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Marketing strategy on the Instagram platform LAB University of Applied Sciences Bachelor of Business Administration Degree program in International Business 2021 Huyen, Pham
Abstract
Author(s) Publication type Completion year
Huyen, Pham Thesis, UAS 2021
Number of pages
42
Marketing strategy on the Instagram platform
Degree
International Business
Name, title, and organization of the client
Abstract
Since the rise of social media marketing, Instagram has become an important marketing plat-
form for business. The research aims to provide in-depth knowledge about social media mar-
keting and Instagram for business and then implement an Instagram strategy for the Com-
pany X account to reach more visitors and drive more sales. The suggestions for further re-
search include research on how efficient the development plan is and different goals in the fu-
ture.
The deductive research approach was used by mix-method. There are quantity and quality.
The primary data is collected by interviewed customers who visited Company X, and data col-
lected from Sale Manager Company X. The secondary data is drawn from a literature re-
view—secondary data collected from existing sources such as books, articles, journals, and
websites.
The critical finding obtained introduced what could be used to improve the Instagram of Com-
pany X to get the goals. By discovering the development plan, Company X will find the best
method to communicate with customers.
Keywords
Content, Social Media, Instagram, Instagram Marketing, Marketing strategy
Contents
1 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 3
1.1 Thesis background ............................................................................................. 3
1.2 Thesis objectives, research questions, and limitations ........................................ 4
1.3 Theoretical framework ........................................................................................ 4
1.4 Research methodology and data collection ........................................................ 5
1.5 Thesis structure .................................................................................................. 6
2 Social media marketing overview ............................................................................... 8
2.1 Introduction to social media ................................................................................ 8
2.2 Social media marketing ...................................................................................... 9
2.3 Social media marketing for business .................................................................10
2.4 Marketing strategy .............................................................................................11
3 Instagram for business..............................................................................................12
3.1 Instagram SWOT analysis .................................................................................12
3.2 Features of Instagram ........................................................................................14
3.3 How does the algorithm work on Instagram? .....................................................15
4 Empirical research and data analysis........................................................................17
4.1 Design and formulation of the empirical research ..............................................17
4.2 Data collection ...................................................................................................17
4.2.1 Interview data .............................................................................................18
4.2.2 Current statistics of Company X Instagram .................................................22
4.2.3 Analysis of Marketing strategies for Company X Instagram ........................25
4.3 Competitor analysis ...........................................................................................26
5 Development plan .....................................................................................................27
5.1 Instagram profile building suggestions ...............................................................27
5.2 Instagram content suggestions ..........................................................................28
5.2.1 Giveaways suggestions ..............................................................................31
5.2.2 Contest suggestion .....................................................................................32
6 Conclusion ................................................................................................................34
6.1 Answers to research questions ..........................................................................34
6.2 Validity and reliability .........................................................................................35
6.3 Suggestions for further research ........................................................................35
7 Summary ..................................................................................................................37
List of references .............................................................................................................38
Appendices ......................................................................................................................40
1 Introduction 1.1 Thesis background Customers are the core of business nowadays, and marketing is a helpful tool for business communication with customers. Marketing functions are identifying, forecasting, and meet- ing the demand of the customers (Lumen ). In other words, we need marketing to engage with customers and make profits from customers (Kotler & Amstrong 2017). This thesis articulates the importance of marketing, and more precisely, this thesis concentrates on Instagram Marketing. The role of marketing cannot be underestimated in the communication business today. Nowadays, the competitiveness between corporations is fierce. Companies are constantly innovating by using marketing primarily to retain and attract customers rather than drive out their competitors. Corporations are keen to use creativity when building brand awareness and creating customer value. As mentioned earlier, marketing aims to engage customers and manage profitable cus- tomer relationships. Companies use marketing to create value for customers and gain value back from the customers. When building a marketing strategy, understand customer needs is critical. Based on the marketing strategy, companies design integrated marketing pro- grams to build relationships with customers and to achieve value in return (Kotler & Arm- strong 2017, 19). Marketing communication is essential to the integrated marketing pro- gram. The digital age has changed marketing communication as internet access, and smartphones have revolutionized how we communicate. One key element of digital market- ing is social media marketing. Using different social media platforms, such as Instagram, Twitter, Linked In, Pinterest, Snapchat, and YouTube, companies connect with their audi- ences (Kotler & Armstrong 2017, 46-47). Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, who were Google employees, launched Instagram in Oc- tober 2010. Initially, Instagram was a simple application that allowed users to edit and post their pictures. In April 2012, Instagram reported having more than one million downloads per day. In 2012, Facebook acquired Instagram for one billion dollars. Facebook foresaw the future potential of picture-sharing experience. Thanks to the photo filters, Instagram users can edit their original images, particularly the scenery picture more colorful and excit- ing (Britton 2015, 18-19.). In recent years, Instagram has gained a massive growth in user numbers. In June 2018, active users on Instagram hit one billion, increasing eight hundred million users within less than one year (Tankovska 2021). As a result, more and more In- stagram business accounts established.
