Social Media Evaluation
Instagram
Social media marketing refers to the use of social media platforms to engage with customers, promote products or services, and foster engagement (Hayes, 2024). These platforms include Internet-based applications that facilitate user-generated content, social interaction, and value co-creation (Alves et al., 2016).
Since 2010, Instagram has become a widely used social media platform for sharing photos and videos. The platform has introduced features such as Stories and Shopping, making it one of the first shoppable social media focusing on visual-centric content and influencer marketing (Hubspot 2024).
2 BILLION
MONTHLY ACTIVE USERS
73%
Gen Z & Millennials
Figure 1: The majority of Instagram users are Gen Z and millennials (Statista, 2024a)
With over 2 billion monthly users around the world, approximately 73% of them are Gen Z and millennials (Statista, 2024a).
Gen Z (18-24 age group) dominates the demographic graph with over 30% of users, making the platform a top priority of brands that serve the young generation.
User Demographics:
Engagement rate & Popular types of content:
Over 50% of Instagram users enjoy entertaining content on the platform. 46% prefer creative content, while 41% go for informative content such as news and branded information. Over 33% of users are drawn to inspirational content, indicating a wide range of preferences among Instagram's audience (Statista, 2024b).
Figure 2: Types of content preferred by users on Instagram (Statista, 2024b)
Using Instagram for Marketing
Figure 3: Top social media platforms used by marketers (Statista, 2024c)
Top 2 Favourite Social Media:
Among the popular social media platforms, Instagram continues to be one of the top choices for marketers, with over 80% using it in 2023 (Statista, 2024c)
Instagram is perceived as a multi-functional marketing channel, providing businesses with diverse visual-centric communications formats, such as photos, Reels, serving different marketing objectives from engagement to sales conversion (Teo et al., 2019).
Instagram Features
Instagram Reels (30.81% reach rate)
Short-form video content similar to TikTok, ideal for trendy and engaging marketing.
Feed Posts
Share high-quality photos and videos to showcase your brand.
Instagram Stories (~6.5% reach rate)
Short-lived content, including creative elements to their Stories, such as text, stickers, drawings, and filters to trigger sales conversions.
Instagram Shoppable Features
Product tags and checkout features allow users to purchase directly within the app.
Huge potential advertising reach:
Instagram presents a huge chance for marketers to reach around 1.6 billion users with advertising, placing it among the top four most active social media platforms globally.
A survey by KEPIOS (2023) shows Instagram's advertising has experienced rapid growth, expanding by approximately 310 million users in just three months, representing a 23.5% increase. Its potential reach has even outpaced the growth of Facebook's advertising audience over the same period.
Figure 4: Statistics of Advertising On Instagram (KEPIOS, 2023)
Influencer Partnership:
In 2023, beauty topics accounted for 8.35% of Instagram influencers, being the third-most posted content on the platform. Meanwhile, lifestyle remained the most popular category covered by Instagram influencers, with a share of 13.73% (Statista, 2024d).
With the rise of influencer marketing, Instagram has become a profitable space for brands to reach and engage with their target audience, increasing brand engagement and value co-creation (De Veirman et al., 2017).
R.A.C.E Framework
Figure 5: R.A.C.E Model (Chaffey and Ellis-Chadwick, 2022)
Chaffey and Ellis-Chadwick (2022) introduced the R.A.C.E planning framework that helps brands design a better customer lifecycle engagement strategy. The following examples aim to showcase how marketers use Instagram to convert targeted prospects in buyers and turn them into brand advocates.
STAGE 3: CONVERT
How does M&S convert sales on Instagram?
Marks and Spencer (M&S) is one of the leading British multinational retailers, selling food products, clothing and homeware for women, men, and children, with a reputation for premium quality and innovation.
Shopping basket
Marks and Spencer (M&S) embeds all features of Instagram's shopping experience for posts that aim to generate sales (Figure 6).
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Product Tags: when users tap on the products, they see the product names, prices, and links to purchase.
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Shopping Basket: this allows shoppers to see all the tagged items in the post.
Figure 6: M&S's Shoppable Posts on Instagram
STAGE 4: ENGAGE
How does M&S engage its shoppers?
The current theme of its content - 'Loved by customers' engages customers by showing them the stories behind shoppers' favorite items at M&S Simply Food. The brand also encourages interaction by asking for their comment on the mentioned products (Figure 7; M&S, 2024).
Figure 7: M&S's 'Loved By Customers' Engaging Posts
Secondly, the brand also collaborates with micro-influencers who are adored by their cooking lifestyles (Figure 8).
The cooking tutorial serves as a practical demonstration of M&S's food products in use, showing their benefits and building emotional engagement (Park et al., 2021).
Figure 8: M&S's Collaborations with influencers to share cooking tutorial