are big brands showing instagram enough love?
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Are big brands showing Instagram enough love?��A study of how major brands in the UK�are using the photo-sharing social network.����������August 2015 #UKInstaSurvey15�
#UKInstaSurvey15
Why should I read this survey? Do you have an interest in how your organisa1on tells the story of its brand? This study inves1gates how major brands in the UK are using Instagram, compares different sectors, and presents best prac1ce examples. The approach We reviewed the 35 biggest adver1sers in the UK to understand: how they’re setup on Instagram, the way in which they publish content and how they interact with their audiences. We chose not to assess the more subjec1ve area of ar1s1c execu1on.
What we found • A significant propor8on of brands have no presence or publish content infrequently. • Even brands publishing regularly oLen struggle to clearly demonstrate the purpose of their account. • Brands o=en take an inside-‐out approach, pos1ng about the things they’re doing rather than focusing on a passion point of their audience.
• The FMCG and Auto sectors performed best, while Finance brands were generally less effec1ve. • A number of brands are demonstra1ng a strong understanding of the plaNorm; L’Oreal Paris, Ford and Specsavers all performed strongly.
#Executive summary�
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The hypothesis Big brands aren’t giving due a0en1on to their ac1vity on Instagram, leaving it out-‐of-‐step with their other social network accounts, and out-‐of-‐touch with audiences.
#UKInstaSurvey15
#Contents �
The rise and rise of Instagram Page 4 The introduc1on of sponsored posts Page 5 The survey approach Page 6 What we found Page 7 #UKInstaSurvey15 infographic Page 8 Full brand rankings Page 9 Instagram best prac1ce Page 11 Conclusions and recommenda1ons Page 14 Appendix How the sectors compared Page 18 How we can help Page 19 Survey methodology Page 20
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#UKInstaSurvey15
#The rise of Instagram�
Since launching in October 2010 Instagram has grown rapidly, and now boasts over 14 million users in the UK (and over 300 million globally)1. With its clean interface and focus on photo/video sharing, Instagram has built a dedicated audience. It’s become a favourite of celebri1es and sports-‐stars, while providing a forum for people to build their own “personal brands” as online influencers. In the last few years, as Instagram’s user-‐base reached a significant size, it’s become another social network for brands to consider, deciding whether they should launch an account and what to use it for.
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Joe Wicks authen1cally integrates Uncle Ben’s products into his energe1c videos.
A number of brands have also established commercial rela1onships with “na1ve Instagrammers” to feature their products or services -‐ tapping into the large, engaged audiences these influencers have built up (example, right).
14m
Source: instagram.com/thebodycoach
In terms of business benefits, Instagram themselves focus quite heavily on how it can help to drive measures such as brand recall and purchase intent (see example case studies here: hAp://business.instagram.com).
1 itproportal.com/2015/07/13/instagram-‐users-‐uk
#UKInstaSurvey15
#The introduction of sponsored posts�
Using paid-‐adver1sing on Facebook is now an accepted requirement if a brand wants to reach an audience of any significant scale (even its own fans). Instagram, on the other hand, very simply shows every post a brand publishes to all of its followers. However, things are changing…
However, amidst these developments our view was that Instagram remained low on the priority list for many brands. Plus, with poten1ally less senior marketeers personally ac1ve on Instagram (compared with Facebook or Twijer), the overall appe1te may be lower.
With this hypothesis we reviewed 35 major brands to see how much love they’re showing Instagram.
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In 2014 Instagram began to test “sponsored” (paid for) posts with a small number of brands. Fast-‐forward to August 2015 and they’ve now opened up their API, which in short means: • Brands can pay to reach people who don’t already
follow them. • The volume of sponsored posts will increase. • Instagram will inevitably introduce some form of “pay-‐
to-‐play” system (like Facebook) to cap how many posts people see.
