3 Ways Businesses Can Prepare For the Upcoming Instagram Changes
Change is the only constant factor in social media. Instagram’s CEO recently shared a video on the platform's impending changes. The changes are centered on transforming Instagram from a photo-sharing app into a more robust platform.
The move is in line with the current preference for video content. According to a survey conducted by HubSpot, 54% of consumers want to see more video content from a brand they support. The use of video as a form of content has contributed to the quick popularity of TikTok and equally sustained growth for YouTube.
A Brief of the Upcoming Changes
Video
Instagram CEO stated that Instagram is moving away from just photos to richer content such as video. The company is therefore working on making the video experience more dynamic. Key among the plan is to make full screen, entertaining, immersive, and mobile-first videos.
Other Features
The new look on Instagram will also incorporate creators, shopping experience, messaging, and increased recommendations. As the changes are being implemented, it's important to work on your strategy to benefit from the move and stay ahead of the game.
Let's explore some strategies that businesses can implement to get ready.
1. Create More Video Content
The most significant percentage of Instagram users is between 18-24 years at 22.9% and 25-34 years at 31.5%. The composition fits perfectly in the Millennials and Gen Z age groups, who are both tech-savvy and quick to embrace change.
As a brand, it's strategic to align your marketing strategy towards more video content. You can subsequently benefit from increased engagement, shareability across platforms, and ease of generating conversations. Here are a few ways to generate more video content:
Include Different Types of Videos
Video content is among the many ways of creating content that includes blogs, infographics, images, and text. Equally, there are multiple forms of video, each serving a unique purpose. Some of the different types of videos include live, animation, whiteboard videos, product videos, explainer, and how-to-videos.
Here are a few video ideas to incorporate:
Explainer Videos: Unlike the old way where you'd only post a photo, there's a looming opportunity to create an explainer video. Create a video showing how to display wall art or how it can fit into a homeowner's interior.
Case Study Videos: There's nothing as credible as users giving neutral feedback about your product or service. Therefore, you can create videos with reviews or testimonials that give users an objective view of your offers.
Create Entertaining Content
From the announcement, Mosseri reported that people visit Instagram to be entertained. Therefore, it implies that the new algorithm will favor content, including fun videos to watch. As a brand, it is essential to invest in more fun and heartwarming content.
As such, the new content should look to capture, amuse, and educate the audience. You can achieve this by including storytelling aspects, liaising with local comedians, and including a few emotionally charged words.
A point to note: The industry leaders in videos — such as TikTok and YouTube — have tapped on the power of short but engaging videos. Short videos hold the ability to entertain, capture short bursts of attention, and provide entertainment concurrently. It's therefore important to use short videos as part of your benchmark while providing entertaining content.
2. Make and Optimize Videos For Mobile
According to Statcounter, approximately 52% of internet users access the internet via feature phones or smartphones. Therefore, it implies that a significant and growing percentage of internet users access Instagram via mobile.
Some of the tactics you can employ to improve the mobile experience include:
Set Videos as Portraits: It's cumbersome to concurrently watch and change settings to landscape format, which impacts the view rate of such videos. It's, therefore, crucial to create videos in a portrait format that are by default optimized for mobile.
Keep it Short: Mobile viewers have a shorter attention span than desktop users. It's therefore essential to keep the videos brief, concise, and free of fluff.
Use Legible Text: A significant percentage of your audience is mobile; therefore, keep the accompanying text brief and legible. It's also important to include video subtitles to maximize on the viewers.
Optimize For Mute: Most social media videos are played on mute. As such, preview to ensure they make sense when played on mute.
3. Work on Your Visibility To Feature Prominently on the Recommendations Space
The new changes will give users more recommendations based on their preferences and interests. As a business, you can structure the profile and content to improve the SEO value. Consequently, Instagram algorithms will pick your content and present it to an even larger audience, boosting your reach.
Here is how to take advantage of these changes.
Optimize Your Profile: Just like Google, Instagram crawls on the listed profiles to find the perfect fit for a specific interest. Work on profile elements like name and username or the bio by incorporating the primary keyword, e.g., seven-point interiors. Alternatively, you can use the space in the bio to include primary and secondary keywords, e.g., women's shoes, high heels, or flat shoes.
Image Description: It's also possible to describe the image using the alt text section. You can find it under the advanced section then alt text. Although it was designed to help visually impaired users, it also boosts SEO value. Therefore, you can incorporate keywords in the alt text, which is one of the criteria Instagram uses to rank posts.
Avoid Black-Hat SEO: Black hat SEO represents underhand tactics that promote abnormal growth. One of the most popular includes the use of bots to generate likes and followers. Unfortunately, the improvements are only temporary. Instagram may also serve your content to the wrong audience, which doesn't add value to your business.
Let Us Take Care of Your Social Media Strategy
Social media platforms keep changing in response to the ever-evolving online marketing industry. Instagram, for instance, is implementing a few changes to keep up with the changes in video marketing. On that note, it's crucial to liaise with a digital marketing firm like Sunday Brunch Agency. We can help you develop strategy, video content, among other services. Contact us to schedule a consultation.
