3 Small Businesses Growing through Instagram in Southeast Asia

Instagram hasn’t just enabled hobbyists to take their creativity to the world. It’s also empowered many entrepreneurs to start and grow their businesses in ways that were inconceivable through traditional media. Given that small businesses generally have small marketing budgets, these new upstarts have developed innovative strategies to reach their young adult audiences. Here are three small businesses in Southeast Asia who are leading the way on how business is conducted and grown on Instagram.

MyLegasi
Handle: @mylegasi
Industry: Fashion
Followers: 51.9k

MyLegasi is a fashion label based in Kota Kinabalu who sell a simple idea – plain tees with patterned pockets. There’s genius in brutal simplicity though and this extends to their social media presence. Unlike most fashion labels, they have neither a shopfront nor a website. All they have is an Instagram account. But they’ve done incredibly well with just that amassing over 50,000 followers since 2013.

MyLegasi generally post their collections and repost their customer’s OOTD (outfit of the day) shots each week. If followers are interested in any of their designs, all they have to do is WhatsApp or email MyLegasi to place an order. This is a great example of how founders can reduce their start up costs when launching a business, test whether there is demand for their products and create a vibrant, engaged community.

Varithorn Boutique Clothing
Handle: @Varithorn_Boutique
Industry: Fashion
Followers: 104k

Varithorn Boutique is a clothing store that is situated in both the Central World and Central Ladprao shopping malls in Bangkok. There are two problems though. Firstly, there is a lot of competition between boutiques in Bangkok and secondly, Varithorn Boutique is limited to the shoppers who wander into their stores. Taking their sales into their own hands, the boutique has combined several mobile technologies, including Instagram, to reach a global audience and make online purchasing easy.

Firstly, the boutique uses Instagram to promote their latest collections. They post clean and sleek photos along with a caption that includes all of the item’s details such as colours, sizes and price. If users are interested, all they need to do is contact Varithorn Boutique via the LINE ID written in the geo-location area of the post. LINE is utilised in particular because it is used widely in Thailand and enables customers to communicate privately and directly with the Varithorn Boutique team. Once they’ve agreed to purchase the product, the customer simply submits their payment through PayPal.

Joe’s Barbershop
Handle: @Joes47500
Industry: Hairdressing / F&B
Followers: 58.4k

Joe’s 47500 is a barbershop and restaurant which serves Italian cuisine just outside of Kuala Lumpur. If you’ve ever visited a barber before, you’ll know that they’re only as good as the haircuts they give. Rather than leaving customers to question their quality of service, Joe’s 47500 uses Instagram to show that they really do know what they are doing. Scroll through their feed and you’ll find photos showcasing the work of their talented staff. From slick backs to top knots to fades, they’ve got all the latest trends in men’s hair covered. The customer experience normally ends when the customer walks out the door, however Joe’s 47500 extends it onto Instagram by reposting their customer’s snaps.

Using Instagram for your Small Business in Southeast Asia

Customers interact with your brand in multiple ways through multiple mediums before purchasing one of your products. In the above examples, Instagram helped Varithorn Boutique and MyLegasi build awareness of their new product ranges. In contrast, Instagram helped Joe’s 47500 prove that they offered the best haircut when users were comparing their options. The trick is understanding how Instagram best fits into your communications strategy and tailoring your content to empower them to act.