With social media being the first go-to platform for sharing new finds and recommendations, businesses are prioritizing their Instagram or TikTok accounts to sell their products. Primarily to reach the younger generation. But social media is not the only digital platform customers are gearing towards. With the rise of e-commerce, the number of online shoppers worldwide rises along with it. Now in 2023, the number of digital buyers is at 2.64 billion. That is 33.3% of the population worldwide. This means one out of every three people you see around you is an online shopper.Hence, Instagram (IG) among many other platforms is working its way to slowly becoming a monetization platform. We now see more creators than regular people on IG and an increase in influencers utilizing the platform as a main or secondary income base. This means it�??s even more important now for brands to have an online presence on social media to attract potential customers who are interested in their products when they come across their brand from an influencer�??s IG. But creating an IG account is merely the surface. The tougher part is how to maintain it, and ensure it appeals to consumers.Here, we have rounded up all you need to know about IG users' behaviors and how to appeal to them.With the constant rollout of new IG features, it can be pretty intimidating to know which features to focus on to gain awareness and drive conversion. So, Partipost Malaysia decided to run a survey with our 26,000+ influencers to understand these social media enthusiasts better.
1.1 IG stories as the top most used feature
Our findings pointed to us that IG users spend most of their time on IG stories (57.6%), with IG reels coming in second (47.7%), and IG feed at (24.2%). This shows that users are more likely to click and watch IG stories when they are on Instagram. Topping it off as their first choice of content consumption.This explains why most of the time when we have conversations with our friends, they are most likely to point out the content they saw on your IG story. Another factor that makes IG story most appealing is that it�??s the fastest way to update your followers while being authentic and relatable at the same time. Compared to IG reels and IG feed, it�??s less time-consuming to create the content for that feature as well.How businesses can utilize this:
- Post stories at least once a day to increase your chances of IG recognising you as a frequent user of Instagram.
- This may be a no brainer to many - direct your followers to your IG posts (reels or carousel) by posting it on IG story.
- Create interactive content to either get to know your audience better to cater to their needs better or just to have fun!
Partipost fun fact:
At Partipost Malaysia, we are well-known for running our mass reshare campaigns where we get Partiposters aka influencers in our database to share a brand�??s IG reel or carousel on their own IG story and add a caption with hashtags to increase brand awareness, reach and direct customers to either the brand�??s upcoming event, IG page, website and so on!
2.1 IG Content format that captures users�?? attentionWhen asked what type of content format often captures their attention, most are geared toward IG reels (47.7%). IG stories came in second with (28%) and the last was IG post(24.2%). Though it�??s obvious that Instagram is now trying to bring back photo sharing by shifting the positioning of the middle tab back to the �??plus�?� sign and having IG reels tab on the right, many social media experts pointed out that they believe IG reels will continue to shine because short form videos are the current trend that we can�??t seem to get enough of! And this theory is further proven by the results of this survey.
Partipost fun fact:
At Partipost Malaysia, most brands prefer Partiposters to create content and post as IG reels compared to IG carousels. The pick up will be higher especially when educational values are incorporated in the product pitches.
3.1 What makes IG reels most captivatingAs a follow-up question to the previous results, we got to understand what makes IG reels most captivating and attention-grabbing. Most chose its aesthetic value (37.6%) as the top reason why they enjoy watching IG reels. The fast-paced edits (29.5%) and trendy music (28.2%) came pretty close. We believe this may be due to the package of having trendy music and editing the reel to match the beat of the music, hence the fast-paced edits. While aesthetics tops it all off.How businesses can utilize this:When creating a reel, ensure to have all 3 of the above criteria are met. It will increase your engagement rate and potentially, your follower count.
Partipost fun fact:
Brands prioritize influencers who can create aesthetically pleasing and authentic content.
4.1 Why do people follow a brand on IGBefore we get into the nitty gritty of what this blog is all about, let�??s look at what makes people follow a brand on Instagram. Many users voted for aesthetically pleasing content (37.6%). Again, it�??s about aesthetics, a big part of it stems from IG being a visual-driven platform from the beginning of its venture where people follow brands to get inspiration, much like Pinterest.Second place falls under �??the brand often shares helpful content�?� (29.5%) and �??influencers they follow often share about the brand�?� (28.2%). IG users prefer following accounts they find beneficial to them and are often influenced by influencers they follow. Though influencers they follow are likely to be in their niche and share relatable and helpful content too.How businesses can utilize this:Definitely engage with influencers as part of your marketing strategy for social media. It craves a pathway to increase brand reach and possibly convert to sales especially if you use the right influencers.
5.1 Why people purchase from a brandNow, to address the main star of the blog - 3 reasons why people buy from a brand on Instagram. Top
- Constant helpful insights shared by the brand (53.8%)
- Recommendation from friends and family (21.8%)
- Favourite influencer constantly shares about the brand (19.3%)
I would sound like a broken record if I were to repeat points one and three. However, I would like to talk more about point two. When speaking about recommendations from friends and family, we think about word-of-mouth. And this is the core of what we do here at Partipost. We push word-of-mouth, which is why we advocate nano influencers who have a niche and boost higher engagement as most of their followers are their friends and family.When a family or friend recommends a product, you automatically feel more drawn to the brand as you trust your friends and family. You know they would not recommend a bad product to you, and vice versa.How businesses can utilize this:Start having long-term partnerships with influencers. Whether they are nano influencers, micro or even macro influencers. Because constant exposure to a product especially from someone we trust, will increase the likelihood of us purchasing the product.
Partipost fun fact:
At this rate, I may have run out of fun facts, but all I can say is, the top three reasons why people buy is something we constantly advocate here at Partipost.If you have read this far, thank you for taking the time to read, and we hope you got valuable information from this.If you would like toschedule a free demo with usto betterunderstand how Partipost works and come to an agreement on how we canelevate your social media game, justdrop us your contact details belowand we will reach out to you soon!Get people to buy your products