Instagram never stops surprising us. Head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, recently posted a video on Instagram and Twitter stating that Instagram is no longer a photo-sharing app. Mosseri said Instagram is looking to make a shift towards entertainment and video instead of photography after the huge success of competitors like YouTube and TikTok. So what does this mean when digitally marketing your brand? Businesses, content creators, and advertisers will be forced to produce engaging videos in order to stay relevant.
Transition To Full-Screen Videos
In an effort to compete with TikTok and keep up with the trends, Instagram launched Reels in August of 2020. However, many Instagram stories and reels are full of content dragged and dropped straight from TikTok!
“Let’s be honest, there is some really serious competition right now. TikTok is huge, YouTube is even bigger and there’s lots of other upstarts as well,” said Mosseri in his video. “So people are looking to Instagram to be entertained, there’s stiff competition and there’s more to do and we have to embrace that.”
As Instagram rolls out this new update, businesses should start incorporating video into their marketing strategy as soon as possible. Showing your products in action, having an influencer take over your story, creating short commercials, and sharing limited time offers are a few ways to get the ball rolling with Instagram videos. Remember, you’re not the only business struggling to adapt. You’ve got this!
Instagram Recommendations
Another major change affecting businesses from the update is Instagram Recommendations. Instead of only seeing posts from the accounts you follow, Instagram now places recommended posts at the end of your feed. These automatically generated posts are based on the people you follow, the photos you like, and the types of accounts you interact with. For example, if you “like” a picture of a swimsuit on your explore page, swimsuit posts and ads will show up more frequently on your feed. Additionally, if you follow more swimsuit accounts than makeup accounts and more frequently like and comment on swimsuit posts, Instagram will prioritize swimsuits on your personal feed.
With Instagram no longer following a chronological order, marketers should post on a consistent basis to ensure reliability, engage with their audience to attract new followers, and use meaningful hashtags to increase account visibility.
Overall, the Instagram update will propose many changes in the digital marketing world. To maintain brand visibility it’s important to morph your brand with the new guidelines, communicate with your followers, and begin experimenting with videography.
Be sure to give us a follow @flpmarketing to stay up to date with the latest Instagram announcements and book a call below to see how we can help your brand stay ahead of the ever changing digital marketing world!