A few days back, following the anti-China wave, the Indian government decided to shut the shop for 59 Chinese applications. TikTok, whose fifteen seconds videos gave stardom to many social media addicts, was one amongst the 59 apps who faced the axe. Instagram, however, decided to leverage this golden opportunity and developed a new feature and named it – Instagram Reels. With this new feature, Instagram plans to harness the audience and popularity gathered by TikTok and tie them to its app.
During the pandemic lockdown, usage of social media apps reached its maximum peak, and they continue to experience the highs. Instagram was quick to assimilate the situation and came to conclude that video content is the way forward.
Instagram Reels is the birthchild of this belief and is being touted as a game-changer for marketers in the current TikTok sans India. It is, in fact, looked upon as an attempt to provide an alternative platform to video makers and offer a new partnership opportunity to brands in India’s vastly growing digital market.
What are Instagram Reels?
To access Reels, users have to open the Instagram Stories camera, and you will find Reels right beside ‘Live’ and ‘Story’. Just like TikTok, this feature comes with its in-app editing tools, filters, and special effects that help you edit your videos. At present, there are four features available, namely, Audio, Speed, Effects, and Timer. The number is expected to grow as the feature continues to develop.
Reels allow the user to record 15 seconds short videos that are engaging and fun. Users are allowed to start and stop recording multiple times during the short span of 15 seconds, just like TikTok. They can choose music from the in-app catalog or another video that can be found through various trending hashtags and Explore features of Instagram. Users are allowed to use a green screen to create movie-like videos.
What does the Future Hold for Content?
A human has an attention span of not more than three seconds; this makes it essential for video content to be attention-grabbing. Static images can still be catchy, but static images are more likely to be scrolled passed than videos. Also, it needs to be quick, flashy, or sometimes funny. No one likes to watch an hour-long documentary on a social media app. That is why short recipe and cat videos are a hit among social media audience.
Instagram attempting to develop a video feature is itself an indicator that video content is gaining popularity. Instagram stories gained immense popularity just after being globally rolled out; they would want Reels to follow the same success story in terms of video content category. So much so that the feature may also become another source of revenue for Instagram through brand advertising.
What does it have for Marketers?
Instagram credits TikTok as an inspiration behind developing such a feature. Their main task will be to keep the feature as close to TikTok as possible in terms of look, feel, and features for the TikTok followers to flock to their app. Another most significant challenge lies in making their current audience efficiently move from carefully filtered content to the fresh and authentic content similar to TikTok.
Instagram Stories is one such breakthrough feature developed by Instagram that offers raw and authentic content. However, it was the swipe up feature, ads, and product tagging features that acted as a game-changer for the marketers.
Reels, on the other hand, is much more instant, authentic, and transparent than stories. Brands will be able to connect with their consumers in a more efficient way than before. It provides them with an opportunity of having a more fun-driven and creative engagement with their consumers.
Reels creates a less-pressurized atmosphere for the brands, which helps them to be more positive and comfortable while expressing themselves in front of their consumers as compared to the current scenario of having an ideal social image.
Only the future can tell, whether Reels survives the test of time and becomes a preferred alternative to banned TikTok. However, As a digital marketing company, it represents an excellent opportunity for brands to have transparent and more authentic communication with their consumers. In the end, it all depends on the brands on how well they use the integrate this new feature into their marketing strategies and make it speak their language.
Want to boost your brand’s online space by leveraging such trending social media features? Get in touch with us now. You can write to us at [email protected] or say hi on Facebook / Twitter / or Instagram.
