Instagram’s announcement of a roll-out of tools that would improve the app and strengthen marketing partnerships between brands and influencers has got everyone talking. If you haven’t heard about them, don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. Let’s fill you in on the most anticipated of the well, anticipated updates.
Video-scrolling
Ever wondered why you can’t fast-forward or rewind videos on Instagram? Worst still, have you ever wanted to rewind a video so bad that you get really frustrated when you realise you can’t and the only option is for you to wait till the video elapses and starts all over again? Yeah, we know, very few things suck as much in this time conscious internet savvy generation.
Well the good news is that Instagram is testing out adding a seek bar to videos posted on people’s feeds. The feature will finally give you the much needed amount of control over video playback. It will let you skip forward and rewind to any point you want without having to restart the video all over again. I mean what a relief yeah?
Although this feature already exists for videos posted on the Instagram TV (IGTV), it is the first time we get to see it on people’s regular Instagram feeds.
Sadly, the ability to
Brands can now pay to promote sponsored content on Instagram
This would allow sponsored influencer posts be spread across the social media platform in order to reach more targeted users that are not originally following the influencer. It is as against the previous method of paid partnerships between brands and influencers which is heavily reliant on the number of followers the influencer has and non-followers who visit the influencer’s page.
Anyone can be an Instagram influencer
The changes would also throw open the opportunity for anyone to apply for Instagram’s paid sponsorship tags. This means that brands could consider smaller and more specific brand influencers rather than the previous method of prioritising follower counts.
It is because follower counts don’t always necessarily translate to greater engagement with the desired audience. It is believed that smaller scale influencers could also have significant impact as well.
What this means is that you don’t have to be a celebrity to get paid to promote stuff on Instagram. Pretty cool yeah?
Instagram checkout feature
In addition, they are trying out a new checkout feature which allows you to pay for a product or service in-app without having to leave the app. When you tap to view a product from the brand’s shopping post, you’ll see a “Checkout on Instagram” button on the product page. You could also tap it to select from various options such as size or colour before proceeding to pay, all within the app!
This is most welcome for those of you, well to be honest “those of us,”with trust issues when it gets down to making transactions online. I don’t know about you but the feature would more or less confirm the brand’s legitimacy and it will save a lot of time.
Adding titles to live videos
Another awesome feature Instagram is testing is a feature that will allow users add titles to their live videos. The title would tell people what the broadcast is about so as to let them in on its purpose and objectives.
It would no doubt increase engagement and viewer retention on the one hand and also save us from wasting minutes of our lives on
Improved partnership/business reliability
Instagram also pledges to continue working on flushing out fake followers and engagement which has often been used to dupe brands in the past. It is all in a bid to give businesses a greater sense of security when looking for influencers.
The tools couldn’t have come at a better time as influencers continue to prove how important they can be when properly utilised for businesses. It is calculated that influencer marketing on Instagram could garner an estimated $1.7 billion in revenue in 2019.
A date for the implementation of the new features has however not been announced and are still largely in beta testing but you can bet on the fact that the expectations on these one are over the roof already.
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