Per the screen shot, Instagram said: “We want your followers to focus on what you share, not how many likes your posts get.â€
That sounds benevolent, and it aligns with all of the studies that suggest social media is stressing people out. But as is seemingly the case with everything else involving Facebook/Instagram changes, the ulterior motive probably boils down to one thing.
Money.
Consider this: The first thing any marketer looks at when evaluating an Instagram post, feed or influencer is engagement rate, a quick measurement of how many people, as a percentage of a feed’s overall following, like or comment on a post. If you can’t tell who’s got engagement and who doesn’t, it makes working with an influencer far less appealing.Â
It also becomes more likely that spends once earmarked for influencers will instead become direct ad buys with the platform itself. Measuring the true ROI of influencer marketing is hard enough. Removing critical data from the equation would only exacerbate this problem.
If like counts do go away, what becomes of Instagram Influencers? If they’re not already looking to conquer new territory, they should be. Short-from video sharing network TikTok is probably the most obvious landing spot, and Facebook recently launched “Lasso,†a TikTok competitor. Anyone who’s serious about being an influencer has a vested interest in skating to where the puck is going to be, and taking their followers with them.
The question is, will Instagram take this drastic step? I think they’ll keep it in their back pocket for a while. But it feels inevitable.
Despite massive popularity, unrivaled cultural relevance and a billion daily active users, Instagram can’t seem to figure out long-form video. Specifically, its “IGTV†platform, which originally launched as a standalone app in June (remember that?) is largely being ignored by users, at least if multiple media reports (New York Magazine, Fast Company) are to be believed.
Small sample-size? Sure. But the numbers aren’t encouraging when so few show have shown any interest in IGTV.
We don’t have much else to go on. Despite scouring the internet, I couldn’t find a credible reporting of IGTV’s monthly active users (MAUs). Presumably, that would indicate that the number is underwhelming, and as such, it hasn’t been released. I found a random tweet that pegged it around 65 million, but that number is unsubstantiated and seems unlikely.
Quick, informal polls on my Twitter and Instagram feeds suggested the same conclusion.
In my own Instagram story and Twitter feed last week, I asked followers, most of whom work in the digital marketing space, if they actually use IGTV. Of 40 responses to my Instagram story poll, only one person acknowledged actually watching the IGTV platform.
At 2.5% percent, that’s about as effective as a PPC ad. That’s not what we industry types call a great conversion rate.
On Twitter, most replies were “Nope.†Others suggested that they’d only landed on IGTV accidentally.
Instagram launched IGTV to much fanfare midway through 2018, with analysts proclaiming it to be a potential YouTube competitor. That didn’t pan out. Almost a year later, the platform feels like, at best, an afterthought, and at worst, a miscalculation. When the initial standalone app failed to take off, IGTV was more deeply integrated into into the main Instagram experience.
However, IGTV doesn’t seem to be resonating with rank-and-file Instagram users.
Definitely not. I actually get super annoyed when it flashes up about someone posting a new video to it.
Early on, Instagram was preaching patience. “It’s a new format. It’s different. We have to wait for people to adopt it and that takes time,†former Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom told TechCrunch in August of 2018. “Think of it this way: we just invested in a startup called IGTV, but it’s small, and it’s like Instagram was (in the) ‘early days.’â€
A month later, Systrom, along with Instagram Co-founder Mike Krieger, left Facebook, Instagram’s parent company.
So, is IGTV the new Google+? It’s likely too early to tell, but it’s looking that way.
Instagram’s main feed and Stories products have become symbiotic with the influencer community, and IGTV seems tailor-made for brands and influencers to offer longer-form content; videos can be up to an hour long. However, the people who should have the most interest in the new platform, creators themselves, are mostly just repurposing (read: cropping vertically) their YouTube content.
Without a clear monetization path, they’re unlikely to continue to put any real effort into the platform. Top talent on YouTube can make six figures or more a month.
IGTV isn’t the first time that Facebook has swung and missed on long-form content. Facebook Watch, which was also positioned as a YouTube competitor, initially was paying content providers, with an estimated budget of $90 million. But as that money started drying up, outside of truly unique content like Tom Brady’s “Tom vs. Time,†“Ball in the Family†or WWE’s “Mixed Match Challengeâ€, there wasn’t much to see on Watch.
Far more problematic beyond a revenue model is the main issue for influencers: If nobody’s watching, who’s being influenced? Is there really a long-form content appetite to be fed on Instagram via the smartphone?
Depending on which gurus you believe, millennials either want “snackable†short-form content, or they actually want long-form content. Go ahead: Google “longform video making a comeback.†You’ll find articles from 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2018 in the first page of results.
Gary Vaynerchuk has embraced the platform, but many creators have already given up on IGTV.
But here’s the thing: Long-form content never went anywhere. With apologies to L.L. Cool J, don’t call it a comeback. Long form content has been here for years. It’s called YouTube. And why is YouTube so successful?
