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- Instagram Is Committed to Short-Form
Instagram Is Committed to Short-Form
Lindsey Gamble
July 12, 2024
In partnership with
I look forward to writing this newsletter every week, but this week is extra special. I announced my new consulting/advising business to support brands with their influencer marketing strategy, help influencer platforms/agencies and creator economy startups refine their product and service offerings, and, more.
Working on the influencer platform/agency side for the past seven years has been a journey, but I’m excited about this new chapter as a full-time solo entrepreneur. If there’s a way to work together, reach out!
To top things off, I was invited to attend the White House’s first-ever Creator Economy Conference next month—look out for a future edition about that!
Let’s get into it…
TODAY’S EDITION
Instagram reaffirms its prioritization of short-form videos over long-form
Instagram plans to allow users to invite collaborators to existing posts - influencer marketers will love this
YouTube announces familiar tools for Shorts creators
YouTube removes access to creators’ email addresses on channels — this may impact brand partnership revenue
TikTok adds a new video sorting option on the desktop, signaling its push for more desktop consumption
Spotify adds Comments for podcasts as it chases YouTube — a breakdown of some of the pros and cons of this move
NEWS, TRENDS & INSIGHTS
Instagram Isn’t Focused On Long-Form Video
Instagram head Adam Mosseri says Instagram isn’t focusing on long-form video. He states it might undermine Instagram’s core identity of connecting people with friends. When people watch a 10-minute or 20-minute video, they typically see less content, interact less with friends, and are less likely to send content. Previously, he also mentioned that long-form video is a “much worse ads business than short-form video.”
Why It Matters: Despite testing longer Reels, Instagram reaffirms that short-form video is a priority. This also shows Mosseri doubling down on the platform's focus on shareable content. For creators accustomed to short-form video, this shift is welcomed, sparing them the effort of longer clips. For those who do want to share long-form videos outside of YouTube, TikTok is the place to be, as it incentivizes creators to share longer-form content.
More Ways to Connect Over Content: In addition to making it easier for users to share content via direct messages, Instagram was spotted again developing Blend, a private feed for friends featuring videos Instagram recommends. It's likely that Instagram will weigh the types of videos users send to each other in its recommendations, along with their viewing history.
Instagram to Allow Users to Retroactively Invite Collaborators to Posts
In response to a question about the inability to add a collaborator after posting, which allows a post to be shared across the profile and feed of multiple accounts, Mosseri acknowledged it was an oversight that needs to be fixed.
Why It Matters: Users have been able to invite a collaborator to an existing Reel as of a few weeks ago (demo here), but not for in-feed posts or carousels. While Mosseri didn’t specify when this feature will expand to all posts, its impending arrival is reassuring.
Collabs have been popular for influencer marketing campaigns, but current limitations on when collaborators can be invited create challenges and limit use cases for creator-brand collaborations.
TikTok’s Version: The popularity of the feature has led TikTok to launch its own version, which it has been testing with select creators and brands. Once available widely, expect to see this used for a lot of sponsored content — it’s a great way to optimize for reach and engagement.
YouTube Announces New Tools for Creating Shorts
YouTube / Add Yours Sticker & Auto Layout
YouTube announced several new tools for Shorts, which Rene Ritchie, YouTube's Creator Liaison, and Johanna Voolich, YouTube’s Chief Product Officer, discussed in more detail during a sit-down. The new tools include:
Add Yours Sticker: Add an Instagram-like sticker that prompts viewers to respond.
Auto Layout: Automatically pans, zooms, and crops a long-form video into a Short.
Text-to-Speech: Allows creators to narrate the text they add to a Short.
Stylized Captions: Add and edit captions with different fonts and colors.
Remix A Remix: Remix a Short that has already been remixed.
In addition, YouTube is considering allowing creators to share Shorts longer than the current 60-second limit.
Why It Matters: YouTube is giving creators an array of tools to make creating Shorts easier and more accessible. The standout feature is the Add Yours Sticker, as YouTube joins TikTok in adding its iteration of the feature that originated on Instagram. This could help YouTube create more community-driven Shorts by bringing people together around trends.
If YouTube extends the Shorts limit to 90 seconds, it would benefit creators repurposing short-form videos from Instagram and TikTok, as they wouldn’t need to cut down videos exceeding the current 60-second limit. However, this change could also create an identity crisis for YouTube by blurring the distinction between short-form and long-form videos.
