Instagram Recommendation Report

for Express
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Introduction

Express is a high end clothing store that targets working men and women who want to wear
multi purpose clothing with style. Express’s mission is to have their customers feeling
comfortable and confident in their clothing. They want their audience to know that their clothing
is office and party friendly. Express’s demographic focuses on 22-40 year old men and women.
Instagram is one of the top apps used for marketing and advertising. An overwhelming majority
of teens and young adults use Instagram the most.

This recommendation report will touch base on the three main issues that the Express Instagram
seems to face:

1. Are they reaching out to their younger demographic?

2. What are they doing to get their product to people who aren’t directly following them?
3. How are they showcasing inclusivity in their posts?
With these recommendations Express will be able to widen their clientele and increase sales.

Methodology
The data collected and observed on Express’s Instagram ranges from October 10th- October
22nd with a total of 32 posts.
a. The article Social Media Use in 2018 by Monica Anderson will show that Instagram
overall has a younger demographic. Express focuses on mostly women (scarcely men)
that work in an office and that want to wear street looks but also office appropriate looks.
The majority of the younger demographic is not in an office job, and they wouldn’t take
this style into their everyday life. Express should use this younger demographic to post
about their party dresses and relaxed tees more rather than pushing their suits and dress
pants.
b. The article Social Analytics Strategy: The Best Practices of the World’s Most-Loved
Brands by Elvis Lieban touches on how you can make a direct connection with your
audience which also gives the company free advertisements. They use a Nikon
advertisement as an example, displaying the hashtags that the customers use to promote
the new camera. If Express reblogged more people wearing Express clothes, they could
show how diverse and inclusive they are.
c. The article How to Improve Diversity and Inclusion Using Social Media by Sarita
Harbour touches on the statistics that demonstrates more customer satisfaction after they
see diversity on a business’s social media profile and online. Out of the 36 posts Express
has posted in the past 2 weeks, only three of the posts include a dark skinned- more light
skinned woman. In those 36 posts as well, none of those advertised their plus size
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clothing, and only two of the posts in those 36 was targeted towards men. This article
shows that showing inclusivity thoroughly helps business.

Recommendation
The recommendations Express should take into consideration correlates directly to the three
things they lack when advertising their clothing on Instagram. They should provide their
customers with ready to go links on each post so they can purchase it directly from the Instagram
account. Another solution, if the content is a video, they can add the sku number that the
customer can type in the Express search bar so they do not have to search through the catalog or
website. Express should also engage in more interactive hashtags and collabs to get their brand
out to a wider audience. By expanding their audience, they are also demonstrating their
inclusivity which can help sales.

The next section will present the research and analysis.

Analysis and Research Findings

Problem 1:

Express is not fully connecting with their younger demographic.

Figure 1 Figure 2
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In Figures 1 and 2 you can see all of the posts that were analyzed. Out of these 32 posts, only
about 3 are geared towards the younger demographic, while the rest only focus on office outfits.
According to Anderson (2018), 71% of 18-24 year olds use Instagram while 40% of 30-49 year
olds use Instagram. In order to appeal to the bigger demographic Instagram has to offer, Express
should advertise their denim, t shirts, and party dresses more than office attire. At least on the
weekend, they could add an Instagram story that showcases multiple ways to wear their denim in
a youthful way rather than as casual Friday at the office. If they shift their postings to please the
younger demographic, they will gain more customers and their sales will increase.

Problem 2

Express is not utilizing this platform to gain more customers.

Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5

Above I have three examples of the type of customer interactions Express has. Figure 3 includes
famous models such as Karlie Kloss. Figures 4 and 5 include instagram models that are partnered
with Express. Out of 32 posts, 8 of them included Express partners. Not only is that a low
number, it also doesn’t include any real customers. Instagram models are technically famous
people, and by not reposting regular everyday people, Express is giving this front of exclusivity
which goes against their brand. By reposting regular people wearing their clothes, they could
gain more followers solely because they look more realistic rather than models. This tactic
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seemed to work for Nikon. According to Lieban (2018), their sales increased 16% solely because
they had their customers participate in a communal hashtag, advertising their products for free.

Problem 3

Express is not showing enough diversity in their posts.

Figure 6

Figure 6 demonstrates the interaction percentage that Instagram collects by gender and by
ethnicity. In study by Mckinsey & Company, quoted by Harbour (2018), organizations in the top
25% for gender diversity were 21% more likely to experience better-than-average profitability
than the companies in the bottom 25%. Out the 32 posts that were analyzed, only 2 posts
included women of color. From those same 32 posts, only 1 post was targeted towards men.
Lastly, out of those same 32, none of them showcased their plus size models. Express’s motto
focuses on inclusivity and how they want everyone to feel comfortable and confident. They
should post more pictures of men, and advertise their clothes, as well as advertise more plus size
models. This way, the men sales can increase, and the plus size clothing can also sale just as
much as the regular sizes.
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​Recommendations

Three recommendations that would make Express more successful on Instagram are:

1. Promote more youthful clothes and night time outfits.

Based on the statistics provided by Anderson (2018), the younger demographic rules over
Instagram. By posting more youthful clothes and night time outfits, they are increasing
the possibility of gaining more customers of a different age range.

2. Make their Instagram collaborative and repost their customers that tag them.
Instagram has the hashtag feature solely used to connect with other people, and so users
can see what other people are posting that correlates with that tag. Express should start
using hashtags to make their customers feel that they are a part of a community. By
utilizing hashtags they are expanding their clientele. For example, Nikon had a 16%
increase in sales solely because they had their customers interacting through hashtags
(Lieban 2018).

3. Post more men, women of color, and plus size women to emphasize on their inclusivity.
As previously said, by posting more diverse content, an account or company will gain
more customers and sales. Express should promote men’s clothes just as much as
women’s clothes. Along with more men’s clothes, they should post more plus size model
pictures that include the direct link to purchase. This will open a new channel of
customers, and they will gain more followers as well.

If Express uses all three of these tips, they will be able to expand their market to a wider
audience. Not only will they provide a better experience for their customer through Instagram,
they will gain more followings through it. As well as sale increases and customer interactions.
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Works Cited

Express. The account’s feed. ​Instagram, ​October 10 to October 22,

https://www.instagram.com/express/

Harbour, Sarita. “How to Improve Diversity and Inclusion Using Social Media.” ​Zenefits Blog​,
14 Feb. 2018, www.zenefits.com/blog/improve-diversity-inclusion-using
​-social-media/.

Lieban, Elvis. “Social Analytics Strategy: The Best Practices of the World's Most-Loved
Brands.” ​NetBase​, 1 Aug. 2018,www.netbase.com/blog/social-analytics-
​strategy-the-best-practices-of- the-worlds-most-loved-brands/.

Smith, Aaron, and Monica Anderson. “Social Media Use 2018: Demographics and
Statistics.” ​Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech​, Pew Research Center:
Internet, Science & Tech, 19 Sept. 2018, www.pewinternet.org/2018/03/01/
social-media-use-in-2018/.