Massive Change coming soon on Instagram.
IG Reinvents Itself As A Video Platform!
Instagram, the social-media platform for users too cool for Facebook but too old for TikTok, is reinventing itself. A new focus on hosting video content and significant changes in the newsfeed algorithm will greatly enhance the user experience, but will present considerable challenges to those seeking engagement with a large user base to promote goods, services, or messages. The three developments that promise to be game-changers for content creators are:
Focus on Reels
Photographs, once the heart and soul of Instagram, are being relegated to the background in favor of videos. While moving images are inherently more compelling than stills, pitfalls await the inexperienced videographer striving for premium content. Although a jerky, single-shot clip is fine to show off your new dance moves, a longer informational video that does not aspire to Netflix production values will be condemned to endless clickaways.
Page Sections
Currently in beta-testing is a new page-layout concept. In the following months expect to find your Instagram page divided into three sections: Home, Following, and Favorite. This will allow users to instantly find and engage with the content that interests them at any given time. The Following and Favorites sections are self-explanatory, but the Home section will be populated by a new algorithm that will allow content creators to reach a vastly greater audience.
Home Newsfeed
Instagram began with a chronological feed, listing postings in the order they appeared. That later changed to a curated feed, where an algorithm selected postings based on user history and profile. In the new Home section, the chronological feed will again be the default, and the curated content option will depend on an AI-powered algorithm processing much more information than historical clicks and likes. The new algorithm will increase the likelihood that posts will appear in the feeds of users having no previous engagement, or even degrees of separation, with the content provider.
What does this mean for commercial content providers? The new Instagram promises to become the leading platform for introducing products and services to wider, but still finely targeted audiences. However, producing coherent, appealing video content and ensuring optimal placement on both chronological and curated news feeds will require specialized skills and resources. In the new Instagram, production quality and tailoring content to the ever-evolving parameters of the algorithm will determine whether posts find their intended audience or are banished to the far reaches of the cloud.
To learn more about how you can unlock the full potential of the new Instagram to promote your organization (or yourself) contact.us@wndmarketing.com.