Advertising on Instagram: discover Dragon's formula

Is advertising on Instagram true that it can do wonders for our business?

No. Advertising on Instagram doesn’t work wonders, let’s see why!

If you are reading this article you probably typed one of these keywords into Google:

how to create an advertisement on instagram
how do you advertise on instagram
you can advertise on instagram
ad management and instagram ads
how to advertise on instagram for free

If you decide to use this channel for your strategy there are 10 things that are important to know.

I have been wanting to write this article for about a month. I have been mentally constructing it piece by piece. Actually, meeting after meeting.

In the past month I have met with about ten entrepreneurs. The demand, by and large, remains the same.
“I want to increase my company’s visibility and find new customers.”

The legitimate and correct need is being joined lately by the Instagram factor.
“I was told that on Instagram it takes very little and sells a lot.”

How much does it cost to advertise on Instagram?

I would like to dispel the myth that advertising on Instagram costs little and allows you to sell a lot.

Online I have seen many “consultants” selling courses on how to advertise on Instagram for free…. mmmm.

Also, it will be a coincidence, in the last month my agency has been contacted by 5 influencers, who have asked us to be paired with them to find new clients.

That is, Companies that want to use influencers to sponsor their products.

Last factor, last night I read two articles:

Dot Lung: “The ‘dragon’ formula for making money with Instagram”
Three-year degree course to become influencer arrives

Last night I said to myself, “The right time has come to write this article.”

I start from the article related to the bachelor’s degree program.

The answer is smart. If you are thinking of pursuing this career, forget it. Social media as we know it today will be totally different in 3 years.

Three years to learn how to be an Influencer is a time that has no logic, and it is far from reality.

Also, if we continue at this rate, in a while there will be more influencers than … influencers 😂😜

Lots of followers and lots of likes = doesn’t mean lots of business.

Far too much has been said about this social channel.

Certainly many influencers and companies have been able to ride it at the right time and in the right way.

The daily reality is that, at this rate, there are more people who consider themselves “influencers” than people who are “influenced.”

At the same time, if you want to use an influencer for your social media strategy, the first step is to ask them for the media kit to understand:

the age of the users
Where they are located territorially
segmentation by sex
what are the most read posts
etc…

Why? Because you risk speaking to an audience not interested in your products or services.

How to advertise on Instagram

I personally find Instagram useful only to certain types of Companies/Businesses and in very specific industries.

Not only that.

In order to manage an Instagram channel in the best possible way, it is essential to devote the right amount of time.

Plan the strategy and make photos that are ad hoc, and possibly interesting to the potential audience.

If you have a fashion store with extremely interesting garments maybe Instagram can help you.

But it is not enough to have the channel to generate Business.

Let’s look at 4 basic points:

How do I increase my followers? Whenever a customer comes in, it is important to relate to them and, in a discreet way, ask them to follow the channel (time, lots of time…).
Natural growth, that defined as organic, via photos and #hashtags may be too slow (is it really helpful?).
In order to reach potential new customers, who don’t know us yet, it is essential to run paid campaigns.
The famous PPC campaigns or Pay per Click (money… money… money).
If we want to intercept our potential audience, and generate the right interest, we must have something interesting to say. Otherwise, why should they follow us?

It is not necessarily the case that posting a beautiful dress or a pair of wow shoes is more than enough.

The question is always the same: How can I make a difference for my users?

So Instagram requires time, budget, ideas, creativity, knowledge of posting logic (#, times, trends of the moment etc.), but first of all: a strategy.

If you do not have these basic elements, I strongly advise against using the channel.

I hope I have given you some elements to think about whether to open your channel or not.

If you decide to do this, but you are not clear about the logic, or you want to learn more about a number of topics, I invite you to visit the section of our site dedicated to the social network Instagram.

Dot Lung: “The ‘dragon’ formula for making money with Instagram”

And now to the far more serious article by Jader Liberatore for Vanity Fair, who interviewed Dot Lung, known as the “Mother of Social Media Dragon.”

