Strategies of Personal Account Promotion on Instagram
In the article, an Instagram page is considered as part of mass communications which brings money and other benefits to its holder. Deep interviews with Russian Instagram bloggers confirmed our hypothesis: each account represents a separate medium with its own information and advertising policy. The article explores such parameters as content planning, interaction with subscribers, advertisers and other bloggers, as well as ROI assessment via the Statistics tool. Promotion in Instagram is achieved through the observance of aesthetic norms and thematic and stylistic unity. In-depth interviews with domestic bloggers confirmed our hypothesis: each separate account is actually a mini-media with its information and advertising policies. The author of the blog thus functions as a curator, or "issuing editor": there is a careful selection of photos that correspond to the concept, themes, and most importantly-the style of the account. There is an important difference between a business SM manager and an independent Instagram blogger: while the former makes content plans for approval with the client, the latter does not rely on long-term planning; instead, he/she procures posts the night before or creates them just before publication. This achieves the effect of sincerity, the sense of "being in the moment", which subscribers appreciate. Graphic content plays the primary role in the promotion of the profile. Additional coverage is provided by hashtags, interaction with subscribers, participation in the #sfs flashmob and symmetric content exchange between bloggers of the same level. It is possible to measure ROI via independent audit by means of the "Stats" tool built into Instagram. This allows to better understand the audience and adjust communication to expand influence. Cooperation with brands starts on average from 10K subscribers. The blogger presents his/her audience and proposes a joint project. The success of advertising placement largely depends on how well the ad post corresponds with the established aesthetics of the profile. Affiliate publications are placed in the main profile, as well as in Stories-a special section with photos and 15-second videos, which are deleted 24 hours after the publication. Reach of such publications is lower, but they are better perceived by subscribers, and placement in Stories costs advertisers cheaper than in the grid. The greatest coverage comes from getting a post featured in the "Trends" section; however, this is regulated by proprietary algorithms within Instagram, and is not possible to predict.