Reely?
Instagram is going Video-centric with its Reels feature and you better get used to it.
To many, Instagram was, is and always will be THE photo-sharing app. It even spawned the adjective ‘Instagrammable’! However, fans of the ‘Gram may be in for a big shock with the head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, announcing it was “no longer a photo-sharing app.”
Despite the protestations of the celebrities that made Insta, such as the Kardashian/Jenners, sharing the viral “Make Instagram Instagram again. Stop trying to be TikTok. I just want to see cute photos of my friends. Sincerely, everyone.” post, Instagram is trying to be TikTok or, at least, trying to take a sizeable portion of TikTok’s market share.
Reels are similar in design and feature to TikToks:
Both have time limits - This makes sense, you get a maximum of 60 seconds to be relevant online, sometimes less than 15. Then, your audience moves on.
Both can have effects added in-screen, but Insta now lets users create Reels from any public photos, not just from their own accounts
Both can transmit live video to followers and the public.
Both will come as full-screen offerings in viewing mode.
But they are designed to appeal to a different audience and that’s where your approach needs to be different…
TikTok content is meant to look homemade, even when done professionally. It is meant to be relatable. Reels, on the other hand, are meant to be aspirational, glossy and slick, much like the instagrammable photo content of the past that created the ‘influencer’ phenomenon. Instagram wants to retain its traditional place as the place to go to for high-quality visual offerings, even if those offerings are now in their Reels video format, and your organisation will need professional video services to keep up and stay relevant.
And don’t forget - “your audience retains 95% of a message when they watch it in a video, compared to 10% when reading it in the text.” So, whether you support Instagram’s decision to go video or not, Instagram remains the 4th biggest social media channel on the planet and your audience will expect you to stay relevant…
The team at Dangerous Studio have decades of experience in creating marketing, explainer and showcase videos and animations. We create content that reaches the desired audience on any social platform making us well-placed to create your strategic Instagram Reels.
*** UPDATE *** As with anything Meta, the landscape is constantly shifting and this story has changed overnight. Insta has backtracked on full-screen feeds but is determined to forge ahead with other changes over time. Will they? Won’t they? Who knows, only time will tell.
At Dangerous, we are constantly monitoring shifts and trends in the social media ecosystem ensuring your content is as up-to-date and relevant as it can be.
Get in touch to see how the team at Dangerous can help you today!