When Instagram launched in 2010, even its creators Kevin Systrom and Mike Kreiger couldn’t have known just how wildly popular the photo sharing app would become with its 400 million users – more than Twitter. Although some derided it as being just an app with a bunch of filters messing up good photography for no apparent reason. In fact, Instagram became a whole social network on its own steam and has been very much a part of the success story of the iPhone’s camera and “iPhonogaraphy”. Facebook snapped it up in 2012 for 1.3 billion and at first its already addicted users were dismayed. What would Facebook do to change it up? Facebook wisely adopted a hands-off approach, other than allowing Instagram photos to be shared easily to Facebook, and it’s only now that it’s taking the tentative first baby steps into the
territory of exposing users to ads. Hoping to increase the number of businesses that use Instagram and preferably Instagram plus Facebook, the Instagram team has headed to India where in September, advertising was opened up for businesses on the network targeting 5.9 million active monthly users, a figure estimated by digital agency, Interactive Avenues. Instagram doesn’t give any figures but says its monthly actives in India have more than doubled over the past year.
Among the last 100 million to join Instagram, more than half live in Asia and Europe.
Indians on Instagram are mostly young, mobile-first users with high spending power, according to an Instagram study that revealed insights for the first time about the community connected to one of the fastest-growing social platforms, and what keeps them engaged. It is the 18 – 24 age group that is the most active on Instagram. Indian Instagrammers are avid travelers with 50% of them having taken four vacations over the past year. Over 50% of Indian Instagrammers have frequently purchased products and services from the brands they follow. But they also follow brands to keep in touch with the latest products, learn about deals and shop for products online. Key interests for Indian Instagrammers include music, travel, food, photography, technology, fashion and sports.
Brands were in any case using Instagram in creative ways to draw fans into an increased circle of loyalty. The brands on Instagram have been left to fend for themselves and create content strong enough to engage and grow the follower base organically. Examples of such brands include Paperboat that fills its feed with whacky creatives on its drinks, Grofers, TrulyMadly, Zomato, Flipkart, Sportskeeda, Nestle’s KitKat, and others. What Instagram-Facebook wants now is for more businesses to adopt the dual platforms to reach the Indian audience, both through their own images and though carousel advertising or even using a prompt to download their apps.
“Brands have always been able to create a presence on Instagram, but what we’re excited about today is that Facebook and Instagram is making it easy for brands to advertise and they have the ability to go far beyond what they were doing just with an account,” says Kirthiga Reddy, Director of Sales at Facebook India.
Discoverability, both for brands and for users, is a little serendipitous on Instagram. An Explore tab throws up swathes of new images, but the chances that a brand will be lost in the mix are very strong unless there is a specific search done using a hashtag. Paul Webster, Instagram’s lead for brand developmet explains that companies rather than just amassing followers have specific business goals they would want addressed by a platform like Instagram. Facebook is now helping brands to reach a specified audience and get analytics on user engagement.
BW Reporters
Mala Bhargava has been writing on technology well before the advent of internet in Indians and before CDs made their way into computers. Mala writes on technology, social media, startups and fitness. A trained psychologist, she claims that her understanding of psychology helps her understand the human side of technology.
