We say, don’t panic.
Instagram has announced that it is no longer a photo-sharing app, according to Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram. This is when things kicked off, and the Instagram audience, needless to say, went into a legit fight or flight mode.
After the success of YouTube and TikTok, Instagram announced new changes that may impact the way we all use Instagram, some of the changes include the shift of focus on video content, primarily reels, as well as the way Instagram recommends topics and content to us.
What does this mean for you?
It means that creating genuine video content is going to become a necessity. But it doesn’t mean that Instagram won’t be supporting photos any longer, rather it won’t be JUST a photo-sharing app.
Some of you may have noticed that you see more and more reels on your feed, and this is one of the ways Instagram plans to encourage its users to create such content. Their algorithm will still do its job - it will follow what you do, what type of content you engage with, which posts and topics, you’re not interested and so on.
We’ve already written about reels, what they are and how to get started, and we encourage you to read that blog right here.
But, here are a couple of more tips to ensure your reels look flawless.
- ASPECT RATIO - Create videos in the aspect ratio of 9:16, so they are in full-screen portrait format.
- RESOLUTION - The recommended & maximum resolution is 1080 x 1920px, in order to retain the best possible video quality. The minimum resolution however is 600 x 1067px. TIP: 4K is not yet supported.
- FEED SIZE - Reels are viewed differently in the reels tab and on your feed. When on your feed, your reel will be limited to 1080 x 1350px, which is the aspect ratio of 4:5. Make sure that the MAIN content of the video can be easily viewed and understood in both formats. That means, if you’re doing a hair post, make sure that the hair is in the centre of the reel.
- LENGTH - The maximum reels length is 30 seconds, but you have the option of making it shorter.
- FILE FORMAT - Video formats supported are .mp4 and .mov.
- VIDEO THUMBNAILS - There will be two thumbnail options: One the reel thumbnail itself, and the second one the thumbnail for the reel as it is displayed on the feed. For now, you can customise the thumbnail for your reel, so that when someone goes to the reel tab, they are all uniform. However, you can only choose how Instagram will crop the thumbnail image for the feed for now.
If all of this seems a bit intimidating, don’t worry. We can help with video content creation, reels, GIFs, whatever you need help with. Write to us or explore our services to find the right fit for you.