Leading Social Media Sites
Unbeknown to many businesses and internet businesses, Instagram is actually the second largest social network on the net. That’s right: it’s bigger than Twitter and second only to Facebook in terms of users with over 300 million users since December 2014. It’s growing fast (it had only 200 million nine months previously) and according to a survey conducted by Iconosquare this year, 70% of users have sought to follow a brand they like on the network. Instagram is apparently 18 times more effective for engagement as compared with Facebook and 41% of users say they enjoy hearing about offers and promotions through the site.
So in other words, you need to get your brand on Instagram. And if you’re already giving away promotional items, this gives you a fantastic way to quickly grow your following.
How to combine strategies
So how does it work?
Well, one of the best ways to use Instagram is to encourage your followers to get involved by uploading images promoting your brand. You can then offer to share the photos they upload with your audience which will be a fun way for them to be seen by a wider audience and which will work as a great incentive.
So if you’re already giving away free t-shirts with your products, you can mention in an included note that if they upload a photo wearing the shirt and tag it with your company name, you’ll share their picture. This then means your t-shirts and your logo will be seen by all of their followers, it will provide a steady flow of new content for your Instagram account (which you can also publish to your Facebook and Twitter) and it will create a fun way to re-engage with your visitors!
More Options
Another way to combine your Instagram strategy with your corporate gifts could be to give them away as prizes. Contests work very well on Instagram and if you invite people to tag you in photos, you can then award t-shirts to the best images every month. This is a strategy a few brands on Instagram already use (such as fitness brand Beyond the Weak) and it’s highly successful for them. Note that this will only work if you make your promotional items desirable. You do this partly by using high quality products in the first place but also by creating a brand that people can really get behind with a great mission statement and a great ethos. Don’t just look to make money, look to make the world happier, smarter, greener – and that way people will be proud to wear your shirts.
Of course another option is to include your branded items in your own pictures. So if you’re uploading a picture of your office at work, make sure to sneak a promotional mug or USB stick in there somewhere. It’s a small touch but it’s a great way to improve your brand’s visibility and to really sell the message!