Company X uses different digital marketing tools such as LinkedIn, their website, and Fa- cebook to reach customers all over Finland. Each company X store has control over its social media channels, such as Instagram, for its purpose. The case company for this thesis is Company X. Company X is utilizing Instagram to attract customers, especially local cus- tomers in the capital region. 1.2 Thesis objectives, research questions, and limitations The purpose of this thesis is to support Company X in developing its Instagram marketing strategy. This research aims to engage customers on the platform. The competitiveness between companies in the digital era has increased and will keep growing over time. A strong company understands demands better than its rivals. Hence, based on the data col- lection and theory, strengths are used to make the Instagram marketing strategy for Com- pany X. The research question identifies problems with the current marketing strategy. In this thesis, the main question is: How can Company X develop its Instagram marketing activities to reach more local cus- tomers and drive sales? The sub-questions of the thesis are as follows: How can Instagram be used as a marketing tool? What kind of content the target audience value on Instagram? The purpose of the thesis is to develop the Instagram marketing of a case company. Other marketing tools are not mentioned or studied in this research. This study focuses only on the case company, Company X, in a particular area and does not provide the answer, how to develop Instagram marketing for other companies. However, the research gives value to the local Company X store. It should help them reach the target customers by delivering their message more efficiently. This thesis aims to help Company X attract more local cus- tomers and manage an effective Instagram marketing strategy. The ultimate reason behind this thesis is to generate sales and strengthen the brand image with potential customers. 1.3 Theoretical framework With theories mentioned initially, the reader has a general knowledge of the subject before reading. The theoretical contribution of this research shows how the authors understand the theories and apply them to reach the predetermined objectives. The spotlight of this thesis
is marketing on the Instagram platform. Hence, the marketing theories go from an overview of marketing to social media marketing and social media marketing on the Instagram plat- form in particular. 1.4 Research methodology and data collection Choosing the right research approach is the first step of conducting research. There are two main types of research approaches which are inductive and deductive reasoning. Inductive reasoning is to develop a theory, while deductive reasoning tests the existing concept. (Streefkerk 2019, 1-8.). Figuring out the proper Instagram marketing development for Com- pany X is the primary purpose of the thesis. Therefore, deductive is the research approach of the thesis. Research methodologies assist writers in obtaining the most accurate responses to their research questions. Quantitative research focuses on quantifying and analyzing numerical data. Qualitative research, on the other hand, is primarily concerned with numeric data. Researchers may use numerous approaches, such as interviews or web surveys, to con- nect with individuals to obtain primary data. (Adams 2007.)This thesis collects data for the analytical process by employing a mixed-method approach that collects quantitative and qualitative data. This technique helps the author better analyze current performance, fore- cast future trends, and generate suggestions for the Company X Instagram marketing strat- egy. The author has in-depth insights into current trends and client demand. Thanks to qualitative data acquired from customer responses, the author can improve the Instagram marketing plan and boost sales. Once deciding on a research approach, the author needs to choose data sources. The thesis employs both primary and secondary data. Primary materials are gathered by the researchers, which is typically costly, time-consuming, and challenging. Secondary materi- als, on the other hand, are collected by someone else and are considered reputable sources. Secondary data comes from papers, books, and the internet. (Adams 2007, 107.) Primary data of this thesis comes from interviews with customers at company X. The author collected engagement data of Company X Instagram followers, such as online time and exciting posts. In addition, an interview was set up to better understand customers by asking their expectations when buying company X products. The researcher made the question- naire to respond to the question of the thesis. On the other hand, data from reliable books, articles, or online web also are essential secondary sources of this thesis. Figure 1 shows
that the research has a deductive approach, and a mixed method of qualitative and quanti-
tative are applied. The thesis gathers information from various sources, both primary and
secondary sources.
research •Deductive
approach
research •Quantiative
method •Quanliative
sources •Primary
of data •Secondary
Figure 1. Research methodology and data collection
1.5 Thesis structure
This thesis has two main parts. They are the theoretical part and empirical part. The theo-
retical part of the thesis presents the theory of social media marketing focusing on Insta-
gram marketing. In the empirical part, the author gathered and analyzed relevant data to
understand the topic on a practical level. The data then be applied to the theoretical re-
search.
The first chapter presents the introduction of the thesis, including the thesis background,
research objectives, research questions and the limitations, the theoretical framework, and
the data collection method. The introduction chapter ends with the thesis structure sub-
chapter.
Chapters two and three are the theoretical parts of the thesis. The second chapter is about
Social Media Marketing. A basic understanding of social media marketing and the benefits
of social media marketing to business are presented. At the end of the chapter, the author
gives an overview of the five steps to create social media strategies.
The third chapter gives in-depth about Instagram for business. The author designs an In-
stagram SWOT analysis. In addition, the chapter also covers a brief introduction to the in-
ternal tools of Instagram that every business should know. Finally, the author explains how
the algorithm of Instagram works and the importance of the algorithm to businesses.The fourth chapter introduces the case company Company X. The researcher gives an
overall understanding of the company profile and its current marketing situation, including
the current Instagram marketing strategy and the growth path company X is pursuing.
The fifth chapter is the empirical research of the thesis. First, the author presents the design
and formulation of the research. Second, The subchapter shows the data collected from the
interview and insights of the Company X Instagram account. The author then analyzes the
strengths and weaknesses of company Xcompetitors.
The sixth chapter presents the development plan made for the case company, which is
conducted by theoretical research and reinforced by the data achieved from the empirical
research. This thesis is going to end with two chapters, namely Conclusion and Summary.
The conclusion chapter concludes the answers to sub-questions and the main question.
Then, the author evaluates the validity and reliability of the research and proposes sugges-
tions for further study. The final chapter summarizes the main points of the thesis, including
research results, conclusions, and recommendations.
