Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyse the deliberate social media marketing practices of a start-up company. The study aims to measure the effects of these practices (i.e. following potential customers and liking and commenting on their posts on Instagram) on creating and increasing awareness of the company’s business and gaining followers for the company’s Instagram account. Design/methodology/approach – The research is exploratory in nature and adopts an approach similar to that of action research. The research was enabled and facilitated by collaboration between the researchers and a company representative. The company offers an application for young mothers. Findings – The model developed in this study identifies the effects of the practice of endorsing and interacting with customers for marketing purposes. It points out following as a first-order practice that smalland medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can employ to gain followers instantly on Instagram. Research limitations/implications – The method used limits the generalisability of the findings. However, the findings offer preliminary insights for future studies on Instagram marketing in SMEs. Practical implications – Companies can attain success in social media marketing by actively engaging with customers and potential customers on various social media platforms. Originality/value – There is a paucity of research focussing on Instagram marketing in SMEs. The model in this study contributes to theory on Instagram marketing and offers a framework that can help managers plan Instagram marketing strategies.
Conclusion
This paper contributes to the research on Instagram marketing by shedding light on how a company’s endorsements affect consumers’ responses and how they are interlinked, as described in the “follow for follow” model in Figure 7. Previous research on Instagram marketing points out the practices of interacting with customers by following them and by liking and commenting on their posts (Miles, 2014; Neher, 2013). In addition to that, the model proposed in this study examines the effects of those practices by determining the reaction pattern to the actions employed. The findings identify following as a first-order marketing practice for companies to employ to obtain followers on Instagram. These findings are applicable in the companies’ daily routines. The model draws on existing theories and can be used to plan actions in future similar situations. On a more general level, the findings imply that marketing managers have to carefully consider which metrics they should monitor in social media marketing, taking into account the differences between platforms. The endorsing behaviour varies across platforms because of the differences in user interfaces and the differences in the kind of social behaviour that is the primary behaviour. The findings show that the practice of following is the most effective when the purpose is to gain followers on Instagram. The practices of liking and commenting are less effective; the study did not find a significant relationship between the number of followers gained and the company’s efforts of liking and commenting on potential customers’ posts. Thus, the practices of liking and commenting on customers’ posts may be more relevant for other purposes, such as interacting with existing customers and strengthening the company’s relationships with them. In addition, commenting is time consuming, which calls for the reconsideration of its use as a marketing practice.
