Compared to traditional advertising, product placements can produce better results and do not require the same amount of financial investment. Whether product placement is done gracefully or not, it can give a serious boost to sales. Traditionally, product placements were done in films and music videos so that brands can gain recognition. The James Bond series for example, had various product placements ranging from drinks, and cars to electronics and accessories. More recently, product placement is done through social media, especially Instagram, and this gives businesses a chance to make a mark regardless of their budget capabilities. Here’s a few tips for product placements on Instagram and how you can utilize it even on a tiny budget:
- Choosing the right influencer
With influencer marketing on the rise, brands can use influencers to promote their products. However, brands don’t have to shell out the big bucks to work with the most famous influencers. Instead, they can focus on working with niche users that share the same core values and interests as the brand. Followers aren’t the most important aspect of social media, audience engagement is. Choosing an influencer that is well engaged with their audience could give you a big boost. Platforms like Ifluenz help you find the right influencers.
- Work with micro-influencers
These are influencers that have a relatively small audience that are yet to become big. They are also likely to be unused by bigger brands and will be willing to work on a limited budget. Working with micro-influencers is similar to discovering a little known, yet talented musicians. They have the potential to become big names and building relationships with them will assure loyalty. While choosing these niche influencers, you have to be careful to pick ones that have the right style and look as your brand.
- Collaborate with other brands
Smaller brands can help lift each other up to a great extent. You can collaborate with brands that may or may not be in the same niche but offer complimentary products to your own. You can feature their products in your posts and they can return the favor. For example, if you’re a sport clothing brand you can collaborate with a footwear brand that provides sports shoes and accessories. You can also collaborate with multiple brands for events and have influencers to talk about these events on Instagram.
- Trends and Hashtags
Every once in a while, brands are given the perfect hashtag/trend to work with. Whether they take this opportunity or not is a different issue. Hashtags are a perfect way to get your product out there and make it relevant. For example, the upcoming Rio Olympics give smaller sports brands the opportunity to advertise their products on a hashtag that is widely used and viewed. You can even create your own hashtag and encourage viewers to participate and spread the hashtag.
- Invoke emotions
Every brand has to take a break from positing the same things over and over again. To stay relevant, you can post images and captions that invoke emotions while still being relevant to your brand. You can post pictures of kids, dogs and other cute things and place your product more subtly in the picture. This could also help with creating your own hashtags.
Whatever your budget is, all of the above can be implemented to connect with your audience and increase your products reach. Consistency and engagement are key factors for social media success. No matter how good your product placement is, your audience won’t grow if you post once in a blue moon. Without growth and increased reach, most social media campaigns fail.