Source: instagram.com/developer
Instagram’s API
#UKInstaSurvey15
Social media brand-‐surveys typically review established social networks such as Facebook and Twijer. However we found a lack of reports inves1ga1ng Instagram. We followed our standard survey approach, focusing on how brands actually use a social network, rather than how many followers they have or the level of audience engagement. See page 20 for further details of the methodology. We assessed the 35 biggest customer facing brands in the UK (by adver1sing spend*) across three areas: Note We chose not to assess the photography or aestheGc quality of content being published, given the level of subjecGvity this would include. However, it’s an important point (albeit obvious) that brands must use excellent photography on Instagram to stand out.
#The survey approach�
1. Account setup
Have the basics been setup?
2. Content approach
Is there a clear theme and regular publishing
schedule?
3. Brand engagement
Does the brand engage with their audience?
Page 6 � *See methodology for details.
#UKInstaSurvey15
#What we found�
• Almost a third of brands had no account or hadn’t published anything. In some cases we had to assess a brand’s global account as no UK-‐specific account could be iden1fied.
• Most brands didn’t clearly define what their account was for and why someone should follow it. OLen there was a broad range of content published, delivering an inside-‐out, brand-‐view of the world -‐ rather than tapping into a topic of interest for the audience.
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• In general, brands published content infrequently and oLen failed to complete basic housekeeping such as having their account verified by Instagram.
• Less than half of brands used hashtags in the “list” style that’s now standard behaviour on Instagram.
• Just a handful of brands were engaging with their audience, either by responding to comments or re-‐gramming (i.e. sharing) other people’s images.
• L'Oreal Paris, Ford and Specsavers took the top three spaces in the survey, with L’Oreal scoring an impressive 100% against our criteria.
• Comparing the different sectors we surveyed, FMCG brands topped the list, while Finance filled boTom spot.
• With half of the brands scoring less than 50% we see considerable opportunity for development.
Rank Brand slp Score
1 L'Oreal Paris 100%
2 Ford 83%
3 Specsavers 83%
4 Tesco 72%
5 MicrosoL 66%
Top 5 brands in our 2015 Instagram survey
#UKInstaSurvey15
”
#UKInstaSurvey15 infographic - brand performance on Instagram�
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have verified
accounts
31%
11% re-gram other users
Who’s got an active
account?
69%
31%
#43% #brands #use #hashtags #in #native #Instagram #style
17%
reply to customers
clearly explain what their
account does
31%
26%publish content
every day
post content around just one clear theme
40% postvideos
“ 11%
#UKInstaSurvey15
#Full brand rankings �
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ConGnued…
The maximum score a brand could achieve in each area is shown in brackets. * No UK account iden1fied, global account assessed instead. ** No core-‐brand account iden1fied, “Sports” sub-‐brand account assessed instead.
Rank Brand Account setup (9) Content (14) Engagement (6) TOTAL (29) slp Score
1 L'Oreal Paris 9 14 6 29 100% 2 Ford 9 12 3 24 83% 3 Specsavers 9 9 6 24 83% 4 Tesco 6 12 3 21 72% 5 MicrosoL* 9 10 0 19 66% 6 Heineken 9 9 0 18 62% 7 Marks & Spencer 6 10 3 19 66% 8 Barclays 6 11 0 17 59% 9 McDonald's* 9 8 0 17 59% 10 Boots 9 7 0 16 55% 11 O2 4 8 3 15 52% 12 Kelloggs* 7 8 0 15 52% 13 Peugeot 6 8 0 14 48% 14 Sainsbury's 3 11 0 14 48% 15 Morrisons 6 8 0 14 48% 16 Volkswagen* 4 9 0 13 45% 17 Asda 4 9 0 13 45% 18 Vodafone 4 5 3 12 41% 19 Sky** 4 7 0 11 38% 20 BT** 3 8 0 11 38%
#UKInstaSurvey15
#Full brand rankings �
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Rank Brand Account setup (9) Content (14) Engagement (6) TOTAL (29) slp Score
21 Lidl 4 2 3 9 31% 22 EE 4 4 0 8 28% 23 Virgin Media 6 2 0 8 28% 24 Barclaycard 4 2 0 6 21% 25 Aldi 4 0 0 4 14% 26 Argos 4 0 0 4 14% 27 Direct Line 4 0 0 4 14% 28 Santander 4 0 0 4 14% 29 Saga 4 0 0 4 14% 30 Moneysupermarket 4 0 0 4 14% 31 Bri1sh Gas No account iden1fied. 32 TalkTalk No account iden1fied. 33 DFS No account iden1fied. 34 Halifax No account iden1fied. 35 Lloyds Bank No account iden1fied.
