Local brands decide Instagram is the picture of PR

Apicture paints a thousand words, but sharing pictures on social media can produce something far more compelling: unimaginable profit.

Instagram, the photosharing platform bought by Facebook for $1bn six years ago, is on track to reach $10bn (R142.2bn) in revenue next year. That comes off the back of passing the 1-billion user mark this year.

In SA, its growth slowed substantially as it came up against the high cost of data, but in the past year a seismic shift has occurred. As the functionality of the platform grew, driven by video content and advertising opportunities, brands embraced Instagram and pushed it at their younger users. The heavy engagement of users with Instagram compared with most other social networks has also proved a massive attraction to other social-media users.

Dramatic improvements in smartphone cameras have led to improvement in image quality — and to more people looking for a home for their images.

All these factors contribute to the strongest growth Instagram has seen in SA in four years. According to the “South African Social Media Landscape 2019” study released this week by World Wide Worx and media monitoring organisation Ornico, the Instagram user base grew 73% in the past year, to reach 6.6-million users.

The study also reveals that Instagram is the fastest-growing social network in SA in terms of the platforms used by major brands. From 72% of the country’s biggest brands using it in 2017, it is now used by 78%. This takes it to third place in brand use of social networks, though still well behind the dominant player, Facebook, at 96%, and runner-up Twitter, at 88%.

What happens next, however, could completely up-end the balance of social power. A further quarter of brands said they would embrace Instagram in 2019. A year ago, only 13% had expressed this intention in the coming year. Though only half of these did so, the intention has doubled this year.

If the same trend is followed, Instagram use among brands will reach

90% — just overtaking Twitter. That would take Instagram from the big five to the big three of social networks used by major brands.

The fact that Facebook owns Instagram is a potential cause of concern, as it places even more marketing spend in the hands of a company that already dominates growth in online ad spend. However, it also highlights the growing opportunity in using original photos and videos as branding, advertising and marketing tools.

For now, the survey reveals, Instagram has a different primary purpose for big brands. Facebook is used by most brands for marketing, advertising and social media engagement, with public relations somewhat behind these three strategic areas. At Instagram, this trend is turned upside down. More than a third of major brands are using it for public relations, with substantially fewer using it for marketing and advertising.

The dramatic growth in the user base and the proportion of brands using Instagram, however, suggests this is about to change.

The South African Instagram user base grew by 73% in the past year