Your Social Update: How Video Content Is Evolving the Landscape and How to Evolve With It
Video content on Instagram is picking up speed and there’s no stopping it! We wrote about how to get started with micro-video content for your business, but it’s time to dive a little deeper. Between updates and best practices, there’s lots of ground to cover.
There has been much discussion surrounding Instagram video content lately, especially regarding the push to publish more of it. Users feel that Instagram is trying to transform into its own version of the TikTok app. While statements have been made that Instagram wants to stay true to its brand identity and not become something different, the general message is clear: video content is here to stay.
Reels
Reels, like social media in general, are always evolving. The latest updates with Reels include different categorization and an increased time limit.
All videos published on Instagram are now considered to be Reels. Any video content posted on your account going forward will fall under the Reels category on your page. For some accounts, previously posted video content will now appear in the Reels category as well.
The length of Reels has now been extended from 60-seconds to 90-seconds. This is especially exciting for those in industries that create educational content for their followers but were previously limited by the time cap and had to take multiple videos to get their message across. With this 30-second increase, hopefully, your content strategy will benefit!
To ensure you’re using best practices when it comes to Reels, be sure to:
- Properly position your video within Instagram’s dimensions. Reel dimensions are 1080 px by 1920 px.
- Include a call to action. Push followers to act on your post by directing them to your website or the ”link in your bio.”
- Include your hashtags! Make sure that your hashtags are specific to your company and industry. Put yourself in the shoes of your target audience and think about the hashtags they would search for to find a product, service, or company like yours!
Stories
Like Reels, Stories have also received an update. Previously, the maximum amount of time a Story could be was 15 seconds. That amount of time has now increased to 60 seconds. A whole minute of “story-time!” Oh, the possibilities.
QR Codes
Instagram now has a QR Code feature that allows users to share content and locations via QR Codes. In addition to sending a post via direct message, QR Codes are now a medium for sending content. QR Codes are everywhere, such as restaurant menus, and can be a very efficient way to direct people to your website or other landing page!
Implementation
We look forward to seeing these updates in action and using them ourselves! We encourage you to capture as many videos (and photos!) as you can for your business so that your social accounts can stay competitive in the very vast landscape that is social media.