When Instagram was released about 5 years ago, people were amazed by the unique concept and the platform became an instant hit. It didn’t take much time before marketers started to make experiments with certain marketing activities there. When people today talk about the use of social media networks for marketing purposes, they are usually focused on Facebook and Twitter. However, with millions of active users with different background and different interest, Instagram is a platform that should not be missed by any marketer. Literally every business in almost any industry can benefit from the presence on this social media network and experienced marketers have already designed some very effective Instagram marketing strategies.
A few weeks ago, Instagram introduced a few changes that were described as radical by some users. It all started with the introduction of the new logo and icon which is now more vibrant and colorful. This is what marketers call rebranding. However, this visual change will not affect the marketing efforts made on Instagram, but few other changes that were introduced a few days later definitely will.
To start with, videos on Instagram, just like the ones on Facebook now show the number of views on each video you post. This is a good feature because it helps you analyze the impact of every video in real time. In addition, you can also quickly check the number of likes and see who liked your video with an instant option to follow these users. These new figures will also help you understand how engaging your video is. A video with a relatively big number of views and just a few likes is definitely not effective.
Another great change is the extended length of videos marketers (and all Instagram users) can publish on their profiles. The short 15-second videos used before can now be replaced with 60-second videos. According to many social media marketing experts, one-minute videos are ideal for marketing purposes because social media users have short span of attention.
The Instagram ads are changed too. For instance, whenever a user taps directly on your ad, they will see a call to action. You can redirect the users to your own mobile app or to your website. The situation is a little bit different with video ads because one tap will turn on or off the sound and a double tap will lead them to your app/website.
The news feed is now more sophisticated and as a user you can see the most relevant posts for you. You can also change the settings to view more things from certain users which is a good option for every marketer. You can follow the news from your competitors in this way too.
Finally, if you sync your profile with the Instagram Ad you will use, whenever some user clicks on your profile they will notice your call to action on top. In other words, making an attractive call to action on Instagram is now more important than ever.