#UKInstaSurvey15
#Instagram best practice�
We picked out some of the best examples from brands included in the survey, and one that wasn’t, to illustrate the three areas; account setup, content and brand engagement.
Account setup
Specsavers clearly explain what their account is for, what they’ll be pos1ng and include a clear link to their website. @SpecSavers
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L’Oreal Paris balance the inclusion of their marke1ng strap-‐line with a concise explana1on of what followers will see. @LOrealParisUK
Source: instagram.com/specsavers
Source: instagram.com/lorealparisuk
#UKInstaSurvey15
#Instagram best practice�
Content
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Patagonia focus on the wonder and opportunity of the great outdoors. Note the lack of product placement. @Patagonia (not included in the survey)
Ford deliver an on-‐going stream of engaging photos of stunning cars in real situa1ons, rather than the stylised imagery oLen seen in tradi1onal automo1ve adver1sing. @FordUK
Source: instagram.com/patagonia
Source: instagram.com/forduk
#UKInstaSurvey15
#Instagram best practice�
Brand engagement
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O2 regularly re-‐gram other people’s photos, adding a clear acknowledgement to the user in the photo, as well as in the post. @O2UK
Marks & Spencers respond to customer ques1ons on the plaNorm. @MarksAndSpencers
Source: instagram.com/o2uk
Source: instagram.com/marksandspencers
#UKInstaSurvey15
#Conclusions and recommendations�
We drew six key conclusions and recommenda1ons for brands to consider:
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1. Although Instagram is seen as a “newer” social network, brands should by now have a clear approach to social media, with common principles and processes to support any plaNorm. While Instagram has its own unique features, it’s ul1mately just another place to engage prospects or customers and encourage posi1ve word-‐of-‐mouth.
2. The best Instagram accounts set, and s8ck to, a clear content theme which followers can build an affinity towards (example right). By publishing inspiring, entertaining or useful content, a brand can ideally get into a space where their audience is “looking out” for their posts. A great place to be in such a “noisy” online environment.
Symmetry Breakfast delivers a consistent theme that inspires and entertains.
Source: instagram.com/symmetrybreakfast
#UKInstaSurvey15
#Conclusions and recommendations�
3. Reviewing each brand’s profile descrip1on (example right) was an interes1ng exercise to see if they could communicate the account’s purpose in a handful of words.
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Boots Instagram profile descrip1on.
4. As discussed previously, the launch of adver1sing on Instagram will inevitably lead to changes in how much content a brand’s followers will see. Therefore brands failing to publish frequently and consistently (without spamming) are missing the opportunity to reach their audience “organically” while they can… before sponsored posts really take off.
Trying to be everything to everyone is far less appealing than being great at one thing.
An example of a sponsored post by SkyScanner.
Source: instagram.com/bootsuk
Source: instagram.com/skyscanner
#UKInstaSurvey15
#Conclusions and recommendations�
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5. Every social network has its idiosyncrasies, oLen established by its users. Hashtag lists for example are very much an “Instagram thing” -‐ see right. With less than 50% of brands using this approach, it poten1ally suggests underlying issues: • a lack in understanding of how “real people” use the plaNorm. • re-‐purposing of content created for other social networks, without op1mising it for Instagram.
6. We speculate the low level of engagement by brands is due to: • insufficient 8me allocated to community management for Instagram, versus other social networks.
