need to create the strategy for its Insta-
gram account as well as tips on how to manage it and how to use it effectively in brand
communication, as well as common pitfalls to avoid.

4.2 Methodology

The theoretical part is based on the concepts and theories from relevant academic and
other literature. The data was collected in order to answer the four objectives and the two
investigative questions of the thesis.

The methodology used in the research is case study research. This served as a suitable
method considering the research topic and questions. The methodology includes three
tasks; designing a case study, collecting the study’s data, analysing the data, and present-
ing and reporting the results (Yin 2012, 3). The case study research was used for the
start-up fashion retail store, MI.NO shoes. Fashion businesses have especially found In-
stagram marketing as a very effective marketing tool and this makes MI.NO shoes a good
case candidate for this type of research.

The theoretical background has set the foundation for conducting the case study. The
theories and concepts reviewed will be used to analyse the Instagram account of the case
study company. The case study is of primary research and the theoretical research will be
used to support the findings. Certain information and data was collected through second-
ary sources such as blogs, company websites and popular literature.

32
4.3 Research process

The research process of this thesis included the following steps:

Finding the topic and defining the purpose of the thesis

Defining the research ques5ons and selec5ng the methodological approach

Data collec5on and literature review for theore5cal part

Data analysis and empiricalf findings

Interpren5ng the results through discussion and conclusions

Figure 9 Research process flowchart

The research process started with finding an interesting topic to investigate. After finding
the topic and a case company the purpose of the thesis was outlined. The research ques-
tions were defined according to the desired outcome. Case study was chosen as the most
suitable methodological approach for the subject. The data collection and literature review
was conducted to provide the information to the theoretical part. The data analysis was
done on the basis of this research for the case company. Lastly, the results were inter-
preted through discussion and findings.

4.4 Validity and reliability

The quality of the research is typically assessed by the reliability and validity of the
sources used in the data collection. Case study design needs to maximise the quality
through four critical conditions related to the quality identification: construct validity, inter-
nal validity, external validity and reliability. The investigators can deal with these aspects
of quality control in doing case studies with different case study tactics. (Yin 2009, 3.) Al-
so, it is important to keep in mind the quality of the data sources during both data collec-
tion and data analysis. To ensure the reliability of the research data in this study, collect-
ing and reviewing documentation that was relevant to the background of the thesis topic
was carried out.

Secondary data sources such as books, articles and reputable blogs were used to support
the empirical findings allowing for comprehensive findings in connection with the research
objectives. To increase the validity, the relevant concepts of the theoretical section were
reviewed during both data collection and analysis. A challenge in data analysis was the
fact that the case company had recently cleared its Instagram account of some content,

33
meaning that there was not as much content to be reviewed as initially thought out. This
hurdle was eventually overcome as the company released more content.

4.5 Current situation of MI.NO shoes Instagram account

The following chapters will analyse the current situation of MI.NO shoes’ Instagram ac-
count and making further suggestions for improvement in light of the theoretical back-
ground.

As discussed in the chapter 2.1 and 2.3, today, it is very important for any company to be
present on social media. Even though the traditional marketing still plays a role in the
marketing world, digital marketing and social media marketing provides marketers a much
more cost-efficient and timesaving option. Social media sites like Instagram have been
found very effective especially for smaller companies like MI.NO shoes.

The best is to use the right mix of the different medias. The company should create a
marketing strategy that also includes the social media channels it uses currently or what
channels would it like to use. The company should choose the social media sites it wants
to use according to the business and brand. Being present on only couple of the social
media sites and doing it well is much more effective than using them all but not really hav-
ing the right knowledge or time to manage them. Also the integration between sites should
be done to create a link between the different sites and the contents. MI.NO shoes is cur-
rently present on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest which suits its business well as it
works in the fashion industry. The company should create a solid plan and schedule to
manage all the different sites but still keeping them connected.

Instagram provides MI.NO shoes not only the opportunity to communicate to its consum-
ers but also following other brands and designer in the same industry. As discussed on
the chapters 3.2 Instagram is a valuable tool for marketers who want to get their brand
known. In addition, the interaction with the customers online helps the company to create
loyal following, and allows for constant word-of-mouth promotion to help growing the cus-
tomer base. For, MI.NO shoes it is vital to grow the customer base as fast as possible in
order to compete with the other start-up companies sharing the same market. With Insta-
gram the company can communicate with innovative and inspirational images and videos
rather. It is much faster to get the brand message across by using the visual elements of
Instagram than through textual approaches.

