18 Ways to Use Instagram to Promote Your Subscription Company

Infographics, special offers, announcements and more

Instagram Iphone App

We’ll admit it. When Instagram launched in October 2010, we thought it was just a fun app for sharing photos with friends. We had no idea that it would explode into a wildly popular social media platform that would work for businesses too. Instagram proved us wrong. Look at the numbers!

–      400 million monthly active Instagram users

–      More than 75 million daily Instagram users

–      20 percent of Internet users use Instagram

–      77.6 million Instagram users in the U.S.

–      Demographics: 51 percent male, 49 percent female

Acquired by Facebook in April 2012, Instagram is a free mobile app available from the Apple App Store and Google Play for iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch and Android. Third-party Instagram apps are available for Blackberry 10 and Nokia-Symbian devices.

 

We are visual creatures

According to Ernesto Olivares of Visual Information, 90 percent of the information transmitted to the human brain is visual. The remaining 10 percent is processed by our other senses – hearing, touching, tasting and smelling. Here’s an another startling statistic, especially for those of us who love words – we process images and other visuals 60,000 times faster than text! Images are easier for our brains to remember. Smart marketers capitalize on that fundamental truth, and they use visual tools like Instagram to reach their target audiences.

Are you an “Instagrammer” yet?

Instagram LogoSo are you an “Instagrammer” yet? Is your subscription company on Instagram? If you’re not, you’ll want to be. Instagram is an easy, free tool for promoting your subscription products and services, including making announcements and special offers, educating potential customers and interacting directly with subscribers. We are here to make you a Subscription Insider by showing you how you can use Instagram to promote your subscription or subscription box business.

 

How it works

For those who have never tried Instagram, here is a brief explanation (for Android users) of how to use this powerful social media marketing tool. 

  1. Create a free account using a version of your brand name that is easy to recognize.
  2. Find other Instagrammers to follow to begin establishing an audience. We recommend going to the Search tool and search for specific subscription-related companies with these hashtags: #subscription, #subscriptions, #subscriptionbox, #subscriptionboxes, #subscriptionservice, etc. When the search results come up, you’ll be able to see which of the hashtags has the most engagement. For example, #subscriptionbox has 30,399 posts and #subscription has 8,483. Click on the hashtag you want to view and Instagram will return a selection of top posts and most recent posts. Select an image that interests you from top posts, and click “follow” to put that brand’s account into your daily photo feed. As others begin to follow you, you will receive notifications, so you can follow them back.
  3. Add images to your subscription company’s account by selecting the camera in the middle of the bottom menu bar. Choose an image from the Photo Gallery on your device, click the arrow in the upper right-hand corner, choose a filter from the options at the bottom of your screen or choose Normal if you don’t want to apply a filter, click the arrow in the upper right-hand corner and write a caption. Be sure to include relevant hashtags (e.g., #monthlysubscriptionbox, #subscriptionoffer, etc.) You can also geo-tag the post with your location or tag specific Instagram followers. To share the post with all of your followers, click the checkmark in the upper right-hand corner. To send the post to one person, click Direct first and then the checkmark. To share on another social media platform (Facebook, Tumblr, Flickr or Twitter), choose one of those items from the Share menu.
  4. As you begin to build a portfolio of images and you follow other Instagrammers, your fan base will grow, and you can begin to interact with them. Posting frequency is entirely up to you, but Eclincher recommends that you post a maximum of seven times per week and not more than once a day.

Let’s do this

Now that you know why Instagram is a great (free) marketing tool and you’ve set up an account, let’s do this. Here are 18 ways to use Instagram to promote your subscription or subscription box company, complete with examples.

