If you didn’t hear, the head of Instagram recently shared in an IGTV video that “Instagram is no longer just a photo sharing app”. As you can imagine, there’s been a lot of conversation on Instagram about this change. After talking with my community and followers, I wanted to share my thoughts on this change, what it means for you on Instagram, and what you can do moving forward to have a strong Instagram strategy for your brand online! 

Here are my thoughts:

First off, this isn’t really news. If you’ve been on Instagram and using it (and paying attention), you know that video has become a part of the platform. The entire app has been pushing users to create Instagram Reels, IGTV and share videos for awhile. Not only that, they’ve been prioritizing videos and by pushing Reels out to cold audiences, it’s clear this has been the direction they want to go. (PS. A cold audience means that when you share an Instagram Reel, people who have no idea who you are might come across the Reel and find your account this way.) Honestly, Instagram isn’t the only platform going this way, so don’t be surprised as this continues across a variety of platforms.

Personally, I’m honestly glad Instagram is prioritizing video because video WORKS. Video creates such a strong connection between you and your audience – more than any other medium online. I’ve believed that (and preached that) for years now. And trust me, if you go to the accounts and brands that you love, you’ll probably see they use a lot of video, too! 

Let’s look at this change as a gift! 

While I still believe there’s a place for photos (obviously, I started as a photographer), I think we can look at this change on Instagram as a gift. Now, the chance to better connect with our audience is accessible. We don’t have to get on another platform (like Tik Tok or YouTube) in order to use video. Instead, it’s now at our fingertips on an app we already know, use, and have a following on. We should say thank you to Instagram! They’re prioritizing something that’s SO powerful and will allow us all to build more powerful brands. Seriously, no matter what kind of business you run, video will help you grow in the long run! 

Does that mean everyone has to go full force with video?

Of course not! I don’t think you HAVE to post Reels every single day or IGTVs every single day either. Since Instagram is heavily pushing video content to cold audiences, I personally do share more of these pieces of content than photographs. But, I still make sure to share photos each week too. However, I want to encourage you that you can still use video in small ways to make a BIG impact in your business. I know that it’s not always the most comfortable thing for us, but in order to grow, pushing that comfort zone may be the best thing so that you can take advantage of these changes. And now, here’s how you can do that: 

What do these changes mean for YOU? 

It’s time to start changing your social media strategy. Begin to add video to your strategy and lean into the algorithm. By using what Instagram is giving you, you’re going to build a stronger audience and grow without having to fight the algorithm! Remember to start small: what’s easiest for you to do right now? Take one step towards adding video – maybe that’s just showing up on Instagram stories. Or maybe it’s recording Reels. Nothing says you have to go and do allll of the things all at once. So take it slow. 

And don’t try to reinvent the wheel. Think about where you can swap a video instead of a still photo. Can you create a Reel instead of just a photo of your product? Capturing product photos? Create a video showing the behind the scenes of your photo shoot. You can also easily animate graphics on Canva, so that’s another way to bring movement and video to your profile in a quick way. 

The more that you film and create video, the easier things will get. You’ll grow more confident and you’ll learn to batch create your video content. By batching your creation, showing up consistently with video will get even easier! 

The bottom line?

The bottom line through all of these changes is that they’re NOT here to harm us. Social media has been moving towards the direction of more video marketing steadily. Instagram is doing something really helpful for business owners by prioritizing the content that creates a stronger brand, so lean into the change and create some video content for your business today! 

If you need inspiration for Instagram Reels, check out my list of ideas HERE!