Introduction
Socical media marketing overview
Instagram for business
Empirical research and data analysis
Development plan
Conclusion and Summary
Finger 2: Table of content2 Social media marketing overview 2.1 Introduction to social media Marketo defines social media as an online social interaction and a platform via which the production, consumption, and exchanged of information happen (Marketo 2010, 5). How- ever, Kaplan and Haelein (2010) write that social media is a group internet-based applica- tion that builds on ideological and technological foundations. These applications allow users to create and spread their content around the world. Thus, social media definition still is open to debate. (Charlesworth 2014, 2.) Clay Shirky, speaking on the BBC series Virtual Revolution (2010), expresses in the twenties century, if you had something to say,…you could not broadcast a message. The invention of the internet has profoundly changed these situations. Nowadays, people find and share information or images through online platforms such as Facebook, Insta- gram, and Linkedin. More than half of the population of the world is active social media users. (Wearesocial and Hootsuite 2021.). Figure 2. Digital around the world (Wearesocial and Hootsuite 2021) Over the past decade, the number of social media platforms and social media users have been overgrown. With over 2.7 billion active members, Facebook is the most popular social networking platform in the world. YouTube and WhatsApp are the second and third most popular social media platforms. Since its establishment in 2010, Instagram now has more than 1.2 billion users. It ranks fifth place in the most significant social media in the world. (wearesocial and Hootsuite 2021.)The increase in social media user numbers has invisibly
yet profoundly impacted the lives of people. (Figure 3) The below figure illustrates the av- erage daily time people spend on different media. Figure 3 shows that an average person spends two hours and 22 minutes using the internet from all devices every day. The number of time people spent on the internet almost equivalent to the time sleeping. Although people still spend more time on television than social media. Figure 3. Daily average time people spend with media ( Wearesocial & Hootsuite 2021) 2.2 Social media marketing Social media marketing is an online marketing platform that allows organizations to develop and distribute marketing and branding material on social media networks. Creating, upload- ing, and sharing texts, photographs, videos, and other types of content to engage target audiences is the goal of social media marketing and paid social media marketing. ( Mount & Martinez 2014.) The growth of social media is speed. Recognizing the chance, marketers utilize social me- dia platforms by sharing product information with attention-drawing images or funny cap- tions. Businesses are sharing their content on social media to gain traffic for their sales. Compared to the broadcast content, social media marketing already changed all of the tra- ditional marketing ways.
2.3 Social media marketing for business The number of social media users is steeply increasing, mainly using social media to update news around them. Thus, recognizing this potential opportunity from social media, busi- nesses transform from traditional marketing to social media marketing. Below is the statis- tics of online buyers rate by continent. Figure 4. Global share of online consumers in 2020 (Tighe 2021) Online shopping is most popular in South America, with nearly nine out of ten people en- gage in online shopping activities. Social media is proven to have a direct correlation with the rise of online shopping. Accord- ing to Herbert Hainer, CEO of the Adidas group, most communication activities with the core target customers take place on social media, making social media the main communi- cation channel of the company (Charlesworth 2014). Moreover, findings at Deloitte also show a correlation between social media users and online sales. Surveyed consumers us- ing social media to shop are 20 percent buying more than non-social media users worldwide (Deloitte 2014). Using social media as a marketing tool benefits businesses in many ways, such as increas- ing visitor traffic, building conversation, raising brand awareness and brand identity, and improving communication engagement with core target customers. Although businesses can achieve various goals using social media marketing, they should narrow the objective for each campaign. The success of social media marketing aligns with the engagement level of customers on the platform. (WordStream 2021.)
2.4 Marketing strategy There are five steps to build the marketing strategy: strategy, planning and publishing, lis- tening and engagement, analytics and reporting, and advertising. Brainstorming marketing strategy includes three phases which are determining goals, choosing a platform, and brain- storming content. (Buffer 2021.) The first step in building a marketing strategy is to determine the business goals. As men- tioned earlier, social media marketing helps companies achieve many marketing goals. However, businesses need to narrow down the main achievement whether to drive visits traffics, increase brand recognition, and drive sales and revenue. Social networking help businesses grow brand loyalty, build a community, and act as a customer service platform for their consumers. (Buffer 2021.) The second step is finding a social media site to focus on from among the many available. Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are the major social media networks listed above. There are also emerging platforms such as TikTok, WhatsApp, WeChat. Choosing the channel in which businesses are most capable of creating desired impacts to their target audience. In other words, it is better to pick platforms that the target audience is on. (Buffer 2021.) The most crucial element in building a marketing strategy process is content. Coming up with content that stays in customers' minds and creates a positive influence is not easy. A marketing persona is a sketch of critical elements of the target audience. A marketing per- sona and a clear set of goals are essential to building a successful marketing strategy. (Buffer 2021.)
3 Instagram for business
3.1 Instagram SWOT analysis
SWOT analysis is a method for evaluating business performance, weaknesses, opportuni-
ties, and threats after taking all internal and external environments into account (Paul 2014).
The table below provides audiences with an overall understanding of the strengths, weak-
nesses, opportunities, and threats of Instagram for business. Thus, companies can decide
whether the platform suits their marketing purpose.