34
Figure 10 Screenshots from MI-NO shoes Instagram account in October 2015
(@minoshoes)

In reflection to the chapter 3.3 MI.NO shoes Instagram account’s profile is informative and
clear. The company has its logo as a profile picture, which makes it easy for the custom-
ers to recognise the brand. The description includes the company brand name as well as
simple sentence of what it does. The description also includes an offer “free delivery
worldwide”- to catch ones attention. There is also the link to MI.NO shoes website so that
the viewer can visit their online store and find their products on sale with just one click.

The company´s Instagram account does not seem to have very many followers compared
to how long it has been present on Instagram. Also the number of users it is following
could be increased. By following interesting users and being more active also on its behalf
it is more likely to attract new followers to the account. To conclude, MI.NO shoes has
created an attractive Instagram account but there is room for improvement. This analysis
will provide the company the knowledge it needs to understand how to improve in order to
become successful marketer on Instagram.

4.5.1 Content

In the chapter 3.4 there are presented the subjects related to the content on Instagram. It
is important for a marketers to create interesting and powerful content on Instagram to
boost the level of engagement. The content can be about products, employees, events
etc. In addition, special offers, contest and giveaways are a great way to create content
that gets a lot of attention.

35
MI.NO shoes has shared only few pictures after their “makeover”. The company cleared
out the previous posts and started fresh with new content. The company is now sharing
content about their products, employees, people and events. There has also been one
post offering a discount for their web store.

The pictures are good quality but also personalized. Especially, the product pictures sup-
port the high quality and high-end product kind of image also the brand is all about. In
contrast, the pictures of the employees and events is creating the more friendly-kind-of
feeling and making also the brand more relatable for the viewers. These types of pictures
let the viewer to know that there is a person behind the brand and that often makes the
other users more willing to comment and engage with the brand.

The descriptions in the pictures are relevant and inspirational. Also, in general, the has-
tags are used effectively and there are not too many of them. According to the sugges-
tions on chapter 3.4.4 the suggested number of hastags are between 2 and 10. The has-
tags will be discussed more in the chapter 4.3.4.

According to the chapter 3.4 posting 3-5 times a week on Instagram is more than suffi-
cient. Moreover, being active on Instagram does not mean the company needs to spend
hours every day to plan their post. As presented in the chapter 2.2.1 the content for social
media sites can easily be planned beforehand. The company can for example plan the
content for the Instagram account in one day for the whole week or even the whole month.
This way it does not have to spend too much time for it but it seems that they are actively
involved. Here, the third party tools like Latergramme become handy as the content can
be scheduled beforehand.

Here is an example of a monthly content calendar for Instagram made according to the
theoretical research about content planning and scheduling:

Monthly Content Calendar - December

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday

Week Instagram Christmas Special Happy

48 Contest feeling offer for Independ-
picture from Christmas ence Day -
the store shoppers post

Week Christmas Product Inspira-

49 present picture tional
ideas picture

36
 Week Campaign Free deliv- Picture Product
50 picture ery-post from the pictu-
company tu-
Christmas re/Present
event ideas

Week Picture Merry Inspira-

51 from the Christmas- tional
store post picture

Week Post about Happy New

52 the upcom- New Year- products
ing season post

Figure 11 Example of a monthly content calendar for Instagram

The content calendar should consist of a balanced mix of promotional, owned and curated
content. Taking into account the seasonal events provides ideas for campaigns and other
content. In relation to the content calendar the company should also find the best time for
engagement. Chapter 3.4.1 presents some suggestions for the best time to post the con-
tent based on analytics. In connection to the company´s target audience the best time to
post the content would probably be either in the morning or during lunchtime. However,
the best way to find the best time(s) for the company to connect with their followers can be
done simply by experimenting.

4.5.2 Engagement

The following chapter will analyse engagement, tagging, hashtags, integration with other
social media site as well as the possibility of videos more detailed and point out the things
the company is doing well but also discussing the parts where there is room for improve-
ment. In addition the chapter will provide suggestions how to manage the different factors
even better. The analysis is based on the theoretical framework in chapter 3.4 and its
subchapters.

