1. Live/Shoppable feature - driver for impulse buys
With the new updates last year, brands and influencers are able to product-push in new and imaginative settings. Showing you how they go about their day in tiny little snaps while giving mini-reviews on the way make for some compelling content. Slip a few products here and there. And oh, with the swipe down option, you can capitalize on that immediacy. This could be a whole genre of new content - a Snapchat-sized bite of information but with all the links in place to shop for something without even having to Google it.
With the new updates last year, brands and influencers are able to product-push in new and imaginative settings. Showing you how they go about their day in tiny little snaps while giving mini-reviews on the way make for some compelling content. Slip a few products here and there. And oh, with the swipe down option, you can capitalize on that immediacy. This could be a whole genre of new content - a Snapchat-sized bite of information but with all the links in place to shop for something without even having to Google it.
2. Growth of stories – goodbye Snapchat?
Now that Instagram has Snapchat-esque features, it almost negates the need for a separate app. Sure, there’s always the filters that we all use the app for, but content-wise, influencers are able to show their Get Ready With Me/FOTD/OOTD and other subtle product-pushing snippets over Instagram. With the tags feature, it’s easy to mention brands and further drive user traffic. Will we see a switch in usage this year? If Instagram continues to make these updates, probably…
Now that Instagram has Snapchat-esque features, it almost negates the need for a separate app. Sure, there’s always the filters that we all use the app for, but content-wise, influencers are able to show their Get Ready With Me/FOTD/OOTD and other subtle product-pushing snippets over Instagram. With the tags feature, it’s easy to mention brands and further drive user traffic. Will we see a switch in usage this year? If Instagram continues to make these updates, probably…
3. Instagram feeds that make the MoMA’s curation look like a joke.
Gone are the days where a brand’s page was merely a catalog of products that they offer. Customers don’t want to see that – that’s what the website is for. Instead, there has been a heavy movement from ‘How does this product make me look?’ to ‘How does this make me feel?’. Glossier, for example. Before every launch, they tease us with a variety of abstract images, that all evoke a certain mood. Rich, silky, luxurious, easy – all communicated with images of seemingly random things (agate slices, sofas, chocolate, a seal and tile samples) but somehow they all fit together and make sense. This is all indirectly influencing drive, and creating the need to feel a certain way. And for that, of course, you need to buy the product. I personally love feeds that have a healthy mix of art, products, random fluffy pets and neon signs.
Gone are the days where a brand’s page was merely a catalog of products that they offer. Customers don’t want to see that – that’s what the website is for. Instead, there has been a heavy movement from ‘How does this product make me look?’ to ‘How does this make me feel?’. Glossier, for example. Before every launch, they tease us with a variety of abstract images, that all evoke a certain mood. Rich, silky, luxurious, easy – all communicated with images of seemingly random things (agate slices, sofas, chocolate, a seal and tile samples) but somehow they all fit together and make sense. This is all indirectly influencing drive, and creating the need to feel a certain way. And for that, of course, you need to buy the product. I personally love feeds that have a healthy mix of art, products, random fluffy pets and neon signs.
4. #ad #sponsored #paidforpromotion #stahp
As consumers we’re getting a bit (a tiny bit) smarter with which posts are paid for and which are not. But what about the legitimacy of those bloggers that do #ads? With companies sending out PR packages in thousands to influencers, do we even believe their reviews anymore or is it just all for the considerable amount of $$$ that come with it? We may see an interesting shift from the larger influencers who get sent the PR packages to smaller-mid sized ones who probably have bought makeup and skincare with their own money and have more honest things to say about it.Visual social media is turning into an insanely curated driver for conversions - and has expanded from simple product photos to individual brand voice and lifestyles being showcased through pixels. And as an avid Instagram user, I am very interested to see where the platform takes us this year.
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