Episode 5: Instagram Consumer Habits And How To Apply That To Your Digital Marketing Strategy

April (00:00):

Welcome to Digital AF. In today's episode, I'm going to chat to three Instagram users, Amelia.

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Amelia (00:06):

Oh, hi.

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April (00:08):

Jess.

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Jess (00:08):

Hello.

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April (00:09):

And Tayte.

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Tayte (00:10):

Hi.

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Speaker 8 (00:12):

Digital AF. The digital marketing podcast that features real conversations from those who live and breathe the digital agency life. April Ford Digital Agency shares their tips tricks and exposes the truth about what works and what doesn't. Welcome to Digital AF. Let's get into it.

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April (00:31):

At April Ford, one of our core service offerings is Social Media Content. It's actually where April Ford started as an agency and to this day, we are still building and executing content strategies for our clients. There is a lot of chat when it comes to Instagram content. What you should post, what you shouldn't post, when, what time, what hashtags? The list goes on. I thought in this episode, we could chat to three people in different stages of their life to see how they actually use the platform, whether it be for entertainment, education, shopping, connection, and more.

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April (01:09):

So let's start with Amelia. What do you like about Instagram?

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Amelia (01:13):

There are lots of things. I think you can get a real scope of a person or a brand or a cafe or whatever you're looking at by looking at their Instagram feed. So I've been through a few different stages in my life, and currently I'm looking at wedding stuff. I'm looking at baby stuff every day. Multiple times a day. And that's how I sort of gauge where I want to buy, when I'm looking at what style. That also applies to cafes on the weekend.

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April (01:41):

Nothing wrong with that. I use it a lot for cafes, just to make sure it's okay.

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Amelia (01:45):

Yes. I want to see the image of what I'm going to eat. I'm a look eater. I look at it, I look at every bite, so I want to make sure there's quality there. So yeah, I live and breathe Instagram.

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April (01:54):

Yeah. Do you shop via Instagram?

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Amelia (01:56):

Yes. Yeah. Big time for baby stuff. There's so many brands out there and you know what? The reviews are massive for me as well and if they're doing reels, you can kind of get a real sense of how big a product is, pretty much everything by looking at the videos. Yeah, so I definitely use Instagram for-

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April (02:15):

What's the last thing you bought off Instagram. Do you remember?

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Amelia (02:18):

You know what? No. It must have been a play silk or something for Banksia.

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April (02:21):

Yeah. A what? A play-

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Amelia (02:23):

Oh, play silk. Montessori toys.

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April (02:25):

Oh yeah.

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Amelia (02:26):

Yeah, they go off.

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April (02:26):

Yep.

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Amelia (02:27):

Yeah. There are so many brands and you know what? I try really hard to buy local. There's a lot of great local companies and I think I make a point of finding their socials and making my decision based on a lot of different things but aesthetically that's up there.

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April (02:42):

And so you mentioned before that the content you kind of follow has changed over time because of stage in life.

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Amelia (02:49):

Yes.

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April (02:49):

Yeah?

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Amelia (02:52):

Don't release my age.

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April (02:55):

So how has it changed in the last two years?

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Amelia (02:58):

Oh, hugely. So I've recently had a baby and before that, yeah, it was all about shopping. It was all about going out, drinks and cafes and whatever, and yeah with the baby stuff... Oh my gosh. The majority of accounts I follow now are baby inspired. I don't know, like-

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April (03:16):

Did you think two years ago you'd be following that many baby accounts?

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Amelia (03:19):

No. And you hit this moment, I don't know, where you become a mama bear and your life just transforms and yeah, you become a new person. A whole new identity which, yeah, you don't really think of before you have the baby, but it happens and your whole life sort of follows and-

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April (03:37):

Yeah and so your interests change because of that and what you're following and what you're engaged in online.

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Amelia (03:41):

Totally. Yeah, 100%.

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April (03:42):

Cool. What about you, Jess? What do you use Instagram for?