Strengths Weaknesses
• Large user base • Private
• Sharing beautiful and inspiring pic- • High cost for running ads
tures, and videos
• High engagement levels
• Hashtags to explore relevant filed
• Track audience engagement rate
Opportunities Threats
• New applications • Algorithm changing
• Ability to control native followers in- • Other competitive social media
sights
Table 1. Instagram SWOT analysis.
The strengths of the Instagram platform are its community and value proposition. People
on the platform post and pictures for everyone to enjoy. Not to mention, Instagram is easy
to use and efficient. Human brains digest information from visuals 60 000 times faster than
text (McCoy 2019). Therefore, Instagram users can swipe through for hours to entertain. In
addition, Instagram has a wide audience presence and a high involvement rate. Instagram
is the second most vibrant social media platform for active users, with over a billion users
per month. (Hootsuite 2021.) According to eMarketer (2020), US Instagram users spend an
average of 30 minutes per day on the platform, increasing four minutes over last year. Users
engagement level also witnesses an upward trend through features such as Instagram Live
and Stories. Two in three people say the network is a big help to search for products and
services for businesses. Over 200 million Instagram users visit at least one business profiledaily. (Hootsuite 2021.) Therefore, companies discover innovative communication methods with their customers to achieve their goals. Instagram serves as an entertainment environment in which users freely create content. Instagram hashtags search for trendy topics or specific fields easier (Darma 2019). As a result, Instagram engages with its users by matching what they love based on what they like. Businesses, who catch up with the Instagram trend and understand the target interests of customers, have a significant to get a competitive advantage over their enemies in the marketplace. Instagram has three major weaknesses. First, driving traffic for businesses on Instagram is hard. Although Instagram allows users to link websites, the character is limited. Most im- portantly, customers tend not to access links off Instagram. Second, communication on In- stagram is limited compared to Facebook. There are only two communication methods among users, which are direct messages or DMs and in comments. If businesses want to build engagement levels with customers on Instagram, they must interact with them actively. As mentioned earlier, the Instagram algorithm works based on timeliness, likes, comments, the relationships of users, and how much time users spend on posts. If businesses do not update new activities usually, their followers will ignore their posts. If customers spend more time on one post, the Instagram algorithm will think they like this topic. As a result, more relevant content or content from the same publishers will often push on top feed. It seems like a good feature for a personal account. However, from a business perspective, it has two sides. If a business content does not consider reasonable in the first 2 seconds, users will skip it. it means that the post is not engaging, thus will rarely exist in their feed. (Hubspot 2021.) Finally, Instagram business accounts still depend on the business profile on Face- book to running ads and switch to professional accounts. On the other hand, small accounts might encounter challenges to reach marketing goals on Instagram due to some features restriction. For instance, swipe up, a feature allows users add links to Instagram stories, is only objected to account with more than 10 thousand fol- lowers or verified account. (Hootsuit 2021.) In terms of opportunities, Instagram is the new platform compared to Facebook and Twitter. Thus, the platform is still an open door of opportunities for businesses. Businesses who join this platform early have advantages over their competitors. They also have more time to test the effectiveness of running engagement content and set their trends. Hence, the business will claim a position on this platform.
About threat, Instagram has many competitors such as TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest. Nowa-
days, TikTok is becoming popular in the teenager with its renown short video sharing fea-
ture. TikTok efficiently meets the recreation needs of humans. TikTok is a threat to Insta-
gram as people can switch to TikTok. Unlike other social media, Tiktok focuses on the short-
form video story, making audiences engage in and unconsciously spend much time on the
platform.
On the other hand, the Instagram ecosystem is getting more competitive. With the existence
of content companies, tasks including content planning and publishing or audience insights
research are automatic. Which inconveniences small accounts or publishers who create
content themselves. (Hubspot 2021.)
3.2 Features of Instagram
Instagram provides its users with various features on the platform. Instagram is constantly
updating and developing new features to bring a better user experience. Businesses need
to keep up with new features to tackle the business issue and create more exciting and
engaging content. Here is a list of Instagram features:
• Reels: reels is a video focus feature. Users produce, view, and share numerous 30-
second videos. The feature also stimulates the endless creativeness of users by
adding easy-to-use text, AR filters, remix audio. (Instagram 2021)
• Stories: Stories are a quick and simple way to share moments and experiences. In
addition, users can bring the moment to life with music, text, stickers, GIFs. There
are also many camera effects such as Boomerang and Superzoom to make stories
more fun and personalized. Users can also interact with followers with the conver-
sation starter function on Stories. Add question stickers and other interactive fea-
tures on Stories. Users can share and get feedback from their followers. Usually,
stories post only last 24 hours. (Instagram 2021)
• Messenger: Messenger is a texting feature in which users can send direct mes-
sages, photos, and videos to friends and followers. (Instagram 2021.)
• IGTV: IGTV design for long-form, immersive video sharing on Instagram. The video
longlines are not limited and take over the entire screen. IGTV is personalized to the
interests of users, making it easy to discover and watch favorite videos from original
creators. For businesses, IGTV is a platform to tell the brand stories better, connect
with the audience and reach more people. By 2021, the mobile video makes up for
78% of total data traffic. (Instagram 2021.)• Shopping: The shopping feature helps users discover and buy from brands and fa-
vorite creators. Instagram shopping is a lucrative marketplace for businesses to con-
nect with customers. Each month, there are over 130 million taps to reveal more
about product information on the platform. (Instagram 2021.)
