Instagram Posts for Canadian Small Businesses: Types and Effectiveness

  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
  • Now more than ever, small business owners are relying on social media, such as Instagram, to
    find customers, connect with them, build relationships, and provide value by offering their
    products/services. Instagram users scroll rapidly through their feeds and see photos, videos and
    captions and spend only seconds looking at each before moving on to the next. What types of
    content are Canadian small businesses sharing on Instagram and how effective are they at
    capturing engagement? This research uses Semiotic theory to evaluate the photographic elements
    in a selection of posts; and uses Uses and Gratification theory to evaluate the captions of the
    posts for message strategies. The resulting categories were compared to the record of
    engagement in the form of likes or comments. The findings demonstrate that users engage more
    with certain types of content such as product-centered images, posts that mention giveaways, and
    genuine expressions of emotion. Small business owners may use these findings as a starting
    point for assessing their use of Instagram and other social media platforms and for developing
    their own content strategy.

  • Date created
    2022-03-30
  • Subjects / Keywords
  • Type of Item
    Research Material
  • DOI
    https://doi.org/10.7939/r3-b1h2-qw97
  • License
    Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International