Media Description
Instagram was founded in 2010 as a photography app by Kevin Systrom, a Stanford University graduate. In 2012, it was acquired by Facebook. It is a free photo and video-sharing app available on Android and iPhone. Through a mobile app, users can edit and upload short videos and photos. They can also use location-based geotags and hashtags to make the posts searchable by other users within the app. Each of the posts can be captioned, and they appear on their followers’ Instagram feeds. Like other social media platforms like Facebook, users can use features like comments, likes, bookmarks, and the ability to send private messages to other users. The following other features and tools: explore, photographic filters, IGTV, reels, Instagram direct, Instagram stories, and algorithm and design changes (Instagram, n.d). Photos and videos on this platform can be shared to other media sites like Tumbler, Facebook, and Twitter; with just a single click. Anyone thirteen years and older is eligible to create an Instagram account using an email address and then select a username (Instagram, n.d).
Instagram is not only a platform for individuals but also businesses. According to Rejeb et al. (2022), it is now an influential tool for businesses to build their brands through a free business account. Companies having Instagram business accounts have access to impression and free engagement metrics. Statista (n.d) shows that, as of now, there are 1.35 billion active users. From 2020, it is projected that there will be a steady increase in the number of Instagram users, with an estimated 1.44 billion users by 2025, as indicated in the figure below:
Media Effectiveness
Compared to other media forms, Instagram possesses particular strengths that make it a powerful tool for an organization to attain its communication objectives. First, with the ability to post images and videos, and curate content, Instagram allows organizations to engage their followers in ways that other media forms cannot. Its first strength lies in its visual appeal and user-friendly interface. Users can view a photo or video with just one tap and like or comment on it with just another tap. This makes it easy for organizations to quickly deliver their message without needing too much explanation. Secondly, it offers plenty of creative outlets for organizations to express themselves. Organizations can highlight their brand’s story through posts that capture attention and spark conversations on relevant topics using hashtags, captions, and image or video filters. Additionally, sponsored posts can help promote targeted messaging more efficiently than other media, such as television or radio ads (Harun & Tajudeen, 2020).
Thirdly, Instagram has many active users, especially the young generation, which allows an organization to target its marketing. According to Statista (n.d), daily, with about 1.35 billion active users, it is estimated an average American adult spends about 30 minutes daily on the platform. Its fourth strength lies in using hashtags and geotags, which allow businesses to target specific audiences easily. For example, an organization may use hashtags such as #beautyproducts or #homeimprovement to reach people interested in those topics. Similarly, they can also use geotags to target local customers and followers. This ability allows companies to effectively communicate their message or services to generate more leads or create meaningful connections with potential customers (Harun & Tajudeen, 2020).
Fifth, organizations can build their brand awareness in partnership with influencers. According to Młodkowska (2019), a company’s sales can increase when a dependable influencer is used because they help access the difficult-to-reach demographics and improve the digital market ROI. Influencers are high-powered social media users with a huge following (Młodkowska, 2019). Through influencers, organizations can tailor messaging to specific demographics or industries to spread awareness more effectively than traditional advertising. Finally, Instagram provides analytics that allows organizations to track the success of campaigns and make adjustments as needed. This invaluable data ensures that organizations are making informed decisions about their communication strategies in the future (Harun & Tajudeen, 2020).
Media Limitation
Instagram possesses these shortcomings, particularly for organizations using business accounts. Instagram posts cannot be longer than 2,200 characters; images must abide by the 1:1.55 aspect ratio, while videos must be of minimum resolution of 720 pixels with an aspect ratio of 1.91:1 (Instagram, n.d). This limits the amount of information an organization can communicate to its followers. Organizations also have limited options regarding analytics and metrics on Instagram compared with other media forms, such as email newsletters or websites that can track user behavior in greater detail. Such data allows organizations to better tailor their messaging based on user engagement or lack thereof (Rejeb et al., 2022).
Compared to personal accounts, Instagram business accounts have reduced visibility due to an algorithm that limits how many accounts a user can see in their feed. This makes it difficult for businesses to get noticed by potential customers because they compete with many other people and brands on the platform. Also, Instagram does not allow links in posts or comments without paying for sponsored ads, meaning businesses have fewer opportunities to direct traffic from their account to their website or product page (Harun & Tajudeen, 2020).
