Social Media Instagram Advert Analysis

The intricate world of advertising dates back to the 18th century and with time

advertising has evolved into being highly organized. It is now considered the official art

of the 21st century industrial nations. People are swarmed with advertisements, they will

always see some form of advertisement on a daily basis. In fact, billboards, posters,

fliers, and other print media are visible almost everywhere. With the rise in the use of

new media, advertisements have even taken over the digital world. We not only

consume them on a daily basis, but also we consume the culture encoded within the

advertisements.

The essay aims to look at the social media Instagram as a platform for

companies to advertise.It will look at the use of this social media

from ordinary people
and advertisers: how advertisers use this platform to target audience as well as making
their audience advertise for them. It will also look at how advertisers use this platform to
create a consumer culture amongst the youth and adolescents.Furthermore, it will look
at how trends are created within this social networking and the use of “Hashtags”.
Society has subconsciously become part of the digi­global world which has made
a strong social and cultural impact upon society; one could refer to it as the single key to
connecting different cultures, religions and people together through various methods.

One such method is the use of the social networking platform called Instagram. “It is a

media­sharing online platform whose popularity has been rising up to gathering hundred

millions users. Instagram exhibits a mixture of features including social structure, social

tagging and media sharing. The network of social interactions among users models

various dynamics, including follower/followee relations and users' communication by

means of posts/comments. Users can upload and tag media such as photos and

pictures, and they can "like" and comment each piece of information on the platform.”

(Ferrara, E., Interdonato, R., & Tagarelli, A. 2014).

With the shift from old media to new media, companies have found several online

platforms where they could advertise to expand their audiences and reach out to

them.To understand why advertisers are shifting from old media to new media is by

analyzing the benefits of online advertising. There are several benefits to online

advertising such as the cost. Online advertising is fairly cheaper than the

traditional
advertisements.(Schumann, D.,1999) Social media in particular provide low­cost means
for advertisers to engage with larger communities as well as it is an established fact that
online advertisements bring in more returns than any other form of advertising.
Schumann (1999) points out another benefit that it is easy to measure and collect data
on the effectiveness of the advertisement.
It enables companies to measure and record the size of the their actual audience
as well as potential audience(Jansen, B., & Mullen, T.,2008). By recording and
measuring the data the company gathers, it allows them to calculate the effectiveness
and improve their campaigns over time.They are also able to record various other
factors such as how an individual reached their advertisement, if the advertisement was
persuasive enough to persuade an individual to buy a product and if the advertisement
actually loaded within the individual’s view. Schumann (1999) states that One of the
most important factors of advertising within the digital world is the availability of different
formats a company can use to present their promotional messages, these formats
include videos, images and even links that can lead their target audience to their
websites. Advertising on the internet can be very interactive for example a company can
incorporate video games to advertise. (Abramovich, G. 2013)
Advertisements via old media was able to reach out to only a certain radius,
however, with the easy accessibility to the internet, the population has increased
immensely in the online world which allows for online advertisements to reach the
masses without any issues. The online world has turned into a digi­global world where
an advertiser can reach anyone, anywhere in the world. An increase in coverage can
increase the sales for a company, as they are able to target a mass audience.
Publishers offer advertisers the ability to reach customizable and narrow market
segments for targeted advertising which enables advertisers to customize each
individual advertisement to a particular user not only based on factors such as age, sex,
and geographic location but also on their previous preferences. To reduce unwanted
repetitious exposures of an advertisement, advertisers can track whether a user has
already viewed a particular ad or not.If they have then they would provide adequate
time gaps between exposures Schumann, D. W., & Thorson, E. (1999).. Advertisements
need to be positioned and repositioned online to ensure that the user does not become
accustomed to the advertisement and that the advertisement does not become
predictable because if they become predictable then users get used to it and are more
susceptible to tuning them out. One last factor as to why online advertising is replacing
the conventional advertising is due to the speed of online advertising. This is a fast
mean of reaching a mass audience. As soon as an advertisement is shot, they can be
deployed online as soon as possible. It allows advertisers to publish as many
advertisements they want. They can also recycle and replace advertisements if they
please to do without any hassle. ( "Revenue Outcomes Matter to Online Advertisers:
Advanced Automation Can Improve Efficiency And Results", N.D)
With keeping the aforementioned benefits of online advertisement in mind, the
essay will move on to discuss advertising on instagram.As advertisers dig their claws
into this new medium they have found that there are two ways that they can advertise
on instagram, the official way which is by becoming a “sponsor” and/or through just by
creating an account on the platform and by applying various techniques such as having
your followers advertise for you and using “hashtags”. On November 1st, 2013,
Instagram launched sponsored posts which allowed brands to advertise on the platform.
It initially started in America and then made its way to the United Kingdom. These
advertisements in terms of form are very similar to that of a typical instagram photo or
video. However, they can be distinguished from regular post as on the top right corner
of the post, it is marked with “sponsor” on a user's news feed and can be viewed by
anyone even if they are not following the said brand.(Sorokina, O. 2014). Sorokina
(2014) states that as of now, not all brands can pay their way into a user's’ Newsfeed.
Currently, instagram is hand picking their sponsors based on how successful a brand’s
account is ­ which is determined by their following. “Our aim is to make any
advertisements you see, feel as natural to Instagram as the photos and videos many of
you already enjoy from your favorite brands.” (Instagram as a Growing Business., n.d.).
The unofficial method of advertising on instagram is somewhat new to the
advertisement game.This type of advertising strays away from the conventional means
of advertising and becomes it’s own thing. A company would start out with creating an
instagram account and gain followers by using the medium to create innovative and
creative advertisements. With millions of users on instagram, brands are always finding
innovative ways to interact with their audience and to create a loyal following. Business’
would often put a link to their website and a brief note about the company’s goal as their
description which is located right underneath the username. Business’ would tend to
keep their description short, neat and catchy to attract attention.Business’ would often
link their website in the description to boost traffic to their website and for their followers
to see the wide variety they have to offer.(How to Use Instagram to Promote Your Brand
and Drive Sales. n.d.) Once the initial page setup is done, then come the creative part
which involves adding the content to the page. Unlike other social networking sites,
instagram is popular due to its visual­centric style which makes it a great space for
business’ to showcase their products.However, it does not guarantee that the product or
the business would succeed. According to How to Use Instagram to Promote Your
Brand and Drive Sales. it has been reported that social media does play an integral
part in making purchases
“While the number one influencer is their friends’ social media shares, a solid
38% say they’re influenced by a brand’s social media, and 35% are influenced by
retailers on social media”.(How to Use Instagram to Promote Your Brand and Drive
Sales. n.d.) The blog also states that business’ should not come off too pushy with their
advertising as it would be a turn off for the potential buyer. The blog also suggest to
make a good impression on potential buyers, a business should use professionally shot
photos to promote a product.

