Brands That Effectively Use Instagram to Sell

Instagram is the fastest growing social network, and many brands are getting on board to leverage it as another tool to not only curate their image, but to help bring in the big bucks. But how can brands sell without alienating their followers? Resourceful and creative brands can transform their platform into a social sales channel by creating trust and authenticity. Here’s a look at a few of those who do it well:

Herschel Supply Co.

Herschel Supply Co. creates backpacks, bags and accessories for the everyday traveler. It uses Instagram as its main channel, in which it promotes its philosophy of nature and travel with the #WellTraveled hashtag. This hashtag features regrams from Herschel Supply Co.’s customers posting photos of themselves as they journey throughout the world. This not only creates a sense of inclusion among its customers, but subtly promotes its product in an authentic way.

Ace Hotel

As opposed to a product, Ace Hotel is selling an experience. Its seven locations, from New Orleans to London, are steeped in history and culture. Ace Hotel’s Instagram feed highlights just that, whether featuring art photos or graphics from the streets. This is an excellent example of a brand that curates an image rather than constantly and blatantly self-promoting its services.

Christian Louboutin

The red sole of a pair of Louboutins is unmistakable by fashionistas, and Christian Louboutin’s Instagram account is just as remarkable. His Instagram board boasts glamor shots of his shoes, which further evokes the brand’s overall message of feeling lavish and luxe. He also provides a behind the scenes peek into the making and designing of his shoes, including photos of design sketches and images that inspire him. This gives followers the feeling of “insider access” and builds their excitement and desire as they watch a coveted shoe come to life.

Chobani

Chobani yogurt is traditionally a breakfast food, but its Instagram account tells a different story by providing various ways to eat the yogurt for any meal of the day. Its Instagram feed features daily recipes, offering value to followers by reinventing what traditional yogurt can be.

Nike

With more than 30 million followers, Nike is one of the top brands on Instagram. Its feed features breathtaking imagery and action shots that not only showcase its products in use but tell a powerful a story. On top of this, the people in these shots are of different genders, race and age, creating a diverse and inclusive audience. Nike is also known for some fantastic Instagram campaigns, such as PHOTOiD, which let users use their own Instagram photos as inspiration for a pair of personalized Nike sneakers.

The key here? There is no blatant selling — only storytelling. All of these brands develop quality, engaging content that provides value to their audience. This creates a connection with customers and enables them to more strongly identify with the brand. Such connection encourages action, such as liking and regramming, that produces real results.

Moderation

One growing digital trend is that social media channels have become search engines. Before buying a product or service, customers often research reviews, and that research is no longer limited to Google. Now, customers are turning to Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Yelp and more to see what people have to say. In fact, more than 88 percent of consumers are influenced by other consumers’ online comments. On that note, using social media as a customer service tool is one of the best tactics a brand can employ. Social media is built on community-generated content — it’s up to brands to moderate conversations, move them along in the right direction and keep a fair and friendly social media space. Below, I share two examples of negative feedback on social media and how to best respond to them.

Hotel customer: “I’m very disappointed with my experience at Aloha Hotel in Hawaii. Our room was beyond dirty when we first came in, and it took five hours for someone to come and clean after we called the front desk. The hallways and lobby also looked like they could use a cleaning. I can’t believe we took a vacation only to live in filth for a few days!”

Recommended response: “Hi, [insert name here]. Thank you so much for your feedback. We sincerely apologize that Aloha’s Hotel service was lacking. We have addressed your concerns about hotel cleanliness with our managers and staff to ensure that this does not happen again. We hope you’ll give us the opportunity to rectify things, and if you do visit us again, please ask for [insert name here]. I would love to meet with you and discuss this further.”

Shopper: “I received my new bikini from Bikinis-R-Us a week ago and wore it to the beach for the first time over the weekend. I’m extremely upset that while I was in the ocean, one of the tassels on the bottom ties came off. I can’t believe this happened after wearing it only once. I paid $100 for this bikini and expected it to be made of quality material. It was not worth the money, and I hate to think how else it might fall apart should I wear it again.”

