How Brands Can Benefit From Instagram’s Newest Changes
Social media platforms change all the time, but one of the biggest has been the recent change to Instagram in the form of “stories.” Sound familiar? It should! In a move that now has the photo-sharing app going head to head with Snapchat, Instagram will now allow you to share images and videos that can be easily edited with fun images and fonts, shared in a successive order that will disappear after a period of 24 hours. You can also view other people’s stories and send private messages in response to a particular post in said story. Again, this is essentially the selling-point of Snapchat and brands have had to learn to master both, but what does this new change mean for them?
Reach More People
As many people that use Snapchat currently, there are still slightly more users on Instagram that are active and check the app on regular basis. Brands have been essentially doing double duty – figuring out how to cater to each specific platform and also pulling easily-downloaded content from Snapchat over onto other social platforms like Instagram. With this new Instagram update, you’re able to make the most of your follower count – which is most likely much higher on Instagram than it is on Snapchat. This will allow brands to reach many more people who are able to connect with their products, behind the scenes footage etc. You’ll also be able to directly reach specific users, like ones who are particularly engaging to offer them first looks, special deals and much more. While many of your followers with both apps will overlap, this new update will be a great benefit to brands whose users aren’t on Snapchat in large numbers.
Don’t Ruin The Look
Many times, a brand’s social media account has a very specific aesthetic to it. Whether it’s a particular font over your images, a specific filter, colour overlay or layout, there is likely to be a very carefully curated appearance to the account. Sometimes, you might want to post content that, while important and relevant, doesn’t exactly “fit.” This update allows you to get out the information that you need to without having to mess up the look of your account. It also allows you to share much more content without having to worry about over-sharing or posting too much. Posting a full day’s worth of behind-the-scenes footage, for example, is something that works perfectly well on Snapchat but not so much on pre-update Instagram. It would usually be a lot of clips to sort through! With this new Instagram update, you can share this same footage for all of your followers but keeping in mind it will disappear the following day.
Don’t Get Rid Of Snaps Yet
Even with a 5-second advantage on Snapchat’s 10 second video limit, Snapchat isn’t going away anytime soon; so don’t run to delete the app from your phone and forget about the branding opportunities it brings. There are still millions of followers on the platform who use it as their main mode of photo-sharing, so be cognizant of that. It might be a good idea to continue sharing content on both platforms until one of them begins its decline. Every social media platform has a peak and will inevitably be replaced with something newer, faster and more engaging, so pay attention to trends to stay ahead of this curve.