For James Quarles from Instagram sharing is connecting and leads to action
Overview of the session: From Inspiration to action. From Passion to Purchase
at dmexco 2016.
Speaker: James Quarles, Vice President of Monetization, Instagram
Connecting and sharing all over the world
At the latest dmexco, James Quarles from Instagram shared his views concerning the thought of some that the world might be less social today than it used to, with people glued to their smartphone’s screens. Obviously, as responsible for the monetization of one of the biggest social media platform, he disagrees and made his case through his presentation. And as M. Quarles puts it: “Expression and connection is the core of Instagram“.
A few figures
For those who need a few numbers to realize the size of the platform.
- Community of 500 million people
- 80% of them outside US
- 9 million in Germany
- 300million are daily active users
- Videos are exploding on the platform
To continue and convince the audience, M. Quarles insisted on the success of sharing and he showed various examples of accounts to illustrate members of the the platform share emotions, express political views, and creativity.
What about businesses?
Businesses are big members of the Instagram community it seems:
- 50% of users follow a business
- 60% learn about new products and services
- 75% say they take action on Instagram
The potential for businesses on the platform seems quite consequent and it is not limited to a few types. When analyzing and looking at different active accounts one can see businesses vary from small to large companies, and their types are pretty diverse (e.g. gaming, finance, fmcg, automotive, fashion…)
The top accounts are the ones evolving around music, beauty and sports.
And according to James Quarles, successful businesses should follow the three following precepts to achieve success on Instagram:
- Capture imagination, connect with people’s passion
- Inspiration to Action (since now actions have been introduced on IG for over a year)
- Design for the frame: meaning think first of creating concepts for mobile and then the visuals
As a user myself
For M. Quarles these tips are not just for Instagram, but also for all digital platforms. Being an Instagram user myself I can relate to many of the points of the speaker. It is true I am often amazed how a simple picture of my morning coffee, or a quick handmade doodle to illustrate an article of this blog can unlock so many reactions from people I have never met. So yes, people do manage to connect all over the world thanks to this platform. And as M. Quarles put it nicely to conclude: “How fortunate are we to live in a world where we can experience the world in the palm of our hand”
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