Undoubtedly, most of the marketers love email marketing and at the same time, they love Instagram. However, most marketers think about whether or not it will be good to bring these two loves together. According to recent research by Curalate, it is found that:
- Only 14% of all marketers use their social media images for their email marketing efforts.
- It is also seen that less than 3% of these marketers actually leverage Instagram contents.
However, there are several online retailers who have recently started to experiment with using the Instagram photos in their email marketing campaign with an intention to drive more impressions that will, in turn, drive more sales.
Amazingly, it is found that these retailers who took this bold step forward made a big influence in the purchase decision of their email subscribers and the combination of Instagram with their email marketing campaigns eventually resulted in a seven times increase in on-site engagement.
This significant success led to the change in the concept and scenario in the digital marketing world were now more and more businesses want to incorporate their Instagram pictures in almost all types and modes of their marketing efforts, including their email marketing campaigns.
Two ways to use it
Marketers have discovered the huge potential of Instagram and the opportunities for using such high resolution and high-quality visuals in their email marketing campaigns. There are actually two ways in which you will find that these user-generated contents feature:
- Hashtag engagement
- Photo contest.
Hashtag engagement can be both online as well as offline. It is the best way to spread the word and to show your customers about using your product by tagging the photo with a specific hashtag.
You can do this in different ways. You can create symbolic hand signage especially if you are a retail brand for your store by asking your customers to take a picture of them using your products.
Once you get the picture you now have to use a relevant hashtag in the other marketing efforts such as:
- Your current email promotions
- On your websites
- Your other social channels and
- Anywhere offline that you feel it is appropriate.
At this point, you should also focus on your Instagram bio which is the most important aspect for the followers for Instagram.
Several social media strategists have encouraged using such photos as they believe that it creates brand loyalty. You can even take it to a higher level if you add a message in your Instagram bio. You can customize this message so that it fits in well with the personality of your brand.
It is important that you monitor the hashtag so as to engage with the fans in a better way and know who all are using the hashtag.
Photo contest
A photo contest or challenge will operate much similar to your hashtag campaign but it will essentially include a time limit and of course, a prize. However, you can be a bit more creative in this aspect to make things more interesting rather than taking a picture of using your product and posting it.
Interesting things work well especially if you are more focused on running an awareness program or focused for your cause-based campaign. In such situations, a simple product picture may not turn out to be appropriate.
Therefore, you must try out several different yet relevant hashtag for the specific photo contest. This will provide your fans with a better opportunity to come up with better lifestyle images. They can now focus on several other aspects such as:
- How your product has helped them build their self-esteem?
- How do they feel about your product?
- How do they perceive it?
- What made them love your product?
Every photo submitted for the contest will be different and contain a different message to spread and at the same time, each photo will build a different level of awareness for your project.
However, all these types of campaigns and images must have unique hashtags to use and therefore you must give enough thought for your hashtag creation process. You may use specific hashtag creation tools to make sure that the one you choose is unique and related to your product and marketing objective.
The rules to follow
It is important to remember that you will have to follow the requirements for contests on this platform. Instagram expert and social media strategists say that though Instagram is a lot lenient how you may run the contests or the types of contests you can run on the platform, there are a few specific rules that you must strictly adhere to for every post that is related to your specific campaign or contest. According to the rule, you must include the following with each post linked with your contest:
- How to enter
- The official rules and conditions
- The time frame
- The entrant requirements and restrictions
- The special conditions
- An official disclaimer that will alleviate Instagram of any affiliation with your contest.
When you put in the disclaimer, you must also follow the specific verbiage for it and it is best that you find about it from the Instagram Help Center.
It is wise to read the full rules of Instagram before you start any contests for your brand so that you do not put your brand and business at any type of risk due to non-compliance and even a costly lawsuit and full prosecution.
Also Read – Why Businesses Must Market Through Social Media
To sum up
When your contest runs well and there are no legal obligations, you will get a better response from the users. Just make sure that the prize that you offer is of enough value to them so that they are encouraged to take part in the said contest.
You can offer them discount coupons or a free service or a giveaway. You can also allow them a discount on an entire item, or for a specific item when they spend a specific amount in a purchase, free shipping over and above a specific order value, and several others.