Instagram Immediate Future

Instagram

When the updates are non-stop it can be hard to stay in the know. But, fear not, we’ve rounded up the best articles for you below ⬇️ Because, you know, we’re good like that! Vine returns as ‘Byte’ – but is it too late for a comeback?…

We’re here for you with a roundup of interesting updates and tips from the fast-moving world of social media. Read on to catch up… How can you drive more traffic from Instagram? https://po.st/6P3GJl Given you can’t include clickable links in posts, what are the best ways to get…

Instagram is on a roll right now, announcing update after update. And just yesterday they released a new ‘check out’ in-app shopping feature. Yep, your online shopping days has just got a whole lot easier. Development on the platforms shopping tags means users will now be offered to ‘check out…

Facebook is well known for mimicking popular features from other social networks. It should be no surprise then that another feature is going to be making its way to the Facebook-owned Instagram. A software developer, known for reverse engineering apps to discover new features, has found code which suggests…

Instagram is testing out a donation sticker for Stories, as spotted by app researchers Ishan Agarwal and Jane Manchun Wong. Wong shared a screenshot which shows a donation sticker amongst other already familiar ones. The feature appears similar to Facebook’s existing fundraising and donation tools for charity…

With so many users active on social media over the holidays, there was a huge panic over a rather substantial, unexpected change to Instagram. Here’s what actually happened and what it means. Instagram had intended to update the beta version of the user interface for a small number of people.

Does size matter? The latest chatter around Twitter is that it could have been a mistake to gauge the value of accounts on the size of their follower count. With the Facebook algorithm benefitting content with high views and engagement, Instagram cracking down on…

It’s been a good year for social media. Marketers are steadily shifting more of their budgets into social media marketing. In the second quarter of 2018, global advertising spend on Instagram was up 177% year-on-year and, subsequently, influencer marketing continues to grow. But, because social media influencers are…

Social platforms and search engines don’t always make comfortable bed-fellows. The two digital marketing channels are typically run by competing parent organisations. There’s little reason for Microsoft’s Bing to point its users toward Twitter. The one attempt to combine search and social came from Google. The expectation was for Google+…

Stories have been around for a fair amount of time now and many brands have joined the party. But some of them are thinking even bigger… Hopper, a flight-booking app, has gradually increased its spend on Instagram Stories since the platform enabled mobile app installs last May. The…

It’s fair to say that social media receives more bad press than it gets appraisals. From the Cambridge Analytica scandal to the continuous battle against fake news, the bullying problem amongst youngsters, negative effects on mental health…the list goes on. These issues shouldn’t be ignored, but sometimes we…

Rumour has it, Instagram could be developing a standalone shopping app, aptly named ‘IG Shopping’. First TV, now an online shopping platform, is there anything they’re not branching into?! This would make sense for the platform as Facebook recently confirmed 25 million businesses are using the service. Added to this,…

Reports have emerged of a new standalone app being worked on by Instagram. Tentatively known as IG Shopping, the app will allow users to browse products and services from retailers that they follow and purchase them directly from within the app. Instagram has declined to comment on…

If you consider yourself to be a “notable public figure” and have a healthy follow on Instagram, you can now apply to have the blue badge that makes your public status official. Instagram considers the badge to be an important way for the wider community to know that the…

In an effort to make “Feed the best place to share and connect with the people and interests that matter most to you”, Instagram is testing a feature which will add recommended posts to your content stream from users you don’t already follow. A similar feature was…

Approximately 2 billion people use social media. Figures are expected to grow as mobile device usage and mobile social networks gain more traction. With customers using social media 24/7, and on such a variety of platforms, what was best practise last week might not work today. Keeping up…

Remember a few weeks ago when we said Instagram is after world domination? Well, we weren’t wrong. Yesterday Instagram CEO, Kevin Systrom, launched IGTV – a new long-form video content app. The announcement of the new app in San Francisco is a bid to lure content producers away from…

It looks like Facebook-owned Instagram has a new little trick up its sleeve! As reported by TechCrunch, a bit of snooping inside Instagram’s Android app has revealed a string of code that mentions “music stickers”. Although one can only speculate (Facebook refused to comment on the subject),…

Last week Snapchat released its Spectacles 2, and while Snap was frantically trying to tell the world that these glasses were definitely improved and not a joke, Instagram had been testing new features that could seriously ruin Snapchat. With a whole array of features being tested it won’t be…