“Dragon’s formula” is based on six elements that, when synthesized, create the word “dragon”: dialogue, relatability, authenticity, (give value), opinion, niche, scaling social

Before delving into these elements, I think to add to this formula three basic elements that are named TEPS: time, ethics, product/service

I put them first, as they enhance Dot Lung’s outstanding and absolutely correct Dragon formula even more.

1. Time – Time

Let’s not fool ourselves. Growing on social needs time, know-how and experience.

For this reason, we have dedicated a section of the site that discusses the social strategy applied to Instagram.

I agree with the last point of the dragon formula: “scaling social.”

Social is not just a window display, otherwise it would be called a display window or something similar.

We are so accustomed to talking about Social that we do not consider what lies behind it.

The power of social is building an important, true and lasting relationship with our target audience.

This takes time. Time because you have to take on the task and burden of responding. Yes even to a simple Like.

Thank you for liking my photo
Thank you for commenting on my post
Thank you for sharing my image
What do you think of the post I uploaded?
What did you like? etc.

This means having interactions with your audience.

It requires so much time and effort. Many times you find yourself dealing with comments or responses that make you want to unsubscribe from all social.

That’s why you need Time and Budget. Because if you do it independently, it means you have less time to develop your work. If you delegate it to a third party, you necessarily have to have a budget.

It is absolutely incorrect to think that simply uploading four photos to your Instagram account is enough to create a potentially interested audience.

And the assumption that having 10/20/50,000 followers means billing is even less realistic.

Do you want to advertise on Instagram? Beware it is not suitable for all companies and all businesses!

In the sense that it is not true that it is enough to create an account on Instagram to generate Business. Even if we invest a bundle of money in sponsorships.

Therefore, referring back to the opening part of this article, when I meet with an entrepreneur, what I want to know from him is the goals he wants to achieve.

For the simple reason that how to reach them is the task to be done by myself and the whole agency.

That is, studying the right marketing and communication strategy to position itself correctly in the target market.

To intercept the target audience potentially interested in its products or services (and thus establish our Buyer Persona).

Period!
I fully understand that a person can be fascinated by numbers. Easy Business interests everyone.

2. Ethics – Ethics

Ethics is perhaps the most difficult element of TEPS to adopt.

For the simple reason that Ethics and Business many times do not go together.

If I have an urgency to bill, I close my eyes and move on. Next month, I will think about it to recover a minimum of ethics.

Ethics, in the broadest sense of the word means respect.

If you want to grow in the marketplace, whether you use a website, social, or traditional media, respecting the consumer is the key element.

As David Ogilvy says, “The consumer is not a fool. It’s your wife.”

How many times have we happened to buy a snack, or a frozen pizza, fascinated by the photograph printed on the pack.

We unwrap the first one, and find that there is not even a trace of the jam. The second, we unwrap it, put it in the oven, and when we put it back on the plate, what we see does not even vaguely resemble the photograph on the box.

Good. Probably those who have studied packaging have achieved a first goal. Selling the product.

Too bad it did not meet the expectations created in the customer, who will not buy that product again.

This is respect. If we promise something to a customer, we must achieve it no matter what.

Because the minute we took office, we made a promise.

If we are unable to fulfill the promise, we have to communicate it.

3. Product / Service – Products / Services

In the name is the last element of the formula. I tried to create a different acronym but it wasn’t pretty (appeal some would say). It would then be the first one to be evaluated.

Refers to the type of products and/or services provided by your company.

In my opinion, you CANNOT advertise on Instagram for any product or service.

Clearly everything that is fashion, lifestyle, travel etc… is easy to tell.

As we will see later, they leverage one of the important elements of the dragon formula “relatability.”

Not only that. They appeal to emotions. They involve. They are also easy to communicate.

Far more difficult is to make the work done by a tax preparer or mechanical engineer appealing. Don’t hold it against me.

Two decidedly technical professions that, often, are difficult to make appeal.

How to advertise on Instagram: The 6 points of “Dragon’s formula”

D stands for dialogue

“Master the art of conversation, get to know your audience, and build a long-term relationship with them through dialogue. Dialogue makes you feel like you already know the person you are talking to. Trust is established that way.”

