Nope… your eyes didn’t deceive you when you read the title of this blog. Instagram has announced that they are putting a strong amount of effort and focus on pushing video content. This is only a little surprising. We have seen Instagram make the shift to offer retail shopping on their own Instagram store, and have been strongly promoting the use of Reels. Although offering video content is not out of the norm for influencers and brands, many small businesses will need to learn how to properly navigate this new wave of digital branding and marketing to their consumers. You might be wondering, why is this happening now? (Don’t worry, us too). Instagram feels the need to compete with other video sharing platforms on a higher level than before. Today, we will be taking an in-depth look at these massive changes and what it means for many businesses on Instagram.
Not many social media apps have seen the success that Instagram has since their launch in 2010. Becoming a cultural staple, Instagram was a way for anybody, regardless of their background, to share photos, providing an elevated version of Facebook. Through Instagram’s set of filters, users were able to easily edit and alter images to fit general aesthetics and form cohesive “feeds.” Instagram set the example for influencer brand marketing and shaped society's views on celebrities, beauty, success, and branding: providing people with a vision of what an “ideal” life should look like.
Say goodbye to Instagram as we know it. In early July, Adam Mosseri, Head of Instagram announced that the longtime photo sharing and lifestyle app would be transitioning to video-based content over the next six months. Mosseri let viewers know that Instagram will be tackling and experimenting with “full screen, immersive, entertaining, mobile-first video” in the next six months. Surprisingly enough, he also mentioned that TikTok and YouTube are direct competitors with Instagram.
But Instagram is not the only major social media platform making changes to the way that they functionally operate. Last year, the digital marketing community saw video giant app YouTube announce that they would begin to integrate beta-testing 60-second shorts that resembled the TikTok style of video production in Western countries. Additionally, In early July of this year, TikTok announced that they were moving to have videos be up to three minutes in length, providing content creators with more space and time to produce content and reach viewers on a global level.
This drastic move by social media platform giants like Instagram and YouTube are obvious attempts at competing with TikTok. By offering platform users with similar content, these choices could begin to end social media as we know it. Many small businesses who mainly function off of photo sharing apps like Instagram, are now having to rethink how they are going to market to their audience through videos. The team here at Fox and Forth have found that Instagram Reels that are not posted directly to Instagram feeds typically are on the general algorithms side and perform significantly better. Still, fully adjusting to Instagram’s changes will have to follow the trials that Instagram implements over the next six months.
If you struggle with social media management or aren’t sure what you should be posting in this new era of video content, contact us at Fox and Forth to help. hello@foxandforth.com
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