In this week’s Serious Social, we’re updating you on the Instagram changes and the latest on Facebook’s fallout! Shoppable posts. What can they do for you? Online retailers won’t want to miss this – you can tag and link products in your Instagram photos! This is really streamlining the…

Since its recent algorithm change, Instagram now rewards posts with high engagement. Your reach is based on how much interaction your posts are getting. Anything from video views to comments and shares, if your post receives high engagement, it tells Instagram that your content is quality and worthy…

Facebook and Instagram are increasingly being used in the consumer holiday planning process. According to a recent survey commissioned by Facebook, 68% of Millennials found ideas and inspiration for their most recent trip on Facebook, and the same goes for 60% on Instagram. Travel advertisers on Facebook won’t have to…

Over the last few weeks we’ve seen copious amounts of updates from Instagram, and just last week the platform announced that it has been testing a new way to enable brands to push purchases on the platform, in the form of ‘Collections’ ads. We first saw ‘Collections’ campaigns on…

We first saw ads on Instagram Stories just under a year ago, a format that has over 300 million daily users. Last week Instagram announced that it is expanding its ad capabilities by introducing carousel ads to Stories. Recently, brands were limited to using just one image on their Instagram…

Anniversaries are a great opportunity to celebrate the high points from the last year. They also give brands an opportunity to devise a social campaign to make strengthen their brand messaging and appeal to a particular audience. For optimum success, they’re best celebrated alongside a news story, launches, initiatives, products,…

In the rush of Christmas parties, present buying and mince pie munching, you’d be forgiven for not realising the importance of an announcement Instagram released on 13th December. Luckily for you, it’s January, there are no excuses and we’re here to give you the low down. When you open up…

Christmas has come early in the world of Instagram with two new features which will change the face of Instagram as we know it! Pretty huge, right? So, what are the new features? The first of the two features is Highlights. This new feature will appear directly underneath your bio…

I’m pretty sure there’s not a person reading this that hasn’t seen, used or created a GIF. They have become the bread and butter of internet culture and we are increasingly using them to communicate with our friends and even our work colleagues, exactly how we are feeling. There is…

If you still haven’t considered including Instagram as part of your Paid Ad spend, I’m hoping by the time you’ve finished reading this, you’ll change your mind. From its launch in October 2010, Instagram has become one of the most popular Social media channels with 800 million active users.

The majority of those reading this post will be human and as such we all know that for the most part, we don’t like change of any form, in any way, by any amount. Social media platforms know that humans are full of contradictions. We complain about…

In our ‘blink-and-you’ve-missed-it’ digital world, social media is leading the way in which most of us receive information. Instagram’s influence continues to grow. The platform topped 700 million monthly active users earlier this year and Instagram Stories reached 250 million daily active users just over a month ago. As we’ve been…

Here’s a great example of a social media channel listening to the needs of businesses today! Finally, we are able to see if our content works, measure the brand’s organic presence and optimise accordingly, all within the Instagram app. Since the introduction of business accounts last year, the new development…

Instagram is so close from becoming the ultimate marketing machine, there’s just one thing missing…web links. The social media platform has launched multiple updates over the last year and the latest takes a…

I don’t know about you but I am tired of writing and especially reading, blogs with the same narrative, but here I am doing it again. Instagram has copied Snapchat… and if I had a penny for every time I have read about this topic I would have at least…

It’s safe to say that the use of visual content is going to stick and there is a wealth of data that can be used to support the benefits of this type of content. On average, visuals perform 4.4 x better than text-based content and as social media marketers, we…

Social media is at its peak, it couldn’t be a better time to grow your business online and reach new audiences. It’s no longer an option, but rather a must for every business looking to expand. In a world where social media channels are rapidly being launched and developed, we…

It’s official – Instagram has shaved, traded its fixie for an Audi A8, suited up and launched Business Tools. Considering the platform has over 200,000 advertisers and upwards of 400 million users, many would say this move was inevitable. Credit Suisse estimates that Instagram’s ad business brought in…

It’s 7pm and you’re still at the office. A posting plan for your company’s social channels stares mournfully back at you. You’ve read phone books that are more exciting. It’s okay, you reason, we’re a B2B brand. Our audience is time-strapped. Professional. They want facts, not fluff. “Out there” content…

So it’s happening. It was only a matter of time. Instagram is planning on using algorithms to organise content within timelines, as announced on their company blog this week. Following in the footsteps of their owners Facebook, who started to move away from a chronological display way…