One word: search. YouTube is the second-biggest search engine in the world, trailing only its parent company, Google.
IGTV, in an effort to differentiate itself from YouTube, launched without proper search functionality. In fact, when you activate IGTV, it opens with static fuzz, like what you would see when you turned on a TV with a cable box back in 1983 and flipped through channels, not knowing what you’re going to get next.
“Because we don’t have full text search and you can’t just search any random thing, it’s about the creators†Systrom explained at the time of the launch. “I think that at its base level that it’s personality-driven and creator driven means that you’re going to get really unique content that you won’t find anywhere else and that’s the goal.â€
Search has since been added to IGTV (and it quickly auto-suggests feeds that create IGTV content), but when I opened IGTV over the weekend, I was served up content from ESPN, WWE, Gary Vaynerchuk and The Daily Show.
This is all content I can find everywhere else, on Twitter, television, Linkedin, etc.
Discoverability is one of the main issues that’s continued to plague Snapchat, and seems to be hurting IGTV as well. With all of the choices we have today, am I going to invest five minutes into a random piece of longform content that an algorithm thinks I want to watch? Possibly.
The likelihood increases dramatically, however, if it’s something I’ve searched out.
With all of the data these major platforms have at their disposal, why do they continue to make such large errors in assessing what their users actually want? Why do they fail in targeting new spaces like Google did with social, or Instagram seems to be doing with long-form video?
In reading about the Google+ failure, one anonymous former Googler said the company was “late to market” and motivated from “a competitive standpoint” as they looked to take on Facebook.
If you’ve never read this infamous tweetstorm from another former Google+ engineer, it describes office politics, siloed teams and a lack of clear vision as major factors in the demise of Google’s failed social network. Here’s the start of that thread:
Now that Google+ has been shuttered, I should air my dirty laundry on how awful the project and exec team was.
I'm still pissed about the bait and switch they pulled by telling me I'd be working on Chrome, then putting me on this god forsaken piece of shit on day one.
Given the recent Instagram drama surrounding the founders’ departure from Facebook, it’s likely that similar forces were at play with IGTV.
Whatever the reason, IGTV hasn’t lived up to the hype of last year’s launch, and it may never take off at all. Instagram itself doesn’t seem to be losing steam. But they badly misread the market and their users’ appetite (or lack thereof) for long form content.
Not once, haven't even thought about it. Some of these platforms need to chill on the "TV" content. Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.
I’m almost convinced Facebook staged Wednesday’s all-day near-blackout on purpose.
If Instagram is still down by the time you’re reading this, then you’ve certainly got a few extra minutes to burn, so do me a favor. Read Chapter 2 of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, where Mark Twain explained social media marketing all the way back in 1884.
Oh great, you’re back. More on Tom Sawyer in a moment.
The blackout was devastating. Lindsay Lohan couldn’t take it, requesting that Instagram contact her. The lower-case, no punctuation request/demand was softened by a “please,” but she seemed to mean business.
The Fat Jewish (no really, that’s a popular influencer’s nom de guerre on social media) wondered what would happen if the ‘Gram never returned. Joking about Instagram models going unemployed was low-hanging fruit, knowing he’d garner tons of “engagement” when people clapped-back at him, asking where he’d go to steal content.
Others wondered if Elizabeth Warren had already broken up Big Tech.
Everybody was talking about it on Twitter, since it was the only major platform operating at the time. (Sorry, Snapchat.)
Make no mistake, the prolonged Instagram blackout was a cultural event. It was bigger than Beto O’Rourke confirming his presidential run (maybe push that back a day, strategy team?), The Bachelor Finale recaps or Donald Trump grounding faulty 737s.
The visceral, unhinged reaction to the longest blackout in Facebook’s history was a depressing confirmation of what we’ve long since already accepted: our phones own us, and it’s rapidly getting worse. It’s a runaway train, and the distracted conductor’s not looking at the tracks ahead.
This chart is truly tragic. The “Don’t Drink and Drive” message we were bombarded with since the late 1980s made a protracted but significant impact over a 20-year period. Sadly, all of that work has basically been undone in half the time. Our smartphone addiction is Exhibit A.
The machines are literally killing us, and Skynet isn’t even self-aware yet. Or is it?
What’s the URL for that again? (“Nevermind – what’s new on Netflix?”)
Journalists didn’t seem to mind Facebook and Instagram taking a siesta. After all, Twitter drives their relevance, and to a lesser degree, referral traffic. When actual news happens, people find out first on Twitter. But wouldn’t it be nice if it was 2005 again, when people talked to each other at dinner, and you had to type in www.bostonglobe.com or www.sfchronicle.com to find out what’s really happening?
For one, people don’t want to pay for content. They’d rather be the content. (“@OneSlowDude” is an interesting handle, all things considered.)
