Marketing Lessons From Instagram Journalism

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It is difficult to always predict the forms social media takes.

The last couple of years have seen journalists increase their participation on Instagram. The platform has not only been used for traditional social media content -eg. behind the scenes content-  but also for live reporting, photo essays, and the like. This has opened up the attitude towards social media in general and the potential of Instagram in particular.
Here are a few lessons we could all learn from Instagram journalism:

• Live Content / Peek Behind the Curtain
  Instagram combines visual content and text optimised for access on the go. Engaging with your audience during live events, with great visual content and memorable descriptions could make for great live-blogging experience. The glimpse into the process, furthermore, adds a touch of authenticity to your brand.
• Ready for Niche/Alternative Content  
  

While traditional social media intrudes and asks you to buy or click, Instagram is effective at keeping audiences in niches, based on their interests. So what better way to try and gain the meaningful audience you need, than airing your niche content to these circles?

• It need not be a business window
  When a target consumer base is catered to on Instagram, a company can share detailed, meaningful content that tells a story pertaining to its audience, or a community of audiences. The power of engaging with people using content that evokes emotion which is relevant to your brand, audience, and the platform should never be over-estimated.

• Understand Objectives, Choose Content Accordingly
  Be clear about what you want to do on Instagram. Engage your audience, and hopefully sell more yes; but how? What type of content do you want people to see on your account? While descriptions on Instagram are getting longer, the visual content is what people on Instagram are there for. If your visual content does not tell a story, don’t bother posting it.

• Understand the Platform, Curate Content Accordingly
  Not all images work well on the platform or for your brand–curate content specifically for the platform. Images size or filters may need to be edited to work with the character of the rest of your account. Newspapers or Magazines don’t simply reproduce photos of their print content– they try and edit them to the stories they carry, which in turn are in line with their personality. Optimisation is key to improve audience experience, and in turn engagement.