Everywhere you go right now the digital marketing world is talking about ‘moments’… Google have their ‘micro-moments’ story, brands are high-jacking moments everywhere to meet their marketing objectives and reach relevant audiences, heck, Twitter even added a new section to the platform called moments – and let’s face it: if…

After Christmas, in a bid to get fit, I (like many thousands of others) bought the Joe Wicks book ‘Lean in 15’ and have been avidly testing out his healthy 15 minute recipes ever since! (I’ve even done the odd work out or two). But what interests me the most…

Our team had the pleasure of going to a seminar by Getty Images talking about the visual trends for 2016. The event took place at their new exhibition offices in London, and it was organized by the lovely folks at The Drum Network (shout-out…

As the minefields of social advertising get ever more complex and essentially a very far cry from simple tweet or post boosting we must move toward to putting audience first, defining your objectives and monitoring closely to optimising your targeting as you go. All very good practice, yes, but what other,…

Monday 1st February sees the launch of Shield 5. The UK’s first ever Instagram-only drama series. By no means the world’s first Instagram-only TV show, as US audiences have enjoyed several platform-dedicated shows in the past: Desert Friends Artistically Challenged…

New services like Facebook’s Instant Articles and Snapchat’s Discover allow publishers to host and monetise content on third-party social media platforms, without the need for users to click through to their site. Media publishers are currently uploading content on social media platforms in the hope users will click back to…

Earlier this month, Twitter changed its popular Favourite function from that little yellow star to a red heart, at the same time renaming it to Like. As we know, Twitter users generally do not initially like change, but embrace it in the end. But this particular change has far deeper…

You may have read about Essena O’Neill, the teenage online ‘influencer’ who recently deleted her social media accounts due to pressure to maintain the perfect image. Although she had hundreds of thousands of followers and various companies contacting her to market their products, the time and energy it was taking…

Mission from ‘M’, just in. You must infiltrate popular social media networks with highly dynamic content, and engage your targets where possible, as the Spectre network makes a worldwide offensive. You’ll have ‘paid’ support from Q branch in the form of cutting edge channel technology and the…

Social media levels the playing fields to building a brand in the modern age. The ability to be able to connect with the world at the click of a button means that with the right message/product/offering anyone can build a brand. As an individual, talented musician using YouTube to get…

Whether you are a budding blogger, a professional journalist, or just trying to ramp up your brand’s content portfolio, Facebook’s latest content offering could prove a useful app with which to familiarise yourself. For years, tabloid newspapers and radio stations have been citing celebrity comments prised from verified Twitter handles.

London Fashion Week 2015 witnessed brands lighting up the digital world, from Burberry’s use of Snapchat, Hunter Original’s use of Periscope, and Topshop’s use of Pinterest. The digital world has introduced brands to a limitless audience. The use of Pinterest and Instagram in London Fashion Week enabled brands to show…

Now, there’s a question! The issue of one of three giants buying Twitter has started gaining some serious traction over the last few weeks. Those giants are, of course, Apple, Facebook and Google. Although there is a viable case for Apple to buy the flagging social network, it seems that…

So, you’re using Instagram to engage with your audience and share valuable content? Whilst this is a great use of the tool, there will be many customers who have not seen your marketing efforts and are not aware of your account. How can they be found amongst the millions of…

After being purchased by Facebook for $1 billion in 2012, Instagram has become one of the most influential social networking sites. Especially as it surpassed Twitter in 2014 to become the second largest social network in the United States. Furthermore, Instagram boasts 300 million active users, with over 30 billion…

The oldest enemy of e-commerce has always been customer drop-off, losing potential customers during various points in your purchase funnel as they slip through the gaps in your carefully crafted user journey. It often left us feeling like Wile E. Coyote trying to catch Roadrunner. In-app commerce could be the…

“We are, as a species, addicted to story. Even when the body goes to sleep, the minds stays up all night, telling itself stories.” – Jonathan Gottschall, The Storytelling Animal American author and journalist, Ernest Hemingway once made a $10 bet with some writer friends that he…

Video killed the erm, everything star. There is no question that video is the future of content marketing and by proxy social media or that by 2017 video will account for 69% of all consumer internet traffic worldwide. As video dominates marketing strategies left right and centre it can…

Here at immediate future we like to stay in shape. Whether it’s running the London Marathon or maintaining brand health, we are always on the ball. With that in mind, we put together the following Social Media Brand Workout to help you keep your…