YouTube Removes the Reveal Option on Channels
YouTube seemingly removed the Reveal Email option from Channels. Previously found in the About section of a creator’s Channel, this option allowed users to click on a "View Email Address" button to reveal an email for inquiries. As of this week, this feature is no longer available.
Why It Matters: This option was very useful for people trying to get in touch with YouTubers for potential brand sponsorships or collaborations. There has been no official statement from YouTube regarding its removal, but it may be an effort to reduce spam emails that creators receive.
While that could be an improvement, it may also negatively impact creators by making it harder for people to reach them, especially for revenue-generating opportunities. As an alternative, creators can add their email to the description section and link to a contact page or form in their Channel Links.
Make It Easy to Be Contacted: A lot of the time, when it comes to creators getting opportunities, it boils down to how easily they can be found. Influencer marketing platforms often pull in public emails to add creators, or marketers go to their social accounts to look for an email. If it’s hard to reach a creator, it could lead to missed opportunities. As a best practice, creators should add their emails on all their platforms — using native features as well as in bios.
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TikTok
TikTok Adds New "Popular" Sorting Option on Desktop
TikTok / Popular
TikTok has updated its sorting options on desktop, allowing users to sort posts on a TikTok account by "Popular," in addition to the existing "Latest" and "Oldest" options. This feature was added to the mobile app last year.
Why It Matters: This update provides another way for users to find videos from a creator or brand, specifically those that have performed well in terms of views and engagement. This can be a helpful tool for brands looking for examples of high-performing videos from potential creator partners or conducting competitor analysis.
A Push for Desktop Consumption: This update signals a bigger push by TikTok for desktop consumption. In recent months, TikTok has been enhancing its desktop experience, including rolling out a Floating Player and giving users the ability to see how their content looks on desktop before publishing via TikTok Studio. But why? With TikTok now serving ads on desktop, more desktop consumption could translate into more ad revenue.
LinkedIn Makes Updates to Analytics for Creators
LinkedIn/ Weekly Sharing Tracker
LinkedIn recently updated its analytics tools. First, it introduced a Weekly Sharing Tracker in Analytics & Tools. This tracker suggests actions for users to take each week, such as posting, commenting, and contributing to collaborative articles. It keeps track of the count for each action.
Secondly, LinkedIn redesigned the Top Demographics of Unique Views section to highlight insights for unique views from users across industries, company sizes, and locations. Users can click through to see a detailed breakdown.
Why It Matters: With the Weekly Sharing Tracker, LinkedIn introduced gamification elements by encouraging users to take specific actions to increase their visibility. This approach is similar to Instagram’s Achievements and Challenges. Given that comments can significantly enhance visibility, the tracker for comments alone is valuable.
LinkedIn Launches Sponsored Newsletter Articles for Companies
LinkedIn has launched Sponsored Newsletter Articles to allow companies to amplify their LinkedIn newsletters as paid media ads, targeting objectives such as brand awareness and engagement. Currently, newsletters from member pages cannot be sponsored, but LinkedIn plans to make this feature available soon.
Why It Matters: Similar to Sponsored Articles, companies and, eventually, creators can target specific audiences and maximize the reach of their long-form newsletter content, potentially growing their subscriber base. Fresh off a number of improvements and a 47% increase in engagement on them, it’s clear that the newsletters remain a priority.
Spotify
Spotify Launches Comments Feature for Podcasts
Spotify / Comments
Spotify launched Comments for podcasts, allowing listeners to leave comments on episodes. Creators can like and respond to comments, enable or disable them, and approve which ones are displayed.
Why It Matters: Comments give podcast creators a way to interact directly with listeners, offering two-way conversation capabilities previously unavailable in podcasting. This provides creators and their brand partners with another metric for measuring episode performance and understanding the audience.
However, comments also bring challenges, such as the potential for creators to encounter harmful comments, especially on controversial or sensitive topics. If comments influence discovery, creators must decide whether to embrace them to reach new listeners or limit them, which could lead to backlash.
With Comments and other updates like customized pages a TikTok-like feed, and an increase in video podcasts, Spotify is evolving into a social app. It likely will continue to do so as it aims to compete with YouTube, which is the most popular platform for podcast consumption in the US, according to Cumulus Media and Signal Hill Insights.