They force me to pay a subscription for any content. I wish the local papers could better figure out how to monetize the traffic and provide more free content. As long as the TV station’s social media pages provide it for free, the local newspaper sites will struggle
Dear @OneSlowDude: If it’s free, you’re the product, brother.
Journalists rely on those subscriptions (that you don’t want to pay for) to feed their families. After all, who is going to work for free?
Well, here's what else is true … those subscriptions help illustrate my years of work and help put food on my table, clothes on my back and pay my bills … you know, the necessities of life. How would you like your work to be given away for nothing?
Henry Apple (no relation to Tim Apple, at least as far as I know) certainly isn’t willing to work for free. But guess what? Everybody on social media is. Zuckerberg must have read Chapter 2 of Tom Sawyer, because he’s convinced a billion people to whitewash his fence every month.
But back to the replies:
You’re a fool… the news is all fake and propagated to serve the agenda of its master. Instagram while full of bs is at least news and info from people without corporate agendas. Instagram allows people to make their own news without all the bs. Educate yourself. Fuck the news
World events are important. Alicia makes a point. Then again, what if the only news worth sharing is the news that hey, Facebook and Instagram are down?
And the first thing on local news tonight was about IG and FB being down.
It’s been a tough year for Facebook. Basically every story that’s come out in the last year has been negative, and now politicians want to break them up. They’ve lost control of their own narrative, which reminds me of the old Don Draper axiom of marketing.
Perhaps a little reminder from Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp was just what the doctor ordered. “You love us, and you can’t live without us.”
Finally, I’ll leave you with some Mark Twain:
“Tom said to himself that it was not such a hollow world, after all. He had discovered a great law of human action, without knowing it—namely, that in order to make a man or a boy covet a thing, it is only necessary to make the thing difficult to attain. If he had been a great and wise philosopher, like the writer of this book, he would now have comprehended that Work consists of whatever a body is OBLIGED to do, and that Play consists of whatever a body is not obliged to do.â€
Snow in the morning light at Zion National Park in Springdale, Utah.
Here’s a dirty little secret of marketing: When you get a “limited-time offer,” it’s generally because sales are slow, and not because quantities are actually running out, or in short supply.
Marketing is all about creating urgency. In most cases, though, that urgency is manufactured. Or it’s totally imaginary.
Sometimes, however, opportunities pop up that have a legitimately limited shelf-life, or are truly rare. So you either have to act now or miss out.
This week, I got an email from a photography tour company that I’d used before, alerting me to a rare snowfall in Zion National Park. The email featured a few amazing pictures of Zion under snow and the following text:
“Alright everyone, this is the week to be in Zion and Bryce if you’ve ever wanted photos of this area under snow. The combo of red rock and fresh snow produces vibrant, poppy images of this landscape. Living in the area for the past 9 years, this is the wettest and coldest stretch of time I’ve experienced in the winter time. We usually get one or two winter storms a year that produces snow that sticks in Zion, and within one, maybe two days it has melted away.”
The email continued, telling customers that even if they didn’t purchase a tour, they should make the effort to get to the park to see it for themselves.
“Even if you don’t join us for a tour, we HIGHLY recommend visiting this week for a multitude of days to be able to experience this event. To be clear, to have this much snow, for this long in Zion is extremely rare. Get it while it’s good.”
On the surface, the email was selling a photo class, but it was really selling an experience. And quite frankly, this email sold me instantly. As a photography enthusiast, I’ve been to Zion before, but hadn’t had the opportunity to shoot in these types of conditions. With winter winding down, it was too good to pass up. I had to go. My next chance to capture this type of moment may not come for another year, or perhaps much longer.
So I made the short drive to Zion Thursday night and woke up at 5 AM for a 6 AM excision into the park to capture sunrise and morning light around the park on a guided one-on-one photo tour. It was extremely cold, which I was prepared for, but the beauty of Zion under snow was something for which I was not completely prepared.
The tour itself was outstanding, as my guide Seth took me to a great spot to capture the morning light of sunrise, and had planned out several options for both the morning and sunset sessions.
The day was a memorable, unique experience, and I’m very happy with the results of the photos I captured. The day was well worth the price of admission. I’ve now got a batch of amazing photos that captured the memory of seeing one of America’s best national parks under a blanket of snow.
I really appreciated spirit of the email alert. It provided valuable information, alerting me to a truly exclusive opportunity, and they didn’t hard-sell me. Instead, they appealed to my passion for photography and the desire to capture a rare moment, and provided a service even if I didn’t make a purchase. Seth just wanted his customers to know that they shouldn’t miss a rare opportunity to capture Zion this week. I really appreciated that.
That’s how you build and maintain a relationship with a customer. I’m already thinking about when I can sign up for another photography class.
I’m looking forward to speaking Tuesday morning at Digital Summit Phoenix, where I’ll present on Instagram Influencers. I’ll share research and insights from Instagram Influencers about how they like to work with brands, and teach you how to spot fake followings.
For more details, check out the session description below.
