Research on Marketing Strategies and Business Operation Models of Commercial Brands on Social Media Platforms: A Case Study of Instagram

Abstract

With the development of technology, social media marketing is proving itself to be more and more effective especially with the involvement of the younger generation. Instagram is an increasingly popular platform where users can share visually aesthetic content and communicate with others through comments and private messaging. These functions have opened the gate to many influential users that use this platform to spread information and messages. Nowadays, many businesses are utilizing this app to aid their spread of influence and increase of sales as the platform has proven itself to be useful in gaining recognition. Now, Instagram houses more than two billion users and are one of the most influential social media platforms existing. Companies that utilize this service well will gain many benefits and ultimately a huge increase in success. This investigation is conducted to find general marketing techniques used by business on this platform to discover a helpful trend that could be useful to new businesses starting up. The brands: Rare Beauty, Crocs, Starbucks and SHEIN are investigated. They all utilize the platform’s features to achieve unique business models being Influencer-Centric, Brand Ambassador Strategy, Celebrity Collaboration, Customer Engagement, Aesthetic Focus and Controversial Focus respectively.