If you have an Instagram account, you might use it to share photos of your dog, your kids, and follow up on what your favorite celebrities are doing. And what they’re wearing. Leave it to any industry to find a way to use a photo sharing app to market their wares. That’s exactly what many industries are doing, including many big brands.
Many influencers are making their way onto Instagram, and this leads to those big brands looking for an opportunity to sell more products. The app is quickly adopting new ways of becoming an actual force to be reckoned with when it comes to sales. It’s a LONG way off from ever competing with Amazon, but Instagram has some advantages Amazon doesn’t have.
Many experts are seeing trends within Instagram of a soon-to-be booming sales industry. The same experts missed the signs many years ago when Amazon was raising and I don’t want to miss it again. So, they’re looking to Instagram as potentially the next big thing in sales and Instagram itself is taking notice of this trend.
Back in March, the app added a new ‘checkout’ option that enables users to buy products directly from companies and their Instagram account. Before this latest addition, the user would be forced to leave the app to make a purchase on a different website. This is really changing how influencers and businesses are changing Instagram.
How Companies are Using Instagram
Kylie Jenner is one of the biggest influencers on Instagram. She has become one of the world’s youngest billionaires by using Instagram as a launching point to help sell products. As of this writing, she has 142 million followers. One of Kylie’s latest posts shows her holding a designer bag and talking about how much she loves it, is clearly an advertisement to the trained eye.
There’s no doubt Kylie was paid a lot of money for that endorsement. When people see her with that bag, they will want it themselves and they can buy it directly through links placed on her Instagram. Wouldn’t you love to see your favorite celebrity wearing something and have the ability to buy it with a single click?
We’re not talking about the stunning Oscar dresses the average person cannot afford. This is the everyday stuff celebrities are wearing and taking pictures of themselves doing normal, routine things. And if you think it’s adorable, you’ll click the link and buy it. This is experiential marketing taken to the next level.
“What the internet hasn’t been particularly good at is solving for discovery and window shopping,” said Andrew Lipsman, analyst at eMarketer. “Instagram is starting to help fill that need for shoppers.”
“Our consumer spends a ton of time on Instagram,” said Emily Maxey, vice president of marketing at Adidas. “The consumer is using Instagram to research our products, connect with friends to get recommendations about our products, and ultimately buy.”
“It’s early days for shopping on Instagram, but we’re excited about this over the long run,” Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg said. Facebook currently owns Instagram, so they know a thing or two about how to use an app for marketing purposes. Most companies employ a bit of Facebook marketing with their other forms of advertising. Instagram will now be another source of revenue going forward.