Recommended response: “Hi, [insert name here]. At Bikinis-R-Us, we strive to make all our swimsuits high quality, and we truly apologize that this bikini was not up to standard. We’d be happy to send you a new pair of replacement bottoms — just message us your size. Or, you can message us your order number and email address and we will issue a prompt refund as well as email you a free shipping label to return the bikini. Let us know which you prefer and if you have any questions; we’re happy to fix this situation for you.”

In both cases, my goal was to offer an apology and solution while remaining calm and personable. Handling complaints via social networks is the same as dealing with them face-to-face, only with higher stakes because they’re etched into the web forever (and the worst way to handle a negative situation is to delete the complaint). The customer is always right — and they want to be listened to. Therefore, you should always apologize and address the customer’s specific concerns to show that you read and understood the post. When you deal with complaints effectively, disgruntled customers will be more likely to tell their friends and families about your brand its excellent customer service. Plus, it looks good to potential customers who stumble upon these comments in their research process.

Emerging Platforms: We Heart It

We Heart It is one of the most underrated social networking platforms out there. Essentially, this app is a hybrid between Pinterest and Instagram by acting as a bookmarking service that allows its users to add images to multiple collections. Whereas Pinterest focuses on links that direct back to a photo’s original source, We Heart It is really just about the images themselves for a bit of inspiration. Think of it as a mood board, or a digital form of wall collages made out of magazine cut-outs.

We Heart It has been under the radar, but with its quickly growing number of users (currently 30 million), it’s been catching the attention of brands such as Disney, Victoria’s Secret Pink, Old Navy, Macy’s, Vera Wang Princess and more. We Heart It’s demographic is mainly teenage girls and young female adults, with ages ranging from 15-24, but as it’s popularity continues to grow and more brands jump on board, I think it can open it up to a wider demographic.

So how can brands use We Heart It?

Take a look at Vera Wang Princess. By offering a behind the scenes look at a photo shoot, the brand was able to connect with its audience in a fun and playful way while promoting its unique combination of style and zest for life through authentic imagery.

In another example, Old Navy organizes its collections by clothing occasions. For example, “Currently On the Road” relates to travel wear, “Start to Finish” relates to athletic wear, and “Warmer Together” relates to fall and winter wear. 

Each collection features original images that show off Old Navy's clothes. The key here is that these images don’t look like they’re ripped from the pages of a catalog or website — they are candid and feature real people, not models. This highly increases the chances of a user liking these images and adding them to their own collections. It also creates versatility, meaning that the images could be added to a variety of collections as opposed to just a clothes collection. For example, the image below may not just be added to an athletic wear collection, but to workout or motivation collections, or even a travel collection when considering the stunning backdrop in the photo.

If the demographic of We Heart It does indeed grow, other brands who don’t cater to younger women can take advantage of the platform and learn from the brands already using it.

For example, Four Seasons could create collections of the cities its hotels are located in. Each collection could feature enticing images from that city, such as local restuarants and food and landmarks, all inspiring the user to take a trip to the location. On the other hand, Campbell’s Soup could not only have a collection featuring genuine and tasty-looking images of their soup in a bowl or on the stove, but it could create collections that play on ideas and feelings associated with the food. For example, one often associates cozy and cold days with soup. Images of a burning fireplace in a snug living room or a view from a snowy window and the like would make for an inspirational “warm” collection.

I'm interested to see how this platform evolves. For now, I heart We Heart It — and brands should, too.

5 Takeaways From Brands Who Rock the Content Game

The gold standard of content marketing is the branded blog. But when everyone has jumped on that bandwagon these days, it takes a lot more to stand out from the competition. Want to amp up your strategy? Tale a cue from those who did it right.