• Search and explore: search and explore more functions as a search engine. Users
can dig into inspired topics or exploring trends in the platform. Users browse groups
based on articles they frequently interact with in the past to see more relevant con-
tent. (Instagram 2021.)
• Guide: Instagram Guides are a new way to share and consume content on the me-
dia network. It helps users pick several posts from their feed and add comments to
access a comprehensive content guide. (Instagram 2021)
3.3 How does the algorithm work on Instagram?
The Instagram algorithm is a complex system of rules and variables used by Instagram to
decide which posts appear in the feeds of users and in what order. Instagram will evaluate
what good content by the number of comments and likes is. If this content is good, they will
show more for the audience and vice versa. If it is harmful content, they will limit the users
who can see it. (HubSpot & Later 2018.) In other words, the Instagram algorithm adopts
artificial intelligence and big data to better respond to the needs of customers and prevent
cheating on the platform.
According to Instagram, the main goal of the algorithm is to create a home feed for the
users. The complex algorithm predicts the behaviors of users to show them with content
Instagram knows users will like. The Instagram algorithm is smart enough to understand
what the content is about, thus building a virtual profile about users. Typical, every content
Instagram users see on their home feed has gone through two-step design selection,
namely candidate generation and candidate selection. (Instagram 2020.)
Instagram displays material that users are expressly or indirectly interested in throughout
the candidate generation stage. This content is filtered by the level of engagement, inter-
ests, and relevance. Consequently, people see more posts from favorite people they follow,
tagged in friends, and photos or contents they like or comment on (Later 2021). Moreover,
suppose a user regularly likes and comments on a post of account. In that case, Instagram
will recommend a similar genre or type of content following the train of thought. (Instagram
2020). Best posts have the highest level of engagement, relevance, interest, content quality,
and freshness. In short, candidate generation is content defined by the users. (Instagram2020). (Figure 5) The below figure illustrates the process of Instagram using the algorithm to filter connected recommendations Figure 5. Instagram Connected Recommendation (Instagram 2021) In the second step, candidate selection, Instagram analyzes the implicit signal of users, then uses a heavy-weight ranking algorithm to select the most suitable content. In this case, engagement factors like comment, save, and any harmful response matter. The figure be- low is the sequence of filtering an unconnected recommendation. Based on the activity of users, content goes through the second round of selection to filter the most relevant users. Unattached recommendations are ranks based on similar evaluation criteria as step one. (Instagram 2020.) Candidate selection helps richen home feed of users and allows them to explore new content that Instagram knows they will like even before they do. Figure 6. Unconnected recommendations (Instagram 2021) .
4 Empirical research and data analysis 4.1 Design and formulation of the empirical research There are two suggested types of research methods which are quantitative and qualitative. The qualitative method processes non-numeric data and generally includes personality var- iables such as attitudes, feelings, and emotions. On the other hand, quantitative data is associated with numeric data and measuring variables using a statistical technique (Saun- ders et al., 2012, 161,164). In general, quantitative methods are objective and reliable, and recognize by a large population. Conversely, qualitative methods are subjective and gener- ate rich, detailed, and valid data (Steckler 1992). Both quantitative and qualitative methods were implemented to improve the interview results in reliability and comprehensiveness. The mixed two methods minimize data bias while valuing the opinion of people to find the most suitable Instagram tools and strategies. 4.2 Data collection Data is generally collected from secondary and primary sources. The primary source is the result of first-hand knowledge of a topic collected from first-hand investigations such as questionnaires, surveys, experiments, interviews. Secondary sources are retrieved from published books, articles, company internal records, and online page data in this thesis. Primary data for this thesis was gathered from Internet web pages. Instagram is conducted to grasp the current online marketing performance of Company X. These data help deter- mine customer segments, visitor traffic, online sales, and customer engagement on Insta- gram marketing channels. Interviews are the main ways to collect primary data for empirical research. The interview aims to understand existing factors that affect customer behavior and how they interact with local online web pages, especially Instagram. This information is used to point out strengths, weaknesses, and the future potential of the Company X Instagram platform to develop mar- keting strategies for the Instagram platform.
March
2021 Collecting theoritical part of research
April
Analysis case company and
2021 Instagram platform
May Collect the interview result and
develp the Instagram marketing
2021 strategy
Figure 7: Timetable of thesis
4.2.1 Interview data
Data from the interview is the primary source of the thesis. The target interviewees are
company X customers. The author interviewed ten random customers at the Company X
store and asked them questions. A total of ten questions were carefully crafted, including
demographic questions and questions that aid the author in answering the research issue.
The author collected and analyzed all responses from interviewees. The author analyzed
all responses of the interviewees to answer the research question. A number from one to
ten is tagged to the interviewees based on the chronological order of the interview.
The research interviewed ten customers on how Company X can improve its Instagram
account to attract local customers. First, the author collected demographic characteristics
of interviewers about gender, age and living address, and children. Eight people interviewed
were female. The other two are male. In terms of age, there are six people aged 18 to 24
years old, three young adults from the age of 25 to 34 years old, and one middle-aged adult
at 56. When asked about the city or region they live in, six people answered that they lived
in Helsinki. Two of them lived in Espoo city. The others live in Vantaa and Lahti, respectively.
