This past March, the popular image and video sharing app explained “in the last six months, the time people spent watching video on Instagram increased by more than 40 percent” after which they announced that it will soon be possible to share 60 second videos on the platform. Their push for video continues with the announcement that they’ll be adding new video channels and further personalizing content featured on the Explore tab.
Featured Videos on Instagram Explore
The new video channels will first be available in the U.S. for iOS and Android devices before becoming available in other countries. There will be a “Featured” videos tab offering selections of videos centered on specific topics and other themed, curated channels such as to highlight popular topics such as California’s Coachella Festival. What’s more is the videos will auto-play one after another, encouraging users to sit back, relax and enjoy the show! There will also be feature spotlights highlighting specific Instagram accounts and a section featuring personalized recommendations. This section, “Videos You Might Like”, will feature content from the accounts that users have liked their content before, popular posts, posts featuring content users gravitate towards, etc.
This seems to be a good move on Instagram’s part as a sort of response to the backlash for planning to switch to an algorithm feed from chronologically ordered posts. It’s another way for them to reap the benefits of using an algorithm within their platform but it won’t disrupt or scare off Instagram users. To add, users are empowered with more control as every individual user will be able to further personalize their video recommendations in Explore using the “See Fewer Posts Likes This” to achieve more and more customized media.
Opportunities for Marketers
It’s certainly possible that these new features are an attempt to open up the door to introduce video ads on Instagram. If it is, it’s a great way to help users warm up to the idea and become much more receptive to the concept. While it seems logical that it would be the next step of action, only time will tell. In the meantime, there are still ways you’ll be able to harness the power of the new Explore. You can use it as a way to find additional trending topics to shape your social media plans and social media ad campaign content (via curated channels). You may also use it as a tool to discover bloggers and other influencers to connect with for future collaborations such as unboxing videos (which will surely become popular on Instagram with the introduction of 60 second videos), product reviews and more.