As we said before, it is crucial to create relationship with your users. This takes a lot of time, because each head is a small world. If you want to create a real relationship, you have to take the right amount of time to understand who you are dealing with.

R stands for the ability to identify oneself (relatability) and have relevance

“The more the content helps immediacy, the more people like it! Want to know how to create such content? Get people excited. How? By using the ancient art of storytelling.”

Storytelling is a fascinating art. Writing stories is anything but simple. It requires not only time, but inventiveness, writing skills, empathy and many other qualities.

Knowing how to fascinate and interest our user is a very difficult art. All the more so if we have to achieve it through images, as is the case on Instagram.

A stands for authenticity

“In a world full of fake news, it has never been more important to be authentic, stay true and really be yourself. Don’t try to be cool if you’re not. If you’re fake, you’ll attract fake followers or, even worse, the wrong followers.”

Authenticity is the basis of what is called “content marketing“, of which storytelling and social posting are part.

Authentic. Our content has to be authentic. You have to take the right amount of time to say something unique, truly yours.

It doesn’t matter what the starting point is. As in this case the article discussing Dragon’s formula. It is crucial that you offer, to your interlocutor, your point of view.

G stands for give value (give value)

“The more value you offer your audience, the more brand loyalty you will receive over time. Take care of people, and people will take care of your business.”

The more authentic and valuable your content is, the greater the chances that it will interest your potential audience.

The fundamental element remains the same. Getting our value perceived.

To make it clear to our interlocutor that we are experts in that subject. That we give unique and valuable advice. Otherwise, we come across as a poor copy of the original source.

Or is it by opinion

“Polarizing content works, so tell the good, the bad or the ugly. Controversy drives engagement, use it wisely. It’s never been more important than it is today for brands to take a stand and share their opinions.”

Taking a clear position on some topics is often uncomfortable. We cannot interest and please everyone.

And today, social media has become the outlet for so many people, who are just waiting to criticize and polemicize.

But you don’t have to worry about that. Having a clear point, telling it like it is, will enable you to create a true and loyal target audience (audience).

This element brings us to the next point.

N is for niche

“You need to know exactly who you are trying to reach. The more targeted and specific your content is, the more personalized it will be to your target audience.
You don’t need the whole world, you just need a specific group, no more than 250 people, to start a movement or activity.”

I will repeat it endlessly and beyond, we cannot sell everything to everyone, otherwise we sell nothing to anyone.

You need to decide who you want to target when you are planning your ad campaign and deciding what content to sponsor on Instagram.

We need to build our potential audience. Our target audience, that is, our Buyer Persona. And to do this there are two basic steps.

The focus strategy that allows us to identify our potential audience. What does he want? What are his wants and needs? How can I help him and make a difference?

The positioning strategy. Once I have identified my potential target audience and figured out how to “be of service” to them, I decide how to position my Company in the target market.

S is the secret element in the dragon formula.

“The secret, is really to invest time in social networking and relationship building inside and outside the network. Every social dragon has mastered the art of socializing online and offline!”

This is perhaps the first point I have addressed in this article and is a fitting conclusion to this analysis.

How to use Instagram to advertise: final conclusion

When crafting a Marketing and Communications strategy for a client, I try to consider all of these factors.

I assume that his success is my success.

If I do my job well the following year, he will be happy to renew and expand the consulting contract with my agency.

Otherwise, it looks tough.

If you want to use social, and Instagram in particular, to position your company and gain market share, take into consideration all the factors we have seen in this article.

If you have a good spending budget, before deciding whether to invest in Instagram try asking yourself:

Can I be useful to my interlocutors?
Can my products or services be communicated through Instagram?
If I were to see one of my competitor’s products advertised on Instagram, would I be interested or would I move on? (Removing the curiosity to find out what it is doing)

Have a great day…. and … why not, I’ll leave you my Instagram profile if you feel like putting a like or leaving a comment.

Advertising on Instagram with Dragon’s formula