In addition, the author assumed that people who have children have a concern about spe-
cific topics. Therefore, interviewers were also asked whether they had any children to use
as assets for further analysis. Only interviewer 5 answered having children. (Table 2) The
table below illustrates the answers of the interviewees.Interviewee Gender Age City/ Region Have children
1 Female 24 Helsinki No
2 Female 24 Helsinki No
3 Male 22 Espoo No
4 Female 30 Helsinki No
5 Male 56 Espoo Yes
6 Female 27 Helsinki No
7 Female 20 Helsinki No
8 Female 21 Vantaa No
9 Female 23 Lahti No
10 Female 26 Helsinki No
Table 2. Demographic of the interviewees
The following questions assist the author in developing marketing suggestions for Company
X.Company X is a furniture company selling furniture and home décor. Therefore, the au-
thors interviewed the types and characteristics of their homes to know more about what
company x can offers. In terms of house types, interviewers 1,2,7,8, and 9 were living in
studio + Kitchen apartment, which included one room and one kitchen. Interviewer 3,4,6
stayed in 2h + Kitchen house.
Moreover, interviewer five lived in 4h + Kitchen house, and interviewer 10 stayed in 3h +
Kitchen house. All five people who lived in 1h + Kitchen home were students aged from 18
to 24. They are living by themselves in small rent studios with small living space. Interview-
ers 4 and 6 are all working people. They are financially free but still living in a rented apart-
ment to save housing costs. All of them answered that their house has a balcony and open
space.
The author examined the popularity of @nameaccount among customers at the Company
X store. Half of the interviewers did not know that the Company X Instagram account exists.
Interviewee 1 said :
I have no idea that they have their account.Two in five people who knew about the Company X Instagram account thought it was not valuable to them. The three people found the helpful account, but only one of them followed it. Interviewee Next, the author asked how often they watch home décor and furniture content from Insta- gram. Seven people said they often did, and three others rarely watched any related content on Instagram. Interviewer 1 said : I follow some home décor and design accounts on Instagram. It is very satisfying and in- spiring to see how they decorate different parts of the house. Interviewee 2 expressed that she watched home décor and design for recreation and often followed the tips and hacks she saw on Instagram. Interviewee 4 said he often watched home décor and furniture content from some influencers he followed on Instagram because they often gave him good advice. Three out of seven said that they primarily see this content unintentionally, sometimes by scrolling through their Instagram reels, stories, or advertising. In short, seven people who watch access the content in different ways. However, all inter- viewees said they go online or social media to search for ideas and inspiration for holiday decoration or home décor and furniture-related content when needed. Sources on the in- ternet and social media give them inspiration and suggestions. Interviewer 9 said: I do not follow any related accounts, but I sometimes search for décor ideas and inspiration for special occasions such as Christmas or summer. All of the interviewers are Instagram active users. Hence they know about how to use In- stagram and Instagram features. The author asked interviewers what kind of content en- gages them most. Furthermore, let them choose five levels of evaluation from unengaging, slightly engaging, engaging, somewhat engaging to very attractive. The questions aim to find out the most engaging forms of content on Instagram to customers. The table below illustrates the answers of the interviewers.
Figure 8: Engaging forms of content on Instagram Assigning points from one to five based on the engaging level of content, with one unen- gaging and five, is very engaging. The total points of each form of content are below: Forms of content Engagement point Images 42 Stories 31 Short videos 30 Reels 27 IGTV 29 Table 3. Engagement point of different forms of content on Instagram Images are the most favorite forms of content, with six people evaluated as very engaging. Stories and short videos are the second and third interesting content, according to the in- terviewees. Comes closely is IGTV and Reels got the lowest interests from the interviewees. However, one interviewee liked Reels the most. Knowing what form of content attracts cus- tomers, Company X can choose how to post its content to achieve optimal customer en- gagement. The final question is what kind of content you want to see on Company X. The author found that interviewees had varying respondents to these questions. Discount/ Sales campaign and Seasonal decoration of the Company X store are the highest choices of interview- ees with nine and six mentions, respectively. Interview 5 stressed the importance of show- ing sales and discount-related content to him : I think they should focus on posting about their sales and discount products. That would be the most interesting to me.
Interview 2 said: I love sales and discount stuff, and I think other people as well. If I see any good deals or new products coming up, I would want to go and buy. Moreover, they could post more about decoration ideas or something beautiful. Tips and Hacks got five votes. Interviewees 4 and 10 said they were interested in watching and learning new hacks for interior and home decoration and using company X products. Interviewee 4 said I have much small staff, so I need more space. I also want my working and studying place to look nice and neat. That´s why I often watch other influencers to get pieces of advice and follow their tips. Interviewees 1 and 9 wanted to see company X answers the problem of customers or problem-solving content. Interviewee 9 answered: I want to know more about how I can return or recycle company X products. Finally, the author asks whether they engaged in giveaways or game/ contest-related con- tent. At first, interviewees 6,7 show infusion about the kind of content and ask for more details. After being explained, they all thought giveaways or any game and contest would be engaging. Interviewees 7 expressed that he wanted to join. Interview 4 said she would be very interested in the game as it is pretty easy to join, and she tried to win the prize for his dad. Interviewees 1 and 2 talked about how the attractiveness of the award would mo- tivate them to join. I think Finnish people would love free stuff. Games and contest awards are not a little money to students like us… We can use the money to buy the products we want. That is very great. Ninety percent of interviewees expressed their willingness to participate. They also want the giveaways or game/contest easy to join and with generosity rewards. 4.2.2 Current statistics of Company X Instagram The author collected the insights data from the @nameaccount Instagram account. The Instagram insights provide the author with quantitative data about the current performance of @nameaccount. Based on the information from Rok- Sale manager, in May 2021, @nameaccount has approximately 1700 followers. The goals of the Company X Instagram strategy from 2021 until 2022 are to reach 5000 followers. Company X wants to narrow the
gap with customers and be stand out from the competition. The reason behind this goal is to drive the sale better this year. Understanding the Instagram algorithm, here are the post schedule Company X is following: • 2-3 posts in feed per week • Stories such as polls, repost from customers • Reels Moreover, engage with customers as soon as possible. Based on the insight of COMPANY X,decided to post offers or tips on Monday, Inspiration or seasonal sharing on Thursday, and spending Saturday reposting the posts of customers relevant to Company X. @nameaccount's most active users aged from 25 to 44. Women followers dominate, with early nine out of ten users engaged in the account are women.