37
Figure 12 Screenshots from photos of MI-NO shoes posted by the other users on
Instagram (@minoshoes)

The engagement is a critical metric to provide information of how successful the company
is on Instagram. There are many ways that the level of engagement can be improved, like
sharing interesting content, promoting other people, asking questions, including both
branding and fun, talking to the followers directly, using quality images, using third-party
apps and analysing the outcomes and finding the content that is the most successful for
bringing in engagement. MI.NO shoes account has yet gained about 200 followers, no
naturally the engagement is still very little. However, what the company, in my opinion,
has been very successful in is that it gets many tags on other users pictures. The other
users like bloggers and customers are sharing the images of the products and tagging
them to their pictures. They also most often mention the username @minoshoes on their
description that will guide the viewer to access the company’s own account as well. The
tagging will be discussed more in chapter 4.3.3.

People seem to quite actively like the content (in comparison to the number of followers)
but they are not leaving many comments. Maybe the company is not active themselves or
the viewer does not feel confortable enough to leave a comment. The company should
encourage the viewers to leave comments by commenting themselves and being social
active. It is very important that the consumers on Instagram see that there is a person
behind the brand. This makes them much more comfortable to engage with the brand.

The engagement does not only important in the company point of view but also for the
consumers. Many use Instagram to learn about the company’s products and the experi-

38
ences of the previous customers about the brand at their product. More engagement often
tells that the brand is trustworthy and shows that it has a loyal customer base.

4.5.3 Tagging

• Brand
(@minoshoes)

• Designer
(@toryburch)

• Model (@ninnulas)

Figure 13: Screenshot from @minoshoes Instagram account: tagging

Tagging other users on the photos is not only useful for marking the brand and people but
it shows that the company care about the other users too. Being social on Instagram is
very important for a company. As the theoretical framework shows, being a company and
being an individual on Instagram is not so different from one another. Tagging other users
to pictures also make the content more informative as it pinpoints the objects and tells the
viewer what they are or who are they from. Similarly the other users may tag @minoshoes
to their pictures of their products or events.

4.5.4 Hashtags

In chapter 3.4.4 of the theoretical framework questions like: What is a hashtag? How to
use them to make the content searchable? How can one make own hashtags?, are re-
viewed. Hashtags really play an important role on Instagram. When the company finds the
right hashtags to use it can really enhance the number of visitors to its Instagram profile.
The hashtags can be about the brand, location, product, quote, event, designer etc. as
mentioned before the

In general, MI.NO shoes has found suitable hashtags to use in its posts as well as it is
using its own brand hashtag. Below there are two posts selected from @minoshoes pro-

39
file. The use of hashtags as well as the relativity to their business is analysed. In addition
there are presented suggestions and tips for future improvement.

Figure 14 Screenshots from @minoshoes Instagram account: hashtags 1

Hashtags used in the post are #minoshoes #minimalnordic #discount #specialoffer #tory-
burch #aw15 #booths #favorites #fallfashion. There is a hashtag for example of the brand,
purpose, designer, season, campaign, product and other related hashtags. The hashtags
are used effectively and the number of them does not exceed the suggested maximum
number of 10. Hence there is a great possibility for both that more people visit the profile
and that the right type of visitors will find it.

Figure 15 Screenshots from @minoshoes Instagram account: hashtags 2

40
Hashtags used in the picture are #parisfashionweek and #minoshoes. In this picture the
company is using only the minimum number of hashtags. Even though, it is more of a sit-
uational picture it does not mean this could not attract people to visit the profile. With crea-
tive use of hashtags even in this type of content the hashtags can result more visitors to
the profile. Moreover, when visiting one picture the visitors often visit the other content
from the same user as well.

Sometimes it might be difficult to come up with the hashtags, especially good ones. One
good tip is to split the already taken hashtags, like in this case in addition to #parisfash-
ionweek the user could use hashtags like #paris and #fashion. Also, as it is a situational
picture the hashtags could relate to that moment, like in this case #flowershop #flowers
#spring. However, the majority of the hashtags should have a strong connection to the
business.

