Instagram’s New Tool
Instagram Stories
According to Social Media Examiner, marketers are operating towards the use of visual platforms such as Instagram for their marketing initiatives due to their increased value. As cliche as it sounds, it is true that pictures speak a thousand words. The digital scene started with blogging, where businesses produced lengthy posts to market their products. After which, microblogging surfaced where businesses used approximately 140 words to describe their products and/or services via Twitter. Now, instead of telling people what our products are and their benefits, we show them through videos and images.
As such marketers are now looking to create original visuals and videos to increase engagement. With approximately 700 million active users on Instagram (Tech Crunch), Businesses have leveraged on the use of influencers to reach out to people who share similar interests and passions. Instagram users are subscribing to creators with similar interests in hopes of learning about new products and services much faster.
Transparency is key
Instead of having to glance through a sea of hashtags looking for that #Ad, Instagram has included a new tool to allow transparency. It has rolled out a new function called the “Paid partnership with” tag to signal the existence of a commercial relationship between an influencer and a business.
Not only does this new function inform Instagram followers that it is a sponsored posts, it provides metrics to businesses via Facebook Insights.
Consumers these days suffer from banner blindness as they do not like to be told what to buy. This has allowed Businesses to come up with alternatives such as partnering with influencers to reach out to their audience. Furthermore, content produced by influencers is viewed as more authentic and relevant. As such, with the increase in partnerships on Instagram, it has become important for followers to easily recognise when a post is sponsored.
How it works for Creators
Firstly, just like any other Instagram posts, creators come up with content and proceed to publish it to their feed/stories
Secondly, creators will have to select “Advanced Settings”
Thirdly, creators are to search for the businesses’ names by clicking on “Tag business partner”. If the company name cannot be found, contact the business partner and get them to approve your account before publishing the post.
Once published, the business partner will receive a notification and have access to the post’s insights.
How it works for Businesses
The disclosure of a paid partnership grants brands access to data and provides authenticity across the board. Both businesses and influencers can track the performance of the content where insights are available. Businesses will have 14 days to review the metrics such as reach and replies. This allows them to track the effectiveness of the content more efficiently.
Partner Approvals
Instagram has introduced an initiative to help protect brands. This requires Businesses to first approve creators before they are allowed to tag the corresponding business Instagram page. Refer to below on how you can turn on partner approvals.