Figure 9. Company X target audience on Instagram based on Insight of Instagram In June 2021, Company X has the Complete Kitchen marketing campaign. There are three kitchen collections METOD, ENEHET, KNOXHULT. Company X also promotes indoor and outdoor dining products in the summers. Company X also emphasizes the Click & Collect and Click & Drive services to address the covid 19 issues. To engage customers better, Company X has some ideas to focus content on natural hab- itat products, people, and the lives of staff both at work and outside work. They also want giveaways for their followers to maintain the interaction.
4.2.3 Analysis of Marketing strategies for Company X Instagram Company X Instagram accounts are @nameaccount. As of May 24, 2021, It has 1707 followers. The avatar helps customers realized easier the brand. In addition, the bio also has the category and hashtag related to home decor, which shows up on top when the audiences are looking for home decoration. Plus, this account linked the Company X web- site in bio, clearly showing who the account is and what the account is doing. About the feed of COMPANY X, Company X has its high light stories to tell customers who they are, what stories they want to share in the first impression. In the first nine posts, Com- pany X using a natural light tone, which brings the commercial feeling for users. They report the post of customers, which means they are listening to the ideas of customers. That is an excellent way to engage with their customers. Overall, Company X is going well with its plan. Besides the good points, Company X also had minor points behind it. The main issue when Company X using marketing on Instagram platforms is to convert users become their cus- tomers. First, we created the demand for customers to gain this goal and then meet this demand immediately. When users go @nameaccount, they are confused because of the older highlight stories. These highlight stories showed the old discount campaign. Company X impressed customers in the first 2 seconds. However, then when they scroll down, they did not follow the consistent tone below. Moreover, few posts do not stand out the products, and some customers get lost to see the unique products. In addition, @nameaccount has not utilized two features of Instagram yet. There is a shopping and guide feature. As mentioned before, the shopping feature helps users discover and buy from brands immediately. However, as for business accounts, it allows businesses to convert users to their customers on time. The guide feature also needs to help customers updates what is going in the store right now—for example, the new col- lections, new discounts, or decorations guiding in the order.
4.3 Competitor analysis Not like company X, JYSK has only one account, @jysk_fi, that Instagram verifies for com- mercial and one account @jysk_siniveriset for sharing worker environment. JYSK had a new summer collection in the bio, which gets the customers to pay more attention to the new collection on their website. As of May 25, 2021, @jysk_fi had 29.000 followers. The likes per post average are 200 likes. JYSK works more with shopping features and images. JYSK does not have to open guide features and create shopping collections, making it hard for customers to follow their content further. However, highlight stories of JYSK usually up- date. Then their highlight stories show what new JYSK products there are. Every two days, JYSK updates their feed once. With the post including their products, JYSK linked their shopping list into that picture. JYSK does not tag over four products in one image, which avoids overlap the price tag to each other. About the marketing campaign, they were live in April 2021 to introduce Spring/ Summer 2021. As part of this campaign, JYSK printed leaflets to inform the live session. In addition, they also invited more influencers to join in the campaign by sending a letter together with gifts, food, candle, tray, dishes, and decoration products.
5 Development plan
5.1 Instagram profile building suggestions
According to the interview data, most interviewees said Company X's profile looks con-
sistent and organized. However, from the author´s point of view, Company X should pay
more attention to detail. Here are few points that the author suggests:
Suggestions Action
Bio • Add the exact address.
Highlight stories • Archive the older stories
• Keep the new discount, new collec-
tions, campaign up to date
• Archive the older posts with a differ-
Feed
ent tone, outdated products, and
the older campaign
• Post one picture that shows what
Company X is going by word to
share in the next eight posts.
• Keep the consistency for the feed
Table 4.Company Profile suggestions
To sum up, adding the current address can help customers directly to find the store. Archiv-
ing the older posts, highlighting stories, and keeping updated new campaigns help custom-
ers follow current Company X stories quickly. Moreover, Company X can store the customer
insight to develop content further. Verification profiles will create more trust for customers.
To avoid customer loss in the Company X profile, Company X should open a guide feature.
Then, users can overview what topic they need and follow those in orders without swiping
down a long time. There is three guide type such as the places, products, and posts. With
this feature, Company X informs customers of new collections through posts. It makes one
highlight story and attached the products below. Users will find information related in one
post. In another type, Company X should share tips for combining items in different rooms
in a separate post. Hence, customers easier follow company X stories, which Company X
wants to tell to users by images.Posting and sharing company X stories create users the shopping demand. It is better if
customers can catch up immediately. To solve this problem, Company X should open the
shopping feature. After that, Company X can tag products list in each picture per post and
story. With this feature, Company X can tag the products to help customers discovers the
products and purchases the items. Company X can tag more than one product per post or
per story, but avoid the tags overlaps others products. Moreover, Company X should turn
on the auto-highlight in stories and remember to delete the expired products such as sea-
sonal products and older-sale. Like the Guide feature, Company X should also create col-
lections that describe funny pictures for the shop, making it easier for customers to follow
the new collections.