For business accounts, ads are prohibitively expensive for small businesses, as they are often priced individually per ad. It means that to reach many potential customers; companies must invest significant amounts of money into each ad campaign. In comparison, other social media platforms, such as Facebook, offer low-cost advertising options tailored toward businesses with smaller budgets. Also, Instagram is limited in its ability to measure and track user engagement compared with other social platforms. For example, while businesses can easily see the views their posts have received on Facebook and Twitter, measuring post engagement on Instagram requires third-party tools or analytics suites that are not accessible to all businesses (Harun & Tajudeen, 2020).
Media Form and IMC
According to Rowe (2019), Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) is a strategic way of controlling and organizing a promotional mix to produce promotional messages that are customer-focused, unified, and achieve organizational goals. Each social media has its content and function that allows organizations to use different platforms in their marketing campaigns. Instagram’s synergy with other social media platforms makes it a powerful platform for organizational communication and marketing. First, its compatibility with Facebook has significantly contributed to its success, and businesses can use it as an influential tool in their marketing strategies. Having both Instagram and Facebook accounts tied together allows users to view posts from both platforms at once, meaning that brands can extend their reach across multiple sites. Furthermore, through personalized advertising campaigns on Instagram, companies have more opportunities to tailor their messages specifically for those audiences who frequent only one or the other platform. Additionally, companies can post content on both sites simultaneously thanks to integrating these two services; this feature ensures that time is not wasted when creating and uploading posts (Rowe, 2019).
Instagram and Twitter have excellent compatibility that makes them desirable for promoting campaigns. First, both platforms are popular, meaning there is great potential for widespread reach. Secondly, when users create and post content from one platform to the other, it keeps their followers in the loop even if they do not visit every platform daily. This helps maximize engagement with brand messages. Linking a Twitter account to an Instagram profile allows followers on one platform to find content on the other easily. This can help brands build dual audiences and extend their reach even further. By connecting both accounts, marketers can integrate hashtags between platforms to drive more traffic to their posts and campaigns. Instagram also allows cross-post with Tumbler. When it comes to IMC, its inability to accept links is the most significant shortcoming; because traffic cannot be directed to the product page or company website (Rowe, 2019).
Media example and illustration of effectiveness:
Instagram is a powerful tool for organizations to achieve their objectives. For example, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has the overall objective of ” Working to sustain the natural world for the benefit of people and nature” with specific objectives on the conservation of forest, climate and energy, wildlife, food, people, and water (WWF, n.d).
On wildlife conservation, its goal is to save endangered species and protect vulnerable habitats (WWF, n.d). WWF can use Instagram to achieve this goal. It can post photos and stories about animals, conservation efforts, and environmental issues that allow people to learn more about the organization’s work. Through this media execution, they can inform their followers and engage them with content related to their mission. They can also use Instagram Stories as a platform for donation campaigns that can raise millions of dollars for animal conservation initiatives. By raising awareness through posts combined with direct calls to action in stories, WWF can effectively use Instagram to reach its goal of protecting endangered species worldwide.
References
Instagram. (n.d). ‘’About Instagram’’. Retrieved from: https://help.instagram.com/424737657584573
Harun, Z., & Tajudeen, F. P. (2020). Instagram as a marketing tool for small and medium enterprises. International Journal of Technology Diffusion (IJTD), 11(3), 48-59.
Młodkowska, B. (2019). Influencers on Instagram and YouTube and their impact on consumer behavior. Journal of Marketing and Consumer Behaviour in Emerging Markets, 9(1), 4-13.
Rejeb, A., Rejeb, K., Abdollahi, A., & Treiblmaier, H. (2022). The big picture on Instagram research: Insights from a bibliometric analysis. Telematics and Informatics, 101876.
Rowe, F. (2019). Social Synergy: How Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram Use Integrated Marketing Communications. Elon Journal, 39.
Statista. (n.d). ‘’ Number of Instagram users worldwide from 2020 to 2025’’. Retrieved from: https://www.statista.com/statistics/183585/instagram-number-of-global-users/
WWF. (n.d). ‘’Wildlife’’. Retrieved from: https://explore.panda.org/wildlife
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