Build Credibility (Birchbox)

While Birchbox knows how to immerse its audience in more ways than one, its product reviews are a goldmine. Why? Because they help the brand build credibility. Traditionally the job of print magazines, product reviews are now also in the hands of bloggers and brands. Birchbox couples its content with customer reviews of its products, allowing customers to receive feedback they trust. Birchbox further fuels this strategy by rewarding customers with points when they leave sample reviews, which they can redeem at a later time.

Utilize Visual Content (GoPro)

GoPro’s stunning Instagram feed is a great example of how brands can use social media as a content marketing tool, as well as how content can be more than words — great content can be found in imagery. I think the brand’s Instagram grid can speak for itself; it carries a consistent aesthetic for cohesive but diverse photos that incite the adventurous, the wanderluster, or the thrill-seeker. The brand knows how to cater to its audience — and 8.7 million followers seem to agree.

Create a Unique Viewpoint (BarkBox)

Pet product company BarkBox’s blog BarkPost, “helps dogs share their stories with the world.” Instead of focusing on traditional how-to articles, BarkPost carved a niche by looking at everything from the viewpoint of a dog. The result? A playful voice and silly, lighthearted content; in other words, the key to the brand capitalizing on canine cuteness.

Be Innovative (Marriott)

Marriott, who launched an in-house content studio in 2014, is one of my favorite case studies when it comes to content strategies. After all, a hotel that can dub itself as a media company is pretty transformative and progressive. Its approach consists of scaling content, building a community around it, and driving commerce. One way they achieve this is with short films, such as French Kiss. While it was filmed at a Marriott hotel, there was no blatant advertising. Instead, it evoked an intimate connection and experience that helped generate more than 6 million views, and a related bookings promotion drove $500,000 in revenue for the brand.

Capitalize on Emotions (Lyft)
Lyft demonstrates a great example of brand storytelling with its #whyILyft stories, which feature small outtakes from Lyft drivers and passengers. Uplifting and smart, these human stories hit you right in the emotional gut. Displayed on the brand’s website, the content is also visually stunning, which helps the stories deliver all the more feels.

The Key to Authenticity

If content is king, then authenticity is queen. The latter comes when your digital voice is helpful, real, and meaningful. While it’s not a metric that can be easily measured, authenticity is identifiable — you know when something is on-brand or off-point. Authenticity ultimately makes a brand trustworthy.

Brands no longer control the message, but participate in a two-way conversation in which they share a message with consumers who can make their own voice heard at any time. Thus, authenticity is key to an engaged audience and building real relationships with consumers. Try implementing the following tips to find your brand’s genuine voice.

1. Make your messages personal.

Of course, you need to keep your message on-brand for consistency. But there is such a thing as going over the top, and your voice will sound contrived. Instead, maintain the brand’s voice while writing casually and conversationally — show there’s a real person behind the words. Your audience will relate.

On the same note, get rid of copy-and-paste formulaic responses (“We appreciate your concern and have notified the manager.”) Robotic, right? Write out custom responses for every query. Your customers will feel like someone is actually listening to them.

2. Engage!

Much like that in a romantic relationship, engagement isn’t a one-way street; if you want engagement, then you have to make the effort, too. Build personal relationships by responding to comments from followers, whether it be a blog, tweet, or Facebook post. Use your personal on-brand voice from tip one to engage in a conversation. Other followers who see this conversation will automatically dub you as authentic.

3. Create organic content

Whether it’s a funny Vine or behind-the-scenes look on Instagram or Snapchat, focus on creating good organic content and the rest will follow. Think about — how annoying is it when you’re scrolling through everyone’s last night shenanigans on Instagram only to be interrupted by a sponsored post? Pitch less and entertain more. Be fun, engaging, and willing to make fun of yourself.

4. Post more images.

“Show, don’t tell” rings true here. Images convey visual experiences, allowing people to imagine what it’s like to “be” your brand. Again, organic behind-the-scenes photos (ex. someone hard at work, the process of creating a new product, etc.) are a great way to do this as they provide the consumer with a sneak peek of the brand’s operations. It lets them see that there are indeed real people behind the brand.

In the end, it’s transparency that’s the golden ticket.