Pinterest is a popular social media platform nowadays. Realized the potential of Pinterest,
Company X has cooperated with Pinterest to create the company XRenovation website.
This new website helps customers re-build their place with company Solutions and prod-
ucts. To increase the view, Company X should pin their posts, including images, videos,
stories, and IGTV, by linking Instagram accounts with Pinterest accounts and sharing them.
In addition, when Company X pin them to the Pinterest platform, Company X should choose
a name directly related to the topic. For example, Living room decorations or Tip decoration
for the living room. Hence, Company X can direct Pinterest users and new followers to
@nameaccount.
Company X should like and comment on furniture and decoration posts. This way, the Com-
pany X account will appear on other pages. When users read comments, they will discover
Company X. The algorithm of Instagram will evaluate the engagement level between the
accounts and the Company X account
5.2 Instagram content suggestions
Based on the interview and the data of @nameaccount, here are what customers want to
see on the platform:
• DIY projects with company Products
• Kitchen, Children, Balcony, Bedroom, Offices décor
• Seasonal Decoration
• Minigame• Differents function of the products Company X should focus on developing content that customers are interested in. One of the essential angles of Instagram is content, and followers require more than just gorgeous photos. An engaging content mixing the value, information, and entertainment are more potent than a pretty picture. First, Company X should concentrate on the products by combining the decorating tip, which builds demand by sharing the decoration and meets needs by providing product information. Thus, Company X should add more humor to the campaign of the product for customers. (Charles & March 2006 ) To avoid talking too much about company X products, Company X should create more challenges. For example, Bingo templates that list what they have already done in COM- PANY X. Re-posting customer posts are also is a good way. In addition, customers want to see what they cannot see on other Instagram. Company X can also show how the COM- MUNICATION INTERIOR department creates décor items, making them feel like they are all a part of it. In addition, utilizing the trend to make the content makes customers excited .in. This way engages customers and show company Xpop-up in the explore tab Next, when starting writing, caption with a sentence that piques the curiosity and interest or encourages participation by asking a question at the end of the post. Next to the content, Company X also should make more effective for the images or video to keep the audience see the post longer. The algorithm Instagram pushes Company X up. Company X has the Swedish Market. In the Swedish market, Company X sells food pack- ages such as flour, sausage, hotdog, and other foods. In addition to food packages, Com- pany X should give a recipe for the meal or a video showing how to prepare it in the kitchen. This action makes customers feel company Xhonest in selling products and increasing the truth in Company X. Moreover, updating the recipes or cooking tutorial videos not only in- structs users but also creates needs. Thus, Company X does not have too much sale con- tent in their Instagram channel. About the story feature on Instagram, this feature's central question is how to make the stories more attractive to users. Besides asking the demand of customers, Company X can ask more the questions such as asking what the color customers like attaching with com- pany X products or how were today or what is the weather today on the story to enhance the engagement day in day out. Commonly, how to make stories more creative always uses more time to do. Understanding this problem, the authors suggest using the template stories
for those. Nowadays, many applications can solve this problem, such as Over and Canva, Unfold. Company X can create many templates in a short time. Especially Unfold, Company X can generate more creative story templates and posts. Unfold allows users can create multi-video in one story, which makes the story more lively and attractive. Moreover, Com- pany X also can use more hashtags in the story and hide them under the picture to get more engagement from followers. As mentioned before, The shopping feature can also be used for stories to help customers discover the products immediately. Businesses generally want to talk about their strengths but rarely listening to the difficulty of customers. Company X should use the poll or Q&A to hear the idea of customers and repost those with the solution, which shows on stories or the live session. That means Com- pany X always attentive to the feedback of customers. Before Company X starts to live, Company X should have the pre-post to inform about the purpose of this live session and collect what the customers want to know. Combining the Live session with the giveaways is also an idea to keep customers spend time watching. Usually, businesses have two seconds to impress users before they skip it. Mostly, people use Instagram for entertainment purposes. Hence, they want to see what they cannot see elsewhere. To be unique, Company X should share funny moments behind the posts in stories. Sometimes, the story also can re-up in Reels feature. Using more narrow and the call-to-action word such as 'buy now,' 'discover more,' 'read more' to enhance the demand level of customers. Running advertising directly on Instagram is one of the best ways to increase engagement with people who do not currently follow the account. Running ads sends people to @nameaccount. The users then start to follow the profile if they find valuable content. Run- ning advertising benefits businesses with an increase in profile visits, website visits, and messages of Company X. The author suggests company X run ads directly on Instagram to avoid add-up costs. The budget for this method is five euros per day. Company X can choose the goals of running ads and the target audience. They can select to reach people similar to their followers or filter through users' age, locations, and interests. Before Company X runs the advertising, Company X should make a little test about effi- ciency. For example, create a story and post more interesting with animated visuals. Then try to post at a different time with the same content and post the same content differently. Therefore, Company X also can choose the content to advertise by selecting which post
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