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Jess (03:45):

Mostly shopping, but like Amelia, it has changed in the last couple of years. It used to be very travel orientated for me. I had a bit of a time in my life where I just loved traveling and finding a place I'd want to go on Instagram and make sure I go there, but now it's mostly shopping.

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April (04:06):

What type of shopping though?

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Jess (04:07):

Clothes mostly and shoes. Sorry, Mitch.

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April (04:12):

What about furniture and stuff? You just bought a house recently.

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Jess (04:13):

Yeah, so we did find a lot of inspiration on Instagram for our furniture, because we bought a new house and it was really easy to find a look that we liked and literally in one post we could find all the furniture items, they were all tagged. And I was like, "Okay, well, we'll grab that. We'll grab that from that brand and go into the store for this, check it out." So that was really awesome. And similar to clothes, circling back to clothes where my true passion lies, with influencers or models that I follow or even brands, they're using more user generated content. So it's awesome to see how it looks, not just as a-

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April (04:57):

Perfectly styled.

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Jess (04:57):

Yeah, perfectly styled and just sort of a bit more lifestyle and how things can be sort of multipurpose. I see girls wearing active wear out and stuff, sort of lifestyle wear and what not has kind of changed, so that's really cool.

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April (05:12):

What have you bought from Instagram lately?

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Jess (05:14):

Something from a store on theSunshine Coast. Yes, there's a store on the Sunshine Coast I really like, and they've just done some really awesome stuff with their Instagram and I'm constantly getting some of their stuff. So I'm obviously a big fan, but yeah, it was a shirt.

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April (05:29):

It was a shirt.

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Jess (05:29):

Mm-hmm (affirmative).

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April (05:31):

And do you ever unfollow accounts?

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Jess (05:33):

I probably do a cull every now and then, but Instagram is so sort of curated to what you like now. You don't even notice the accounts that you're not engaged with anymore. I think, yeah, you just don't see it as much.

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April (05:47):

Yep. And what's the weirdest account you follow?

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Jess (05:50):

Oh, it's that crime scene one. TheCrime Scene Cleaners.

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April (06:01):

Yeah that is weird, but great.

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Jess (06:02):

Talk about Amelia.

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April (06:05):

What about you, Amelia? What's the weirdest account you follow?

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Amelia (06:07):

Oh goodness. It'd be some weird animal thing.

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April (06:11):

Yeah, yeah.

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Amelia (06:13):

Weird animal memes or something.

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April (06:15):

What about you, Tayte?

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Tayte (06:16):

I feel like it would just be a weird quote thing. I remember when there was that Brian Laundrie whole thing inAmerica. I don't know if you guys saw that. I was following her missing page.

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April (06:25):

Oh yeah, yeah.

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Tayte (06:26):

So probably just stuff like that.

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April (06:27):

My mum rings me. I speak to her quite often. And she goes on and on and on about the Timbermate Instagram account, which is a putty or something like that you put in timber and she's just like,"There's so many uses for it. I just can't believe how many uses. The Instagram account is so interesting because they show how it can be used."So that's the weirdest one my mum follows.

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Jess (06:56):

There's an awesome one that I follow.It's a very housewifey one. She's a housewife but she cleans a lot and she's obviously sponsored by Amazon or something, but she does really awesome reels of her using cleaning products or handy... She has this little vacuum that's for your desk and it's a little battery powered vacuum and it cleans your desk.It's so cute.

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Amelia (07:20):

That's cool.

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Jess (07:20):

But she has the greatest content. I love it. It's just really quick and she tags all the products so you're like,"Oh, I might pop that in my basket."

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April (07:29):

I need that tiny desk cleaner.

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Jess (07:30):

Yeah, I need that.

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April (07:33):

And Tayte, what do you use Instagram for?

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Tayte (07:35):

I think I probably use it more for connecting with my friends, I use it a little bit for shopping, but I have never properly shopped through a link on Instagram, maybe the bio, but, yeah, never a link. I would save products, but I probably would never buy them. It's more of an inspiration kind of thing. But yeah, keeping in contact with friends from school and exchange and uni and family and all that kind of thing.

