Instagram Has Moved from Photo to Video: What This Means For Your Marketing Strategy

With over one billion active users on its platform, Instagram is one of the top leading social media channels to date. However, other platforms are starting to catch up and even exceed its success.

Head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, has announced big changes for Instagram to move towards video entertainment in order to keep up with their major competitors, YouTube & TikTok. According to Mosseri, Instagram is “no longer a photo-sharing app.” 

In Mosseri’s video, he stated that Instagram is “trying to build new experiences primarily in four areas — creators, videos, shopping and messaging.” Instagram used to advocate video sharing through its use of IGTV where you could post videos up to 15 minutes long. But as data has shown, our attention spans have shortened, and we would rather scroll through 15 seconds of video footage instead.

This means those who primarily use photos to promote their message and mission will now have to deviate from their favorite medium. Since the recent release of information, brands are sharing their frustration in having to relearn a platform that was once their favorite space to find and share visual content. 

How will this impact your marketing strategy?

According to Apex, a company of expert leaders in the entrepreneurial and business-owning industry, the conversation within your industry is already happening whether you are a part of it or not. This is especially true for your social media marketing strategy if the location of the conversation has changed as well.

For any new business owner or entrepreneur, it’s important to have a social media strategy that works. In order to do that, you’ll need to keep up with the latest digital trends. That might be simple for someone who has extensive knowledge in the field or keeps up with industry news. For someone who is a small business owner, adapting may not come to them as easy.

With 63% of daily users on social media scrolling through Instagram, businesses will have to learn what it means to start utilizing Reels as a part of their social media strategy. The question is, how exactly do you go about it?

How To Implement Reels Into Your Strategy

No matter your industry, it’s crucial to keep your content educational and entertaining. While this may seem daunting, the truth is that the ideas for your content already exist. All you need to do is look to your customers.

Consider what your potential customers may want to know. They are coming to you for a solution to one of their problems. Reels could be used to answer these problems for them. These could be the top five benefits of using one of your services or a fun reel to show how your product works.

Another way to implement reels is by repurposing your old content. What was once a photo posted over a month with handy tips and tricks can now be rebuilt into a short video reel.

Don’t worry if you don’t like having your face on camera. You don’t necessarily have to have yourself in the video for it to succeed. Use your products, stock videos, or even your dog as a replacement. Remember, your content should be just as entertaining as it is educational.

What To Focus On For Your Reels

Now that you’re ready to start creating and posting reels, here are a few final tips before you send your first one out to your followers.

• Don’t focus on the number of likes your reel gets. Instead, focus on the number of saves. The more saves, the more Instagram’s algorithm will show your content to more people.
• Keep your reels short. They should be around 10 to 15 seconds at a maximum.
• Avoid the overuse of filters. People are more drawn to seeing content that is natural and relatable.
• Captions and music are essential to any good reel.
• There are a ton of content ideas that already live on Instagram. Take a few minutes to scroll through some of the most popular video content available right now and see what you can learn from those who have paved the way.

No matter what your current social media strategy is, there is always an opportunity to rethink things. Talk to your team and brainstorm some new ideas on how to keep up so your business doesn’t fall behind.