Instagram Launches Important New Feature For Marketers

Wait, why did Instagram just become Snapchat? This is the question you’ve probably been asking yourself over the past few days. Earlier this week, Instagram launched Instagram Stories, a feature that lets its users post real-time pictures and video that stay live on the app for 24 hours before going away. Sounds pretty familiar doesn’t it? That’s because the social media giant took a nod from Snapchat.

Instagram is one of the most widely used social media platforms on the market, and it is backed by Facebook which makes it all the more powerful. Marketers everywhere hopped on creating content with Instagram Stories with no hesitation. Most big brands already have daily active snapchat accounts, so there wasn’t a need for them to create a brand new social media strategy.

This new Instagram feature is just one more way for marketers to give their audience a behind-the-scenes look into their brand.

This new feature is also very user-friendly. All you have to do is tap the circle with the plus sign on the top left corner of the homepage in order to start taking pictures or video. You can choose from different colored filters like a purple-orange gradient, or a classic black and white. There’s even the option to write on your post with brushes in different sizes and colors. The update lacks everyone’s favorite Snapchat filters, but that might prove to be irrelevant as it lets brands tap into a wider audience of daily active users. Social media managers, are you seeing dollar signs yet?

This new Instagram feature is just one more way for marketers to give their audience a behind-the-scenes look into their brand. Although it is an exciting update, it presents a unique challenge to marketers everywhere to push even more branded content out. The world of Instagram is filled with perfectly manicured and aesthetically pleasing feeds. This update poses the question, is your everyday life just as pretty as your curated content suggests?  Only time will tell if Instagram Stories will be a success. While it is not yet clear if Snapchat has taken a hit, one thing is for certain in social media marketing–you must evolve or you’ll get left behind.