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April (08:01):

Why do you follow certain accounts on Instagram?

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Tayte (08:04):

Because I like them. I guess they're relevant to me or they're relevant to maybe whom I want to be or things I want to do.

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April (08:13):

The aspirational type of thing.

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Tayte (08:14):

Yeah, yeah.

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April (08:15):

Because I know you contacted us about work via Instagram.

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Tayte (08:18):

Yeah.

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April (08:18):

And now you're here, which is very cool. So were you using Instagram as a way to look for work after you graduated or...

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Tayte (08:25):

Yeah, I definitely think, and especially in this industry, it was a big thing for me to see agencies that had a big social profile, not even a big social profile, but had lots of consistent content and you can really see who they are through what they're posting. Because I once did an internship with a place and they just had no social presence and I was like, "Well, it's not really... I want to work in social media, so I want to see that you can do that."

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April (08:49):

Yeah, and I mean-

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Tayte (08:50):

And I can learn from people who are already doing it.

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April (08:52):

One of the reasons why we use Instagram is actually for recruitment, so it's very cool that we found you that way and that you use that too. So that's actually a big part of... A lot of our Instagram stories are actually aimed at recruitment to show the company culture and things like that.

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Tayte (09:08):

Who we are, what we do.

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April (09:09):

Yeah. And what's your favourite account that you follow?

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Tayte (09:12):

It's probably a travel account called Gypsy Lust.

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April (09:15):

Oh yes.

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Tayte (09:16):

She travels all the time. Well, she lives between here and Bali and she just posts really cool photos, all these really cool destinations and I was just... Dream life.

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April (09:26):

Do you save them as places to go visit one day?

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Tayte (09:28):

Yeah. Yeah, I do.

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April (09:30):

I save a lot of stuff for... I'm in a different stage of life obviously, so I save a lot of content for like, "Yeah, I like that interior." Mainly interiors and stuff like that, so.

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Tayte (09:39):

Definitely.

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April (09:40):

I like to use it for that and also work stuff. I'm like, "Save that. I'll remember that for a client."

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Tayte (09:45):

Yeah, definitely. I have little folders and I'm like, "Oh, this is places on the Gold Coast or this is in Brisbane." So if I'm over there, I can jump into the folder and see, I don't know, a cool place to go for dinner or drinks or something else.

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Amelia (09:55):

I save recipes.

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April (09:56):

Do you really?

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Tayte (09:58):

Yeah, recipes is a good one.

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Amelia (09:58):

Yeah, baby recipes. When I first had Banksia and they start eating, what do they eat? What do you feed them? So I would follow influencers that would put up recipes and save them and I still make them to this day and I always refer back to them.

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April (10:10):

That's a really good idea. I never thought to save recipes there's so much-

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Amelia (10:12):

There are so many amazing chef-inspired accounts for all sorts of diets. Yeah, and it's awesome.

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April (10:20):

Yeah. I never thought to save in folders for locations and stuff like that. It's such a good-

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Amelia (10:25):

It's very organised.

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April (10:25):

Yes. So let's switch a little bit to strategy from a client's perspective. And I just wanted to get your thoughts on a couple of things. So do you guys have an ideal time of day that you personally use Instagram?

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Amelia (10:38):

Yeah. First thing in the morning whenI wake up. I kind of scroll it a bit like a newspaper and then in the evening when my baby's asleep. Around six o'clock, I find that a lot of people my age and friends will be posting around that time. It's the end of the day, they've done something cool. They'll put something up. So they are my times.

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April (10:57):

What about you, Jess?

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Jess (10:59):

I try not to scroll in the morning. Just a little bit of a mindful morning if I can. And I would go on at lunch time or night probably between 6:00 and 7:00 and then go to bed.

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April (11:16):

Through to bed.

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Jess (11:16):

At 7:00 PM.

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April (11:16):

What about you, Tayte?

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Tayte (11:17):

Yeah, I'm the same. Probably first thing in the morning and just before bed. But if I'm going to post, I probably would post around dinner time. I just feel like that's when I would get the most engagement.

