My Three Cents

A look into Andreu Lacondeguy’s winning run at Red Bull Rampage 2014

On September 30th, 2014, Red Bull posted this picture across their three main social media channels. The picture is of Andreu Lacondeguy, the man who took first place at Red Bull’s completely mad mountain bike freeride event, Rampage. What’s noteworthy about this picture has nothing to do with the athlete or the event, but to do with the attention that it received.

Red Bull boasts an impressive amount of followers across their social feeds with 1.71 million followers on Twitter, 1.8 million followers on Instagram, and a whopping 45 million ‘likes’ on their Facebook page. However, contrary to the numbers, only one of these accounts gets a significant amount of attention- Instagram.

To put it into perspective, the picture above, three days after being shared across their feeds, has only 42 ‘likes’ on Facebook and 147 favourites on Twitter. But, on Instagram, the picture has now received over 53,000 likes.

Why?

Because users are exceptionally willing to engage with content on Instagram.

A recent study by Forrester Research found that Instagram users were 58 times more likely to like, comment, or share a brand’s post than Facebook users and 120 times more likely than Twitter users. Those are some astounding numbers.

This extraordinarily high level of engagement is entirely driven by the consumers. We know, as marketers, that visual content is key. Instagram provides consumers with a platform for them to quench their need to share their stories, reactions, and experiences with visual content. These pictures on Instagram are far easier to share and understand as they’re much more universal. And the reason why consumers feel the need to engage on Instagram? The absence of clutter, which makes consumers feel like they’re better heard.

So, if you’re wondering when to hop on the Instagram train, as a brand, the answer is NOW. Instagram, like Facebook, may not be clutter-less for long. But while it is, all the arrows point to Instagram regarding the best user engagement experience.

It’s time to start learning which filter best suits that moody fog picture you snapped on your morning run and thinking about what your first #tbt picture is going to be.