4.5.5 Integration with other channels

Figure 16 Screenshot from @minoshoes Instagram account: integration with other

channels

As stated in the theoretical framework, the integration with other marketing channels is
very important. On Instagram it is easy to share content that will attract the followers to
visit and to join the other marketing channels as well. In the picture above, the company is
trying to get people to sign up for its newsletter. To attract the visitors they offer a voucher
as a gift for signing up. Also, there are some Integration between Instagram and Face-
book. The company could also try sharing some picture straight from their Instagram ac-
count. Also, there is not so much Integration between Pinterest and the other platforms.

41
The company could use some creative tools to make a connection to Pinterest. When the
different social media sites are linked together also the communications towards the cus-
tomers is much more effective. It also creates consistency when the content is similar to
between all the company’s social media sites.

4.5.6 Videos

Videos are fairly new on Instagram and the marketers are just learning how to use them
effectively. As it is stated on the chapter 3.4.3 videos are getting more and more popular
in social media marketing and also on Instagram. MI.NO shoes has not yet used any vid-
eos on their Instagram. As video marketing is growing its popularity especially in fashion
world; also MI-NO shoes’ should start posting this type of content. Instagram offers a
great way to get started because of the short length of the videos. Instagram allows users
to post videos that are 15seconds long. To get started, the company could analyse other
successful brands and learn what type of videos they are posting. Like for example @hm,
@zara and @topshop posts popular videos on their Instagram accounts. Here are few
examples from which MI.NO shoes could get some inspiration to produce their own Insta-
gram videos:

Product picture with movement by @hm: https://instagram.com/p/85_l0ugUX3/?taken-

by=hm.

Slideshow by @hm: https://instagram.com/p/8di6rZgUa_/?taken-by=hm.

Only the background or parts of it is moving by @hm:

https://instagram.com/p/7c5AQbAUW7/?taken-by=hm.

Adding music by @topshop: https://instagram.com/p/8s_0OlhSuQ/?taken-by=topshop.

Behind the scenes by @topshop: https://instagram.com/p/8AZdJOhSjW/?taken-

by=topshop.

Integration with other social media platforms (Blog&Pinterest) by @topshop:

https://instagram.com/p/7ngz7mhSih/?taken-by=topshop &
https://instagram.com/p/7sqiDyhSqD/?taken-by=topshop.

“Key pieces” by @zara: https://instagram.com/p/8TKDbrC_eI/?taken-by=zara.

Campaign videos by @zara: https://instagram.com/p/6XOJq7i_TP/?taken-by=zara.

42
Chapter 3.8 discussed the problem with intellectual copyrights on Instagram. Similarly to
picture copyrights the same rules also apply to videos. It is important to remember the
copyright restrictions before posting the video and for example adding music to. Many
would probably not think a 15 second long clip of their video or music as an infringement
of copyright, but to avoid any risks the permission of use should always be asked or
bought.

4.6 Summary

It seems that the company has already done many things right on Instagram. The compa-
ny has a good and informative profile page that will lead the visitor to their website. The
brand is easy to identify as it uses a logo as the profile picture and also states its mission
below. This way the visitor will within no time learn what the company is all about.

In general, the content is good and as is the use of hashtags, tags and descriptions. How-
ever, the number of the followers as well as the engagement should be increased. In or-
der to do this, there are some suggestions for improvement. The company should build a
plan for all their social media platforms, including Instagram. This helps them find the time
to be more active but also by not using too much time to do so. If the company does not
have enough time to post new current content everyday they could use a scheduling plan.
Also, being active does not only mean posting content everyday but also the company
should actively socialise on Instagram. Responding to the comments, liking others pic-
tures as well as finding the right users to follow is as important.

The company has already used different types of content but they could still be even more
creative and try something new. Especially for many other companies in the fashion in-
dustry the 15-second long videos have been found very effective tools for marketing on
Instagram.

Lastly, it is important to create a connection between the other social media sites. The
company has already some content that encourages the viewer to visit other social media
platform(s), however they could do more on this front. Also by taking pictures of press
releases or ads in magazines creates a link between the social media and the traditional
channels as well.

43
5 Discussion

The discussion presents the results of the thesis. The discussion offers conclusions on the
basis of the results and presents development ideas and suggestions for further research.

Social media is definitely an important tool for marketers today. It has created a totally
new way for them to reach their customers, which has brought some difficulties with it.
Instagram is a good example of this because user behaviour is not very different whether
you are acting as a company or an individual.