  1. Encourage subscribers to post their monthly subscription boxes when they arrive. This is a tactic many subscription box companies have used successfully. Some even offer rewards or spendable loyalty points to subscribers who share their images on social media. Here subscriber @miss_khloe_rose posted a picture of her first @Pupjoy subscription box…and who doesn’t love a cute dog pic? 
    Subscriber Post
  2. Share gift ideas with Instagram followers. While @Glimtit (Company name: Glimt) is not a subscription company, they often promote anytime gift ideas from subscription companies, like this monthly kids’ book subscription – another case where someone else promoted a subscription company’s product! That kind of promotion is priceless. The second example is a subscription box company making a gift recommendation for Mom, just in time for Mother’s Day. 
    Gift Ideas         Mothers day Idea 
  3. For publishers, Instagram is a great way to promote your latest issue, like this cover from Vanity Fair.
    Latest Issue
  4. In this example, @HelloFresh used Instagram to promote its mission using a sponsored video post – helping people eat healthier through a HelloFresh subscription. Look at the engagement on this post – 490,588 views and 440 comments. That’s because it was a sponsored post, but what great results!
    Sponsored Post
  5. Use Instagram to promote an upcoming event. Here @SeesoTV, a streaming video comedy subscription, used a simple visual to promote an upcoming Twitter chat with the cast of its original series “Bajillion Dollar Propertie$.” They’ve used appropriate hashtags and a simple call-to-action (Have you tweeted yours yet?).
    Upcoming Event
  6. Create a sense of urgency with subscribers and prospects by letting them know supplies are limited or there is a deadline to sign-up for a particular offer.
    Urgency Deadline
  7. Launch a new subscription plan via Instagram with attractive visuals, step-by-step instructions, appropriate hashtags, and relevant details in the comments section. @FishingCarePackage packed a lot of information into this visual, but yet it is still attractive and easy to understand.
    New Plan
  8. Post an interesting infographic to educate your audience. You aren’t selling anything outright, but you can include product shots in your photo.
    Infographic
  9. We love accounts that use social media platforms like Instagram to have a little fun with their audience. In this case, the all-comedy @SeesoTV posted a funny GIF to let fans know that Seeso is now available on Googlecast, and they tagged @Googlecast’s Instagram account for easy reference.
    Tagging Instagram
  10. Use infographics to explain how potential subscribers will benefit from your product. Here @Sleektreat explains the benefits of dark chocolate. This was a no brainer. We were sold at “dark chocolate” without reading the benefits, but this is a good example of how to subtly educate your customers.
    Product Benefits
  11. Include a special offer in your Instagram posts. WorldwideMixTapes offers a 20 percent discount for unlimited cloud storage for music. In this one-screen post, they make the offer, describe their product and include a call-to-action. They did not, however, use hashtags which would have made this post more easily searchable. Maybe #musiclover #ilovemusic #mixtapes, etc.
    Special Offer
  12. This post is a little mysterious, and that’s why we like it. By reading this post, we have no idea what this subscription box company, @Il.Box offers…which makes us want to learn more! We are intrigued enough to look at the company’s website, as the post suggests.
    Intrigue
  13. Make announcements on Instagram. In the first example, @YourBijouxBox announces a contest winner, tagging her and giving her instructions on how to claim her prize. In the second, @HeartXchangeBox advises prospective subscribers that the May product has sold out, but they are accepting orders for June already, and in the third example, they announce an upcoming giveaway. Fun!
    Announcement  Sellout Notice  Giveaway Announcement
  14. Report relevant industry news. In this example, @Talalthabet shares news that Apple Music will overhaul its streaming music platform. It shares the news and adds appropriate hashtags to make the post more searchable. This account has positioned itself as a “go to” source for information.
    Industry News
  15. Explain the different levels of your products. This is a great use of Instagram by @SoPoshBeauty who outlines their three subscription product tiers, something most subscription companies have on their websites. With a little fancy design work, you can take that same info. to share on Instagram.
    Product Details
  16. One of the best ways to use social media platforms like Instagram is to engage fans and followers. We love this Earth Day post by the Wall Street Journal, @WSJ. They encourage followers to post their own nature photos with the hashtag #WSJEarthDay to be included in a special gallery of reader photos. How cool is that? What we love even more is this is not what we’d expect from @WSJ. We think of them as a source for serious news and financial information – not a hip, Instagram-friendly subscription company that would interact with fans to celebrate Earth Day. It is unexpected, making us want to follow them to see what else they have to offer.
    Engage
  17. Simple branding. Show what your company has to offer with visuals only. Here Comic Blitz, a relatively new subscription company, displays some of the comics that are included in a subscription.
    Branding
  18. Share testimonials. Here Evernote promotes itself through the eyes of subscribers. They posted a testimonial from a customer which is dual purpose – it gives an example of how one subscriber uses Evernote and the testimonial promotes the product in a subscriber’s own words. Brilliant.
    Testimonials

If you’ve never tried Instagram before, we encourage you to give it a go. It is surprisingly easy to use and a fun way to promote the great subscription products and services your company offers. You’ll learn by trial and error, but start with our examples and suggestions and let us know how you make out. We’d love to learn from your success! Good luck.

Sources:

By the Numbers: 170+ Interesting Instagram Statistics (April 2016), http://expandedramblings.com/index.php/important-instagram-stats/4/

Instagram on Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instagram

Olivares, Ernesto, Visual Information, “We are 90% Visual Beings,” January 11, 2013. https://ernestoolivares.com/2013/01/11/we-are-90-visuals-beings/

eClincher, The Frequency Guide: How Often to Post on Social Media, https://eclincher.com/blog/the-frequency-guide-how-often-to-post-on-social-media/

 

 

 

 

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