Instagram to give up on IGTV, Spotify testing stories, IMS in NYC… here is what happened this week
Instagram to give up on IGTV
Last year, we dedicated an article on the faith of IGTV (https://blog.snikpic.io/igtv-for-influencers/). At that time, it was already struggling to get traction, partly due to difficult adoption of the new “long-vertical-video” format.
In fact, only 7 million people did download the standalone IGTV app over the past year and a half, out of the more than a billion Instagram users. Hence, Instagram decided to drop the IGTV button present in the Instagram app.
In this week’s article, TechChrunch highlights a couple of reasons why IGTV didn’t work as well as Instagram would have loved to:
- No need to go outside the Instagram app to watch IGTV videos
- Lack of ways for creators to monetize IGTV videos
This leads to a low adoption of IGTV, and coupled with much more views on YouTube and TikTok, makes it difficult for creators to justify the creation of content specifically for IGTV.
Read more: https://techcrunch.com/2020/01/18/igtv-button-gone/
Spotify is testing a new stories feature
Spotify is testing a new feature allowing users to post stories to promote their playlists. Similarly to Instagram or Snapchat stories, Spotify stories consist in vertical videos lasting a few seconds that users can skip by tapping on the screen.
Access to stories is granted by tapping on profile pictures. The feature is currently available to a selected number of de facto “Spotify influencers.”
The small group of testers are chosen among a variety of factors, such as follower count or engagement for instance. Currently, these stories can be seen on iOS and Android, but not yet on desktop.
This may mark the beginning of Spotify development towards a multi-content and experience platform rather than a pure music streaming tool.
TikTok to top IG growth
In 2019, TikTok kept up with the massive growth pace it has experienced the years before. So massive that Snap Inc. CEO Evan Spiegel considers the Chinese platform as potentially bigger competitor than Instagram, as he said during a digital conference in Munich last Sunday.
In fact, TikTok counts today around 400 million users opening the app daily, just behind Instagram, according to AppAnnie. Recent increase was driven by heavy advertising done by Tiktok on Facebook, which by the way owns Instagram.
As 60% of TikTok’s active users are between 16 and 24 years old, business owners and marketers targeting a relatively young audience can no longer avoid it, and this is even more true in emerging countries (India and China accounting for ~50% of TikTok downloads last year).
Read more:
https://www.pymnts.com/mobile-applications/2020/snap-chinas-tiktok-could-pass-instagram-in-growth/
Making Instagram communication more effective for brands and stores
Influencers know how to best communicate with their followership: type of messaging, type of content, format of content etc. Indeed, they are permanently in contact with their followers and learn from them: daily stories (with polls, questions or contests), weekly posts, direct reply to comments, continuous DM discussions etc.
Brands can benefit from influencers’ learnings and adopt an Instagram communication in line with the codes usually applied on Instagram. Among others, this requires using the same tools as influencers do.
HypeAuditor conducted a survey on 1,200+ influencers on the tools they use to build up their Instagram account. Without surprise, more than two thirds of Instagram influencers use photo editing tools.
Here are the most used tools, category per category:
- Photo editing: Adobe Lightroom, Adobe Photoshop, Snapseed, VSCO Cam, Canva
- Post scheduler: Later, Preview, Plannoly
- Video editing: InShot, iMovie, Adobe Spark
- Grid preview: UNUM, Garny
- Hashtag analyzer: Focalmark, Hashtagstick, IQ hashtags
- Stories editing: Unfold, Mojo
Interestingly, only 2,5% of influencer use the recently launched solution from Facebook, the Facebook Creator Studio.
Influencer Marketing Show expands to New York
The Influencer Marketing Show is historically a two-day event in London, bringing together brands, agencies, platforms and influencers.
After three successful editions in the UK, IMS decided to bring the conference to the United States (Manhattan exactly). Two editions will then take place this year, one on May 20 in New York and one on October 27-28 in London.
If interested, be aware that limited tickets will be on sale during February on https://influencermarketingshow.com.
Read more: https://talkinginfluence.com/2020/01/20/grow-your-influence-influencer-marketing-show-nyc/