MI.NO shoes is a fashion start-up company that has already used social media quite effi-
ciently in its digital marketing strategy and also in supporting it’s the other marketing tools.
On Instagram the company has been present for sometime already but they are still look-
ing for the right approach.

Generally the company is doing well and you can see they are constantly looking for new
creative ways to market on Instagram. However, there is still a lot of room for improve-
ment and more importantly the company needs to come up with a clear and solid strategy
for Instagram. This would make the content more consistent and effective. But then again
this is why they presumably wanted to clear the content from their profile a few months
ago and start from scratch.

The empirical part analysed the current situation and the content the company is currently
posting. It seems that the company is on the right track and actually a lot of the time using
very good content. There are, however, many small things that could be done even better.
The biggest issue is that the profile has not yet attained proper engagement and still has a
small number of followers. This is actually the main goal and with those little improve-
ments the company might be able to gain a lot more attention.

According to the analysis the main points for improvement for @minoshoes are:

• Being more active; responding, being present and rewarding their loyal followers
• Following more of others; both individuals and other brands
• Commenting and liking other users photos
• Posting content more often
• Using a greater variety of content
• Using hashtags more effectively
• Start posting videos

44
 • Creating more integration with the other channels

With Instagram MI.NO shoes can communicate to their customers and raise their brand
awareness effectively. If the company will keep on learning and activate more socially it
will be extremely beneficial for the company. Also, the fashion industry loves Instagram
and its visual approach. There are many companies coming up with new ideas to market
and communicate. Social media is something where learning from others is not actually so
bad but is actually worthwhile and will save a lot of resources and time.

The company should build a strategy and start testing it. Even though there are many
good tips for communicating on Instagram only by testing can the company know what
really works for itself. This requires time and analysis. The company could utilize some
third-party tool, like Iconosquare, for the Instagram analytics to learn the best ways to get
engagement and the most popular content. With the use of analytic tools it is also easy to
learn the best time for posting, most popular hashtags and also who are its followers and
where they come from. It is important to know all this in order to produce the best content
the company can. Only by understanding their audience and knowing what they want, can
the company use Instagram effectively.

When acting on social media there are also some ethical and legal viewpoints that should
considered. Even though the limitations of using pictures are fairly minimal, it does not
mean that using other peoples’ pictures without asking them or giving them the credit they
deserve makes the company look good. By tagging people to photos or sharing the infor-
mation about who originally took the pictures is only fair and in the worst case the compa-
ny avoids any possible copyright violations. Another thing that should be considered is
when the company is posting photos taken at stores, events or other public places it is
polite to inform the people in the photos that they are posted on the company’s social me-
dia site. If it seems a lot of work one can also make a note that tells the people entering
the place that there are pictures taken to the purpose of posting them on the social media
sites. This is not necessary, however, acting ethically and thinking about others makes the
company more likable among the customers.

The thesis process went well. Thus, some of the assumptions made in the beginning were
changed during the data collection. In the beginning it was a little difficult to find valid
sources for the data collection since the topic still has fairly little research done on it.
Eventually as the right portals were used the available sources were easier to find. Also
as the process went further the sources and the new knowledge raised new ideas to im-
prove the structure of the thesis. The findings deepened the knowledge about the subject

45
of social media marketing and about Instagram in specific. Moreover it raised new ques-
tions and ideas for further studies. The findings will most certainly come in handy in both
personal and business use of Instagram. The gained knowledge can also be shared to
guide others and adapted to other Instagram accounts.

46
6 Conclusions

6.1 Main Findings

For any company, Instagram can be found very useful when used right. At first, it might
seem simple and easy to use but in fact it needs a well-planned and solid strategy to work
for the benefit of the company. In addition Instagram provides room for creativity and in-
novation for marketers to create interesting and personalised content.

As Instagram is predominantly based on communication through visual elements like im-

ages and videos it creates a totally new way for marketers to communicate to customers.
On Instagram also the approach is much more relaxed and the communication between
the customer and the company is done on more friendly basis.

The most critical metric to measure on the success of Instagram is the level of engage-
ment. Engagement can be understood as the liking, commenting and following by the oth-
er users. To enhance engagement the company should not only understand the environ-
ment on Instagram but also learn what are the most effective ways to communicate to
their followers.