The beauty industry has gone through a significant revolution over the past 10 years, with rise of the visual social platforms such as YouTube, Pinterest, and Instagram, we are quickly learning that beauty brands need more than just a pretty face for social media. Consumers have become more and more…

By adjusting your approach to social media during your businesses peak period, you could turn a stressful and potentially fearful time into a victorious experience delivering spadefuls of ROI. We’ve heard it before: “social can be your best friend or your worst enemy”. This is never truer than during your…

The big social media giants, mainly Twitter and Facebook, have been making quite some noise lately announcing constant functionality and advert changes in the last few months. If you need a refresher you can find out more from our previous blogs: Facebook’s Product Ads target specific products to those…

Did anyone hear about Madonna’s fall last week? Well, yes I think the whole world did and they heard about it in the precise moment even if they weren’t watching the Brits. #BRITs2015 anyone? The power of social. By the time the newspapers had printed…

How many social networks do you have a personal account on? Now think about how many you actually use on a regular basis – those two numbers will most likely be different, and from a personal perspective that is not necessarily a negative. Now ask yourself the same questions about…

Over the past few days, a number of announcements have come out of Twitter HQ about new features – both for users and marketers. The option to privately message more than one user at once has been a glaring omission from Twitter for years. But with the announcement yesterday that…

So I attended this Drum event just before Christmas which was all about how to run an agency and be a leader. Half of the session was led by Simon Hartley from Be World Class whose whole business mantra is focused on what differentiates…

With the news over the last few weeks that Instagram now has more active users and at $350m is worth more than Twitter, audiences clearly have a huge appetite for rich content. Short-form video is something that brands are already doing really well, but…

The Brazil vs. Germany game earlier this week was devastating for this year’s hosts, with the sad faces of their fans been made into countless memes and shared relentlessly across social, making it the most tweeted about sports game ever with over 35.6 million tweets posted throughout the game.

Fashion brands are almost always amongst the best in class when it comes to maximising the power of rich and visual content across their digital channels, particularly pioneering activity on visual social networks such as Vine, Pinterest and Instagram. With highly creative, engaging imagery and video content at their fingertips…

It’s exactly a month yesterday (14 May 2014) that over 200 Nigerian school girls were abducted from their boarding school by local Islamic militia group Boko Haram. The media and western world initially skirted over the story as just another political tragedy in Nigeria’s…

For businesses using social media, it’s not about the ‘feel-good factor’ of the odd like here or a couple of retweets there. It’s about one thing: ROI. So which social media platform generates the most ROI? New research from Shopify on social commerce has discovered that out of all social…

Over the past year or so a new model of community management has emerged, long gone is the 90-9-1 model. Passive observers are minimising and hyper contributors are increasing, motivated by the sheer desire for social recognition. People have greater accessibility to contribute and are more…

Selfies dominate visual social media, with Piper Jaffrey recently announcing that Instagram, the selfie hub, has now surpassed Facebook and Twitter to be the top social network among teens we can see the 2013 selfie total of 35 million getting higher and higher! In…

With the ever increasing world of social apps encouraging us to connect friends and family, the new app, Cloak has been developed to specifically help you avoid people you don’t want to see…think exes, co-workers and the guy who likes to stop and chat. It has been…

For all you ladies out there, it looks like we’re taking over social media, and smartphones are our weapon of choice – in a metaphorical sense of course! According to research conducted by PR agency Porter Novelli, also published by marketingmagazine.co.uk, women are dominating the social media…

Whether it’s the press, financial traders or marketers, everyone has had an opinion on the recent acquisition of WhatsApp by Facebook. Did any of you see the unfortunate (funny) typo, by the BBC which turned the news story into Facebook acquires “massaging service”? Uh oh! Last week,…

You have built your empire with blood, sweat and tears. You have a small, dedicated team who stand by you. They love working for you, they love the culture, the hours, pay, flexibility offered and the general working environment. So who wouldn’t want to work for you? Well it seems…

I personally think, in this era, you should be able to apply for a job virtually, send your LinkedIn profile, and have a video as a CV. As long as it has the following elements, then why does it need to be a plain old Word doc? Unfortunately I am…

As you may know, visual content is key for brands looking to find success on social media. The rise of visual content has coincided with the rise of popular platforms like Instagram, to take advantage of the power of photos. Over 150 million users, an estimated 5 million photos uploaded…