Social Media Best Practices as Shown by Aerie on Instagram
By Kassandra Lopez, Global Strategic Communications graduate student at the University of Florida
Aerie is incredibly adept at keeping its strong message consistent throughout their marketing efforts. When it comes to marketing today, digital channels such as social media simply can not be overlooked. But in regard to their choices in advertising “Digital isn’t a channel. It’s a totally different way of looking at the world and engaging with your audience.” (Hausman, A)
In this way, I believe may companies get it wrong in terms of creating digital and traditional marketing campaigns that complement each other. Traditional media should be thought of as a one-way street- content is to be delivered but no response is expected. With Digital media, an active conversation is created. With the being said, my favorite company Aerie is doing exceptionally with its advertising on both platforms. They have managed to strike a balance between the two mediums, having traditional print and commercial ads complement their ongoing and very active digital and social media campaigns.
Aerie’s main campaign “#Aeriereal, which is primarily shared through this hashtag on Instagram. Its concept is simple but has deep roots in battling against the rampant misrepresentation of the female form in ads, particularly for lingerie. I know that when I think of lingerie, a heavily doctored photo of a long, slim model donning that classic VS logo comes to mind. Aerie portrays real women, in their natural state, a concept that is rather refreshing to see!
The key components of Aerie’s Instagram presence are to maintain a cheerful tone while remaining altruistic. Their feed maintains a seasonal color scheme, for now- it is springtime colors! Every post blends in well with the previous post. This demonstrates that planning happens behind the scenes to ensure the Instagram feed remains aesthetically pleasing. Below you can see how they are transitioning from spring tones to more vibrant Summer colors!
Captions are kept simple and straightforward, always using some of their ionic hashtags such as #aeriereal. The use of infographics such as this one is a great way Aerie has begun to vary their content! With these, they are both educating and entertaining their audience.
As their main campaign has progressed, Aerie has not backed down. They have grown even more inclusive. They have included models of all ages, sizes, skin tones, ethnic backgrounds, and even disabled status. Yes, Aerie is the only mainstream brand that openly features its products in association with varying degrees of disability. The results have been overwhelming for the brand, their sales have continuously improved. Sharing images of these traditional ads in commercial and print form, keep the online conversation going!
In addition to the brand showcasing its mission by being inclusive of who represents Aerie products on its site, commercials, and print ads. Which emphasizes a strong branding and keeps continuity. They use social media to continue this, by often displaying user-generated content. This brings the effort full circle, as this UGC ties in their audience.
Making customers feel and be ambassadors for the brand and its mission. Aerie closes the circle, they ask customers what they want, create those items, and then display feedback via social media platforms. Aerie creates a feedback loop when they inquire as to what products customers want to see, they adequately close this loop and include their audience every step of the way!
As shown by the comments on this UGC post, Aerie goes as far as to have accessibility options for the visually impaired! Aerie has truly built its brand around being accessible and has been true to it’s to all, and encouraging as well. This is a demonstration of excellent digital marketing working in conjunction with strong traditional media, as audiences continue to use digital mediums more, this is how advertising best works.
References
Hausman, A. (2020, April 01). 4 Differences Between Digital Marketing and Traditional Media. Retrieved June 09, 2020, from https://www.hausmanmarketingletter.com/differences-digital-marketing-traditional-media/