Color coordinating the products with the background can

show off the aesthetics as well as create a certain culture of the company. (How to Use

Instagram to Promote Your Brand and Drive Sales. n.d.) For example “DSWSHOES”

uses various products with different shades of green laid on top on of a green

sheet.This creates an eye­catching and visually aesthetic picture as well as showcases

the variety the company has to offer. (How to Use Instagram to Promote Your Brand

and Drive Sales. n.d.). The blog also discusses companies like Nike and Adidas’s use

of lifestyle photos to lure customers in.A lifestyle photo consists of life­inspired

backgrounds, scenes, and models which can be associated with the product. This

allows the user to picture themselves as they step into the model’s shoes. “by

presenting not only your products, but also the culture and lifestyle that surround them,

you’re strengthening your brand equity; that is, the feelings associated with the brand.”

(How to Use Instagram to Promote Your Brand and Drive Sales. n.d.). The blog

discusses another technique which is often implemented by business’ is setting up

offers and giveaways for their followers. This could be in the form of a special

discount
code which they could obtain by following the business’ account or by reposting a
certain photo which was already posted by the company. The blog suggests that “Pump
up your followers’ feeds with bonuses, special offers, and insider announcements. Since
41% of Instagrammers state that they follow, or would follow, a brand to take advantage
of perks and giveaways, give followers that incentive.” (How to Use Instagram to
Promote Your Brand and Drive Sales. n.d.). For example Martha Porter’s instagram
page “Burieddiamond” sends out exclusive updates and offers on her products via her
instagram page so her followers can “jump on the trend before anyone else.” (How to
Use Instagram to Promote Your Brand and Drive Sales. n.d.) She would often run out of
stock due to the increase in sales, sometime it would sell within minutes after she has
posted her products on her page. Martha stated that “By posting shop updates with item
release times on Instagram, I allow my customers to plan ahead and be ready to
purchase right when new items go live.” (How to Use Instagram to Promote Your Brand
and Drive Sales. n.d.)