• brands finding it challenging to manage, as most social media management tools are currently limited in how far they can integrate Instagram.
This links with conclusion #1, in that brands should know the “rules of the game” for being ac1ve on social media. Launching a new social network account without clear objec8ves, the right suppor8ng capabili8es and a long term strategy… they should all be behaviours of the past.
What are your experiences of using Instagram? Let us know using #UKInstaSurvey15
Use of hashtags in a list by L’Oreal Paris UK Source: instagram.com/lorealparisuk
#UKInstaSurvey15
#How the sectors compared�
The FMCG and Auto brands we surveyed generally performed best, filling the top two sector spots. This was helped by all brands having an ac1ve account and the strong performances of L’Oreal Paris and Ford.
Retail brands were spread out across the survey, but notably filled 3rd, 4th,7th and 10th places.
Conversely the Finance sector filled four of the boTom ten posi8ons, with two of the six finance brands having no iden1fiable presence on Instagram. Note It’s important to caveat that the sample size in some cases was relaGvely small; for example only three automoGve brands were in the list.
Sector performance, ranked by average total score
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Rank Brand Account setup (9) Content (14) Engagement (6) TOTAL (29)
1 FMCG 8.3 10.3 0.0 18.6 2 Auto 6.3 9.7 1.0 17.0 3 Retail 5.0 6.2 1.4 12.6 4 Service & Entertainment 6.4 5.4 0.0 11.8 5 Telco & U1lity 2.5 4.2 1.0 7.7 6 Finance 3.1 1.9 0.0 5.0
#UKInstaSurvey15
#How we can help�
With slp consul8ng’s experience in strategic social media consul1ng and The Vision Network’s exper1se in crea1ng content, we’re well placed to help organisa1ons: ü develop or review their approach to Instagram. ü integrate social media more broadly into their business. ü scope and create visual content for Instagram (or any digital plaNorm).
If you would like more informa8on about this survey, or are interested in talking to us, please get in touch:
E: simon@slpconsul1ng.co.uk M: 07970 890468 W: www.slpconsul1ng.co.uk
slp consul8ng was founded by Simon Preece to help businesses navigate the risks and opportuni1es that social media presents. We use our experience to help organisa1ons integrate social media into their wider business strategy by: • Reviewing their current social media ac1vity. • Recommending pragma1c, independent ac1vity-‐plans and
strategic considera1ons. • Training social media managers, wider teams and senior
stakeholders.
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The Vision Network is a content company. We communicate for our clients with pictures, films and wri1ng, through web, mobile, print, TV and of course, the spoken word. We start from the beginning, working directly with media owners, agencies and brand-‐guardians to clarify strategy, reply to client briefs, create pitch ideas and deliver content and adver1sing collateral to engage and inform. Put simply: ideas.delivered
#UKInstaSurvey15
#Survey methodology�
Scoring criteria We selected ten criteria across three areas of research, and added a weigh1ng to each. So for example, having a verified Instagram profile scored three points, whilst five points were awarded for brands with a very clear content objec1ve. The criteria used were: Brand selec8on We picked 35 of the biggest businesses ac1ve in the UK (by adver1sing spend last year), with the addi1onal criteria that they must be “customer facing”. For that reason the likes of Unilever are not included. Our research was grouped into six sector areas; telco + u1li1es, FMCG, finance, service & entertainment, automo1ve and retail.
Timing The survey was conducted in mid-‐July 2015 and reviewed each brand’s most recent 30 posts (or 3 weeks worth of content).
Account selec8on In each case the brand’s UK-‐specific account was assessed, where possible. Where these weren’t iden1fiable a global account was reviewed instead.
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Setup Content Engagement
Is the account verified? Does the account post frequently and consistently? Are regrams used?
Is it clear what the account is for? Is there a clear, consistent content theme? Does the brand reply to users?
Is there a link to the brand's website? Are product images published without context?
Is video used?
Are hashtags lists used?
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