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April (11:27):

Yeah, yeah. For sure. What about hashtags? Do you ever use them to search or do you ever click on them as users of Instagram?

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Tayte (11:34):

I use them to search but I don't put them in my posts.

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Amelia (11:37):

I'm the name as Tayte. I don't use them in my post, but I search, recently wedding dresses. That's how I've been finding a lot of dresses and, yeah, I find hashtags really cool in that sense.

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April (11:48):

Yep. What about you, Jess?

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Jess (11:49):

Not as much anymore. I think my behaviour has changed in terms of hashtags. Maybe if I was travelling again or something like that, I'd probably use it. But for what I kind of use Instagram for, it's not really what I'm looking for.

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April (12:02):

What about location tagging? Do you use that as a search tool ever?

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Jess (12:06):

Yeah, sometimes. Yeah.

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Tayte (12:08):

I use it if I want to get a cool photo or something and find the location, where I should go or what food's around. If I'm going to do a day trip somewhere, I'll look at where people are posting.

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April (12:18):

That's what I use it for too. I'll look for a cafe in a location I'm going to or something like that.

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Jess (12:23):

Yeah.

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April (12:24):

Cool. And what advice do you have for businesses using the platform?

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Tayte (12:28):

Be consistent.

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April (12:29):

Be consistent. That's a really good one.

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Tayte (12:30):

Yep.

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Amelia (12:31):

Yeah, be consistent. You've got to have your look and feel out there. Just start it. Some businesses, maybe they're an older generation and they're not familiar with it. Find someone that is and get yourself out there because a lot of people are using it in so many different demographics and yeah, it's an awesome platform.

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April (12:48):

What do you think Jess?

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Jess (12:49):

I would say remain on brand as best as possible.

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April (12:53):

Love that.

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Jess (13:00):

I'm visually thinking of examples, but I can't articulate how. So just remain on brand and, yeah, consistent posting as well.

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Amelia (13:07):

So I went to refer a wedding venue in a location to someone in our office the other day. And I was like, "Oh, I'll find them on Instagram. I can't remember the name. I’ll find them on Instagram." So I searched it and then the latest post is this post about them complaining about a neighbouring property doing something and just being really crazy and I was like, "I can't refer that."

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Jess (13:32):

Yeah.

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April (13:32):

No.

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Jess (13:34):

I think another thing is showing...What we do at April Ford, it's kind of showing the team and the culture and stuff like that and just showing a bit of behind the scenes, because that's quite interesting to people who follow your brand. They like to see who you are behind the brand.

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Amelia (13:50):

Yeah, authentic.

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April (13:51):

What about you, Tayte? What advice do you have for businesses using the platform?

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Tayte (13:54):

Definitely be consistent. I think it's the first place that I'll go to look at the menu or anything, really. So it's important to just have stuff there that shows who you are.

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April (14:06):

Relevant, recent.

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Tayte (14:07):

Yeah, it's literally like an online portfolio of everything you do and who you are.

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April (14:10):

Yeah. I would agree with that. Well, thanks for sharing why you use Instagram. I think it's really important when thinking about a digital marketing strategy for Instagram is to think about your audience. What they're interested in, and what social proof do they need to see? And this varies from business to business. I like to use the example of looking for a cafe to visit in a location I'm not often at. First of all, I ask a friend who might live in the area or know the area really well. Then I look at the account on Instagram to see what the food and coffee looks like. Next, I'll look at the tagged images to see what's being generally posted about the cafe from people who visit and finally then I'll jump on the website to review the menu in full.

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April (14:49):

At that moment, I'm only looking for social proof of the recommendation and I'm basically asking myself, "Should I bother with this place or not?" And I'm not interested in anything else to be completely honest. So I think putting yourself in the shoes of your audience is the best way to build your digital marketing strategy for Instagram and I hope those listening sit back and think about their audience in a way of what do they want them to know, rather than what they, as a business, think they should post. Thanks for tuning in.

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Amelia (15:15):

Thanks.

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Jess (15:15):

Thank you.

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