Written by Ashley Groves
In 2021, Instagram announced that it’s changing to a video platform. While Instagram has recently been focusing on video content, especially Reels, the platform originally focused on images.
But since its creation in 2010, Instagram has added features to compete with other social media platforms. Notably, Instagram incorporated Stories following the popularity of Stories on Snapchat.
Nowadays, one of Instagram’s biggest competitors is TikTok, which became extremely popular for its short vertical video content. In response to TikTok’s wild success, Instagram started to more heavily feature video content, including introducing Reels.
TikTok itself recently rolled out a big change for their platform, with the ability to upload videos up to 3 minutes long. TikTok is particularly popular with younger audiences and continues to gain market share.
But what does this mean for your business Instagram account?
Your previous content strategy for Instagram isn’t going to work anymore. Everyone is going to have to change their Instagram strategy if they don’t want to fall behind. The best way to do this is through developing diverse content.
How to Get Ready
Start to shake up your content on Instagram with diverse content. By diverse content, we mean posting content in a variety of different formats. And especially video. Rather than relying on single photos, start sharing Stories, Reels, short videos, and even Lives. (We make the full case in Why You Should Diversify Your Social Media Content.)
Image carousels (rather than single photos) are also a great option to broaden your impressions. Did you know that when you post a carousel, Instagram will continue to show your followers different images from the set to increase your reactions and interactions? This is much more effective than a single photo.
Does this sound like a lot of work? Are you wondering why you should take the time to diversify your content?
The biggest reason is Instagram’s algorithm. Obviously, they will be prioritizing video content even more than before. But in general, the algorithm prefers a mix of content. By posting a variety of content, the algorithm will favour your content and promote it more.
The other main reason to have diverse content is your audience. Your followers all like different things. By diversifying, you can offer content that different segments of your target audience like to see and interact with. Your feed will also be more interesting in general.
If you post a variety of photos and videos, but a large section of your audience likes and watches Stories, you are missing out on appealing to those followers. Experiment with your content and see what content your followers respond to best. Then you can tailor your content more towards what they want to see, making your social media channels more effective.
And no matter how successful some types of content are today, keep in mind that the algorithm is always changing so you need to be ready to grow and adapt with it.
Tips on How to Diversify Content
Here are a few expert tips on how to diversify your Instagram content, so you won’t get left behind with the new changes!
First, mix up your content format, but also what you post when. You should create and post multiple forms of content, but also vary what you post day-to-day.
If you post Reels for a week straight and then post only image carousels, that will be less appealing to both your fans and Instagram’s algorithm. It’s much better to mix up what you post (e.g. videos on Tuesdays and Thursdays; images on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays; and Stories every Monday).
Second, post content specifically for engagement. When people interact with your content by liking and commenting, the more your posts get shown to your followers (thanks to the algorithm). Then those people can like and comment, which keeps showing your content.
So engagement can snowball your organic reach. That’s why it’s very important to incorporate engagement content into your Instagram strategy.
There are many different ways to create engagement on Instagram. One of the best ways to do this is by asking them questions that they can answer. You can ask them “yes or no” questions (“Will you be seeing the new superhero movie this weekend?”), multiple-choice questions (“What colour should our new notebook be? – A, B, or C”), or open-ended questions (“What’s your favorite flavor of ice cream?”).
Beyond asking followers to respond with comments, you can easily create engagement content with Stories. You can make Polls and Questions, as well as questions featuring an emoji react on a slider — see how Instagram stickers boost engagement.
Make questions that are fun and easy to answer, and you will improve your engagement in no time. Click here for a list of engagement questions to inspire you!
Video is here to stay
Whether we like it or not, video is taking over the Instagram airways. You’re going to need to incorporate more videos into your content strategy in order to stay alive on the platform. If production is the sticking point, our video production team can help.
Don’t know how to change your content strategy for Instagram? Don’t have the time to create a whole new content strategy? Merged Media can help you. Schedule a free marketing consultation today and we can talk about how we can help you prepare for Instagram’s change to a video platform.