Another thing that makes Instagram stand out from other marketing channels is that the
involvement goes both ways; the users that follow the company expect the company to
follow them back, as well as like and comment their content.

According to the findings the main characteristics for successful Instagram marketing are:
• Be active; comment, like and share other user’s content
• Follow selected users; both individuals and other brands
• Using interesting and personalised content
• Posting content at least once a day
• High variety of content
• Use Instagram videos
• Using brand related hashtags
• Creating integration between the other social media channels

When a company has successfully adapted Instagram as a part of their social media plan
and learned how to use it in the most efficient way, the company can get a competitive
advantage towards the other brands. Marketing on Instagram can both increase the com-
pany sales and raise brand awareness rapidly.

47
6.2 Suggestions for further research

Instagram marketing as well as social media marketing is still at its early stages of devel-
opment and is constantly evolving. Businesses have started to increasingly put im-
portance on social media marketing. Yet, very little research has been conducted on In-
stagram marketing for business purposes. In terms of the future there is no doubt that
having a successful and strong social media marketing strategy will get tougher. The new
players and digital development forces companies to be more innovative than ever at both
a human and technical level. This means that the most creative marketers that are pro-
ducing new and innovative content will be getting tons of attention.

Furthermore an interesting aspect for further research is the copyright violations on Insta-
gram and also on the other social media sites. According to the research there is still a lot
of misunderstanding and confusion among this subject. Hence this would be both interest-
ing and important to investigate more deeply and the findings would be extremely valuable
for companies that want to avoid any risks for misuse or copyright violation.

48
References

Apple Inc. 2015. Instasize – photo & video editor. URL:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/instasize-photo-video-editor/id576649830?mt=8. Ac-
cessed 03.10.2015

Asad, I. 2014. Instant profits with Instagram: build your brand, explode your business.
Amazon Digital Services, Inc.

Bertoni, S. 2012. How Ssanford made Instagram instant success. Forbes. URL:
http://ezproxy.haaga-helia.fi:2067/ehost/detail/detail?vid=11&sid=5844bcc2-c31d-4e24-
a342-
729f0f67461c%40sessionmgr112&hid=107&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3
d#AN=78323862&db=bsh. Accessed 20.09.2015

Chaffey, D. Ellis-Chadwick, F. Mayers, R.Johnston, K. 2009. Internet marketing Fourth

edition. Pearson Education Ltd. England

Delo, C. 2013. Brands recycle ads for Instagram video. Crain Communications, Incorpo-
rate. URL: http://search.proquest.com/docview/1412336525?accountid=27436. Accessed
26.09.2015.

Evans, D. 2012. Social media marketing: an hour a day. Second edition. Verkkojulkaisu
Ebrary Academic Complete. John Wiley & Sons. Accessed 26.09.2015.

Evans, D. McKee, J. 2010. Social media marketing. Sybex, Wiley Publishing, Inc. Indian-
apolis, Indiana.

Foulger, M. 2014. The social media manager’s definitive glossary. Hootsuite Social Media
Management. URL: http://blog.hootsuite.com/social-media-managers-definitive-glossary-
2014/. Accessed 26.09.2015

Globalwebindex. 2015. GWI social summary. URL: https://www.globalwebindex.net/hs-

fs/hub/304927/file-2812772150-pdf/Reports/GWI_Social_Summary_Report_Q1_2015.pdf.
Accessed 26.09.2015

49
Globalwebindex. 2015. GWI social summary report Q1. URL:
http://www.thewebmate.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/GWI-Social-Report-Q1-
2015.pdf. Accessed 26.09.2015

Google 2015. Split Pic 2.0. – clone yourself. URL:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rosberry.splitpic.newproject&hl=fi. Ac-
cessed 03.10.2015

Harris, L. 2015. Instagram and copyright – what are the terms of use? URL:
http://www.copyrightlaws.com/creators/instagram-and-copyright-what-are-the-terms-of-
use/. Accessed 30.10.2015

Heinerth, J. 2014. Choosing the best video sharing services. Diver Magazine. Seagraphic
Publications Ltd.

Hellberg, M. 2015. Visual brand communication on Instagram: A study on consumer en-

gagement.

