Instagram’s Secret E-commerce Revolution
You might have noticed a new button in the top right corner of your Instagram homepage. Wondered what that is?
Well, it’s a new app called IGTV that will feature videos made by the accounts that you follow. Any user can now set up their own channel and post a video of up to 10 minutes.
Instagram's Unannounced Launches
Instagram recently announced it reached 1 billion users, and not long from now, it will be ready to dethrone Facebook from the most engaging platform.
Through IGTV, Instagram is becoming an even bigger threat to YouTube and other digital video channels.
But there’s more. Behind the scenes, Instagram is secretly diving further into the e-commerce arena, with unannounced launches of native payments operations and interactive clickable buttons, thereby creating huge opportunities for clever marketers.
A New Shopping Experience
Instagram used to focus primarily on raising brand awareness and reaching engagement through visual content, which many brands used for community building.
But fast-forward a few years, and its bottom-line value has been realised, with nearly 30% of Instagram users having bought something via the platform.
It started off with ‘shoppable’ tags that allowed users to click an item and visit the page on which the purchase could be made. However, the customer journey was interrupted as it took consumers away from the app.
That’s where the native payments come in, allowing users to click an item and make a payment while staying in session. In other words, purchases can now be made directly via Instagram business profiles.
Clickable buttons allow users to make a reservation, order tickets, book their holidays all with one click. The result? A frictionless customer journey that benefits the brand and the consumer.
Videos, Shoppable Links And Native Payments Help Drive Sales
Take Belmariz for example; a French 21-year-old with over 100,000 Instagram followers, who creates product videos and deals with orders and messages all from her mobile. Belmariz makes tens of thousands of dollars in sales each month.
Platforms such as Instagram have discovered the power of letting vendors record and upload videos, sharing them directly with their Instagram followers and adding shoppable links and text.
As such, consumers understand the product, engage with it more, and when they are most excited, the clickable action and native payments help drive the sale.
Insert Personalised And Interactive Video
So, what’s next? VideoSmart can take this up a notch by combining clickable links and native payments with personalised and interactive video.
Why show everyone the same video, if you can send someone content that’s most relevant to them? Or perhaps even more importantly, let someone be in charge of the content they are exposed to by offering interactive content.
One thing is for certain – the future is video and the future is social. It’s not news to anyone that combining the two gives a winning formula, but with Instagram paving the way for social video, it’s up to its rivals to keep pace.
