Instagram Rules

Instagram usage has doubled in the last two years, and it now reaches an average audience of 500 million people on a daily basis, more than double that of Snapchat or Twitter.  75% of users are outside the U.S.  90% of users are under 35.

So what accounts for its growing popularity?  It's nice.  According to the company, "they are striving to create a safe, happy environment.  One that people say is super positive and optimistic." (Rosenbaum, 2017)

Works for me.  Although I suspect not having to read has something to do with it as well.

In her "Tips for Taming Your Wild Facebook Feed," Katherine Bindley points out that if prioritization, hiding posts, and updating your likes, doesn't create an environment where you can go back to just the happy stuff - i.e. birthdays, brides, and babies (she forgot cats) then you can always switch to Instagram.  (Bindley, 2017)

Apparently more and more people are doing just that.

Rosenbaum, S. (2017, December 4)  Instagram's Dreamscape Winning Fans. mediapost.com.  Retrieved December 5, 2017, from

https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/311055/instagrams-dreamscape-winning-fans.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=headline&utm_campaign=106413&hashid=c4hmrOYncfZiBl7GlC72xy3E6dw

Bindley, K. (2017, November 8)  Tips for Taming Your Wild Facebook Feed. wsj.com.  Retrieved December 5, 2017, from

https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-to-live-with-facebook-and-still-live-with-yourself-1510160931

Will you drink Vita Coco because Chrissy Teigen does?

After years of grassroots marketing - handing out samples on the street and at music festivals, Vita Coco is taking their marketing to a new level with television.

Chrissy has touted their brand before.  Last summer she did a series of Snapchat videos for the brand.  You can check them out here...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaZMDFAMgJQ

I couldn't find any data about the effect that effort had on sales, but given that Kylie Jenner's posts for pomegranates that fall led to a 689% increase in sales in the U.K., one would imagine that the campaign was effective.  (Blake, 2016)

Also, why would they use Chrissy in a television campaign if she wasn't?  Interestingly, it appears that the brand is up for sale, which is another reason why they may be trying to raise their profile at this time. (Kaplan, 2017)

You can check out the commercial here...

http://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/chrissy-teigen-plays-a-coconut-plant-manager-in-this-nutty-new-vita-coco-spot/

So, what do you think?  Do celebrities influence your buying patterns?  How much?  Which ones?  And, why?

Blake, I.  (2016, October 18)  The Kylie effect!  dailymail.com.  Retrieved December 1, 2016, from

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/food/article-3847304/The-Kylie-Jenner-effect-t-superfood-pomegranates.html

Kaplan, J. (2017, February 14)  Vita Coco to Near $1 Billion  in Sales as Potential Buyers Circle.  bloomberg.com.  Retrieved March 31, 2017, from

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-02-14/vita-coco-to-near-1-billion-in-sales-as-potential-buyers-circle

Klara, R. (2017, March 29)  Chrissy Teigen Plays a Coconut 'Plant Manager' In This Nutty New Vita Coco Spot.  adweek.com.  Retrieved March 31, 2017, from

http://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/chrissy-teigen-plays-a-coconut-plant-manager-in-this-nutty-new-vita-coco-spot/

So after you used Snapchat to wear a pair of 'Kendall II" glasses, did you actually buy something?

Unless you are living under a rock you know that Snapchat's stock closed up 44% on March 2, the day they went public.  Pretty good for a company that lost $515 million last year. (Balakrishnan, 2017)

But given Snapchat's popularity with Millennials and Gen Z, the belief is that the company will eventually make money.  Do you think that's true?  Do you use Snapchat?  Have you ever bought anything based on a Snapchat post?

Research says that Mills follow brands on social media almost as much for entertainment value (38%) as they do for information (42%).  So adding sunglasses to your pics, sending yourself to exotic places, and then sharing with friends seems like it would be right up their ally.  (Loechner, 2017)

But, while Snapchat considers this Michael Kors effort to be a success, I can't help but notice that purchase intent only increased by 6%, and there is no mention of a sales increase at all. (Snapchat, 2017).  Hmm.  I was taught that unless your effort generates a 10% increase in sales it is considered a failure.

I'm not the only one who is skeptical.  According to a study published by RBC Capital Markets and Ad Age - Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and even Yahoo all had a better ROI than Snapchat.  And now that Instagram and Facebook have added similar features is it any wonder that Snapchat's recent user growth has been relatively flat?  (Slefo, 2017)

Which brings me back to my original question.  Have you ever bought anything based on a Snapchat post?  What about other social media?  Which works best for you?  Why?

Balakrishnan, A. (2017, March 2)  Snap closes up 44% after rollicking IPO.  cnbc.com.  Retrieved March 17, 2017, from http://www.cnbc.com/2017/03/02/snapchat-snap-open-trading-price-stock-ipo-first-day.html

Loechner, J. (2017, March 16)  Millennials Follow Brands; GenX, Contests; and Boomers, Promotions.  mediapost.com. Retrieved March 17, 2017, from http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/296926/millennials-follow-brands-genx-contests-and-bo.html

Pomerantz, L. Michael Kors Sponsored National Lens.  Snapchat website. Retrieved March 17, 2017, from https://storage.googleapis.com/snapchat-web/success-stories/pdf/pdf_michael_kors_en.pdf

Slefo, G. (2017, March 14)  Snapchat Receives Poor Grades From Marketers.  adage.com.  Retrieved March 17, 2017, from http://adage.com/article/digital/snapchat-receives-poor-grades-marketers/308270/

After you transformed yourself into Professor X did you go see the movie?

Snapchat's "sponsored lens" lets you turn yourself into someone else or something else, dump Gatorade over your head or turn it into a taco.  Hmm.  Could be fun I guess.  

And since Snapchat reaches 41% of American 18-34 year olds daily marketers are giving it a shot.

According to Twentieth Century Fox, their X-Men campaign received 298 million views and reached about 42 million people.  But at $450,000 to $750,000 a day it's not cheap.  And I can't help wondering if radio would have been more efficient and effective.  (See last week's post.)

Perlberg, S. (2016, June 22)  Snapchat: How Brands Reach Millennials.  wsj.com.  Retrieved August 12, 2016, from  http://www.wsj.com/articles/snapchat-how-brands-reach-millennials-1466568063