Hempel, J. 2014. Instagram is ready to take its shot. Fortune. URL: http://ezproxy.haaga-
helia.fi:2067/ehost/detail/detail?vid=12&sid=5844bcc2-c31d-4e24-a342-
729f0f67461c%40sessionmgr112&hid=107&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3
d#AN=96966513&db=bsh. Accessed 20.09.2015

Herman, J. 2014. Create an effective hashtag strategy for Instagram. URL:

http://curatti.com/create-an-effective-hashtag-strategy-for-instagram/. Accessed
27.09.2015

Iconosquare. 2015. Key metrics about your Instagram account. URL:

http://iconosquare.com. Accessed 03.10.2015

Instagram. 2015. Instagram. URL: http://instagram.com/about/faq/#. Accessed 26.09.2015

Instagram. 2015. Intellectual property. URL:

https://help.instagram.com/535503073130320/. Accessed 30.10.2015

Jamieson, H. 2007. Visual Communication: More than meets the eye. Bristol: Intellect
Books.

50
Kabani, S.. 2010. The zen of social media marketing. Benbella Books, Inc. Dallas, Texas

Kaplan, A & Haenlein, M. 2010. Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportuni-
ties of Social Media. URL: http://openmediart.com/log/pics/sdarticle.pdf. Accessed
26.09.2015

Keltto, J. August 2015. Interview with MI.NO shoes’ founder Johanna Keltto.

Klie, L. Firms should embrace Instagram. 13 of March 2015. Insight. CRM Trends and
News Analytics

Lee, K. 2014. How to schedule social media content for next week, next month, and next
year. URL: https://blog.bufferapp.com/schedule-social-media-content-plan. Accessed
18.10.2015.

Latergramme. Schedule & manage your Instagram posts. URL: https://www.latergram.me.

Accessed 03.10.2015.

Malin, N. 2014. “When life gives u lemons, go for a #run. #mindfullofthoughts”. Finnish
sports and fitness people’s use of English on Instagram. Master’s Thesis. English Philolo-
gy. Department of Modern Languages. University of Helsinki.

Miles, J. 2014. Instagram Power. McGraw-Hill Education books. USA.

Moreau, E. What’s the best time of day to post on Instagram. 2015.

http://webtrends.about.com/od/Instagram/fl/Whats-the-Best-Time-of-Day-to-Post-on-
Instagram.htm. Accessed 13.10.2015.

Neher, K. Visual Social Media Marketing #VSMM. 2013. First Edition. Boot Camp Publish-
ing, Cincinnati, Ohio.

Rohrs, J. 2014. Audience. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Hoboloen. New Jersey.

Rouhiainen, L. 17.4.2015. Video interview with Lasse Rouhiainen, international speaker

and author on social media and video marketing.

Sedrati, R. 5 tips for social selling success. 20.2.2015. Viewpoints

51
Simply measured. 2015. Instagram. URL:http://simplymeasured.com/instagram-
analytics/#i.byqwc917jxd8gp. Accessed 03.10.2015

Trong, T. 2014. A status analysis of current digital marketing: a case study of

Kauneusstudio FAB. Laurea University of Applied Sciences.

Vaartimo, J. 2015. Sisällöntuotannon painopisteen muutos. Pro gradu –tutkielma. Viestin-

tä. Sosiaalitieteiden laitos. Valtiotieteellinen tiedekunta. Helsingin Yliopisto.

Wood, C. 2015. How to use Instagram for business and pleasure. 23 Super Effective
Ways To Turn Your Instagram Followers Into Raving Fans. Amazon Digital Services, Inc.

Yin, R. 2012. Application of case Ssudy research. 3rd edition. SAGE Publications. Inc.
California USA

Yin, R. 2009. Case study research design methods. Fourth edition. SAGE Publications
Inc. California. USA

Young, Eric. 2015. How millennials get news: inside the habits of America’s first digital
generation. American Press Institute associated Press-NORC Centre for Public Affairs
Research. URL:
http://www.mediainsight.org/PDFs/Millennials/Millennials%20Report%20FINAL.pdf. Ac-
cessed 27.09.2015

Zimmerman, S.. 2013. Instagram basics for your business. Amazon Digital Services, Inc.

#TopHashtags. 2015. URL: http://top-hashtags.com/instagram/. Accessed 11.10.2015.

52