A constant question on the GroCurv platform is “how to grow on Instagram”.

A simple answer would be…. “ treat it like its Instagram. Not like it’s your blog in pictures. Not like its another place to put your facebook creatives”.

But given how frequent this question is, we thought we should try and illustrate what we meant by the above. Elaborate the response.

And we started to look for brands that were “Insta first”. That were using Insta as the primary marketing communication channel. While doing this, we also looked for brands that were doing in a very small budget, without any large agency support. Inhouse productions- where at most a photographer is involved to assist the owner in creating the right expression for the brand on Instagram.

Instagram is currently the most popular social media app on a global level. The most favoured social network currently has 1.074 billion users*. It has been the go-to for young adults, ever since its inception in 2002.

Why does Instagram work? What makes its reach to a billion people not only possible but also effective?

Social media would hardly be the same if it wasn’t for digital creators flexing their creative muscles through the day. It’s the memes, reels, videos and all of that that’s making platforms like Instagram, Facebook and Twitter entertaining.

Entertaining 4 million followers and counting is Mumbai-based brand Mostly Sane. Not a stranger to any millenial Instagram user, Mostly Sane started out as YouTube channel by then amateur comic, Prajakta Koli.

One of the mainstays of digital marketing is the illustration of content. What are we talking about? Images, images and more images. Social media posts that are led by well-shot, meaningful images are more likely to be noticed. They are most likely to get engagement in the form of Likes, Comments or Followers. Instagram took off as the most popular social media because it was essentially an image-centric digital marketing medium.

Instagram has helped thousands of start-ups to build businesses and network via the magic of images.

When Ikea announced its foray into India, there was more buzz on social media than there was for Deepika Padukone’s next film. Even if you hadn’t done a single DIY furniture assembly in your life, you were still hash tagging Ikea and secretly looking up DIY kits. Well, that’s the Ikea impact for you. And that’s powerful digital marketing for you as well.

Even if you own only an Ikea pen stand, you’re most likely a follower on Instagram. Between posts of bedroom styling, tablescapes and children’s recreational options, Ikea has created a different image in the Indian scenario for itself, with its digital marketing on Instagram.