Instagram

How to Write for Instagram

A version of this story appeared in Total Annarchy, my fortnightly newsletter that helps you be a better writer, storyteller, marketer. Get it in your inbox; you’ll love it. * * * Last week, my girl Kerry Gorgone and I gave a talk at the Social Pulse Summit titled Blending the Personal and Professional on Instagram (Without Getting Into Trouble or Being a Jackhole). Kerry is the Amy Poehler to my Tina Fey. Kerry also has a JD, so her part was mostly about how Not to Get Into Trouble. I am not a lawyer. So my part was mostly about Avoiding Jackholish-ness. I shared about how I blend the personal and professional on the ‘gram—my favorite social network. Have you ever committed to something and then had immediate regrets? That was me with this talk. In that process, I moved through these stages: Seven Stages of a Creative Project […]

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How Not to Ruin Instagram (Now That the Ad Floodgates Are Open)

“Deciding what not to do is as important as deciding what to do.” —Steve Jobs The news broke last week that Instagram will expand its advertising service to all marketers, not just a chosen few (Disney, The Gap, Ben & Jerry’s) it’s been working with since first rolling out ads in the fall of 2013. That means the popular photo-sharing app is opening up to zillions of advertisers, who’ll be flocking there to take advantage of more ad styles and sophisticated targeting tools developed by Instagram’s Facebook sugar daddy. The marketer in me is psyched: The in-app purchasing features on Instagram’s new ad format is great news for companies that have struggled to convert followers into buyers, or have developed convoluted, inefficient workarounds. The Insta-Fan (InstagrAnn?) in me is less excited: Well, damn. Here comes everybody. Here comes the push. Here come the product-centric ads and the sponsored posts and

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Mercedes-Benz and Instagram: A Clever Way to Build Your Own Car

I talk a lot about using social media for storytelling (rather than simply sharing), and I also talk a lot about creating content that’s useful, inspired and empathic to the needs and wants of the people you want to reach. Inherent in all that is the idea that you should reach people where they are – which might not be on your own website. Which is why I love this Instagram program from Mercedes-Benz, created as part of a larger program to promote its new 2015 GLA. (I’m particularly grateful to my friend Dave Cutler, who generously shared it with me.) Mercedes is looking to reach Millennials, and the program, Build Your Own GLA, allows potential buyers to assemble a custom automobile on Instagram by choosing color, wheels, roof, grill options, and so on…. in one of 132 possible combinations. Merecedes worked with Razorfish on the program. The idea is that

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How to Use Instagram in a Genius Way (and Grow Your Audience)

If you’ve seen me speak in the last few years, you know I’m a huge fan of Instagram, because of its understated simplicity that makes for a rich story platform. You might’ve even seen me present one of my favorite examples, of the Toronto Silent Film Festival’s 2013 effort to promote the silent film experience to a brand new audience of potential fans. Now, the Festival is back, releasing its 2014 effort that uses Instagram in an interactive, genius way to spread its message and grow its audience. As I’ve written in the past, there are five reasons I love Instagram for content: Instant content. Instagram, at its core, allows you to tell stories visually, but with a simplicity and immediacy and elegance that’s hard to beat. But artful content, too. Instagram allows you to create visual stories with an artfulness and elegance and a special kind of gravitas that’s

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