Followers engagement on Instagram by Julia Asplund

Social media is on everybody’s mind nowadays. Social media had a lot of impact on our everyday life, and it has changed, for example, the way we buy products, search for information, or stay in touch with colleagues. Instagram can be seen as one of the effective platforms for marketers to do social media. Instagram is a worldwide photo-sharing platform, with an enormous 1.074 billion users in 2021. Instagram’s huge advantages are that it is global, popular, and reaches a wide range of different users. Brands and marketers have put more effort and resources into Instagram nowadays. The subject of the thesis comes from the researcher’s interest in Instagram and small businesses. The selected case company is a small family-owned business from Kotka. The researcher noticed that company has an Instagram account and started to wonder about the necessity of the account for the company and how engaged followers are what kind of posts increase engaged and motivated followers to the Instagram profile. The thesis aimed to answer the following questions:
Is Instagram necessarily for Saunakauppa? and what kind of posts increases follower’s engagement?

The researcher experimented on the case company’s account posting picture posts during Spring 2021. Experiments were focused on the posts, mainly post included products that can purchase on the company’s webshop or actual store. All the published content was organic, and the language was Finnish. Content in the posts was concentrating on getting followers to press like or to leave a comment. Few posts are related to seasonal greetings, such as Valentine’s Day or Winter Holiday. The total amount of likes is 277, and the amount of comments is 58. The account is more active and has increased average engagement in the post are 7%. The profile has gained more followers, and the amount of the following accounts has also increased. Users’ activity (likes, commenting, tagging, and reshares) on Instagram tells how followers react to brand content. Engagement is one metric to get more deep and reliable insight.

The research was conducted by using the Instagram stories feature (24hours Quiz sticker). The purpose of the survey was to determine what kind of content increases followers’ engagement, why people started to follow Saunakauppa on Instagram, and the best platform to follow Saunakauppa.
The Instagram survey had four multiple-choice (A-D) type questions. Survey did not have right or wrong replies, and respondents replied with their own opinion and experiences. As the Instagram poll shows, good content and pictures with a good quality drive to click “like” in the posts. Based on the results, familiar products play a significant role in why people have started to follow Saunakauppa on Instagram. The power of the recommendation should not underestimate; five respondents in the survey said that they have begun to follow Saunakuappa on Instagram on the advice of a friend or colleague. The poll showed that most followers want to see more facts about products and tips on Saunakauppas’ Instagram account. From the survey, it can be seen that most people wanted to follow Saunakauppa on Instagram, not on other platforms such as TikTok or Facebook.

In conclusion, the main challenge is to produce quality content to catch followers’ attention and engagement. Case company’s followers are interested in quality than quantity. To succeed on Instagram requires money and time, resources, planning, and perseverance towards results. But when mentioned aspects are executed and planned, interesting content improves the brand image, creates interactivity and engagement, and can have positive growth for the business.

Reacher read articles, blogs, journals, and books about Instagram and social media, customer engagement, and brand awareness during the thesis. Instagram is a relevant and broad topic, and it is a challenge to find relevant information and narrow down the info from the information flood.

While writing the thesis, the researcher has obtained valuable knowledge about Instagram, its functionalities, and insight possibilities and can use the acquired knowledge in current employers. This thesis has made the author think about Instagram more broadly and see that Instagram is a good addition for marketing. Case company will benefit from the research findings, and they have concrete improvement ideas for their Instagram profile. Thesis results for the MA in Media Management give more valuable and down-to-earth information about Instagram, an essential topic in master’s degree studies at Arcada.