What Instagram’s updates & changes mean for your business

Video content is big, and almost every social media app is working towards prioritising video content. TikTok has been dominating the social media scene, Facebook introduced more video content for creators last year and now Instagram is focusing more on video, so it looks like these changes will trend for many social media apps.

Last week, Instagram announced that it will be focusing on video rather than photo content. This doesn’t mean that you won’t be able to still post photo content currently, but the reach will be limited.

These are changes however that I have already noticed over the past six months and have adapted my content across my social media channels, to reflect this. What I have noticed is that reach and engagement has in fact increased by 500% in those past few months. Videos are what the user wants to see and this is why Instagram is following this demand.

Hear what Adam Mosseri the head of Instagram has to say about these changes here. And you guessed it, his announcement is in video format.

The world, especially when it comes to technology, is a fast-paced and ever-changing arena. It is important to keep up-to-date and adapt with these changes to keep current and a market leader. Video sells. More than 70% of social media users seek video content over still images.

Video offers a more personal insight into a business and its offerings.

You can truly see how something works and get a feel for it rather than relying on imagination through the worded description of marketeers. These emotions play a big part in converting the user into a buying customer. Whether you realise it or not, each social media post is an advert you are putting out there to your current and potential customers. An advert sells best when it tells a story about your product, brand or services because this allows the customer to connect with your business and what you are selling. By introducing video content for products, you can help increase your retail sales so you can upsell at appointments and earn even more revenue.

You don’t need to be a professional videographer to create videos for your social media, and you don’t even need to sit and film hours of video footage.

You can easily and quickly turn a still image into a video by creating an animated image. This is by adding one small moving element such as moving text, logo, images, slideshow and effects. I have seen many panic over the time that creating video content will take but it really doesn’t need to.  This change also means that you can repurpose your old content by turning them into animated image videos.

While posting a photograph with a couple of hashtags and tagging users may seem much easier and less time consuming but if it isn’t what the user wants to see then this time was not efficiently used. Spend an additional couple of minutes to make this same post into a short video instead which creates more engagement and this is a far more valuable use of your time.  Whether you aim is to gain more followers, interactions or sell more, then video is the way to go.

Show your customers an insight into your business persona. A selection of inspiration and examples for video content is:

• How it started v how it is going
• Products in action
• Sneak peek into a new product
• Stop motion videos of products or the creation of a set of nails
• Nail process
• Before and after images
• Outtakes
• Tips & tricks
• Clip together nail images to create a reel or post (remember when you can’t choose which one to post – you can now post them all in one video!)
• Aftercare such as how to use cuticle oil
• Behind the scenes
• Reel-ality vs reality
• A day in the life of
• Myth busting
• FAQ’s
• Text appointment availability or announcements
• Reintroduce yourself – captions about what you do
• Live Q&A
• Hop on a trend
• Listicle
• Time lapse
• Share customer videos
• Compilation of customer reviews
• New products and colour reveals
• Takeovers & get to know your staff
• Giveaways
• Animations
• Collage of stills & videos
• Funny videos relevant to your industry
• Remix

While you can edit video content in apps such as Final Cut Pro and iMovie, you don’t need to invest in professional applications like this, and instead there are a huge selection of free or small fee video editing application apps which can be used directly from your smartphone.

Some of my favourite applications are:

1. Canva
2. Inshot
3. Life Lapse
4. Photoroom
5. Motion Leap by Lightricks
6. Boosted by Lightricks
7. Kira Kira

Many of these applications have simple and helpful tutorials to follow for top tips and often offer new content ideas.

Don’t fear change. It is what makes us grow as both individuals and businesses in this ever changing world and will help push your business to new levels of success.

Love Katie B x

www.katiebarnesacademy.com