It’s been two weeks since Facebook released video for Instagram. Their version of Twitter’s popular video sharing app, Vine, stepped it up by including 13 new filters, video stabilization, and the ability to choose a cover clip. To add to the blow, an additional nine seconds were added to rival Vine’s six second recording capability. Now that we’ve had a little bit of time to play around with the new feature- do users think it measures up to Vine?
This weekend Instagrammers went to work innovatively capturing events throughout the world from their point of view.
The protest in Egypt demanding the resignation of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, was documented on Instagram through the hashtag #June30. The videos provided us an account of the event through demonstrator’s eyes. In San Francisco the LGBTQ Pride Parade, which followed landmark decisions on same-sex marriage from the Supreme Court, resulted in raw and emotional reaction videos full of joy. The Tour de France also began on Saturday, and Instagrammers shared a first-hand look we otherwise wouldn’t be able to watch on TV.
Some pretty huge musicians have also taken a liking to Instagram video. Much to their fans excitement, John Mayer and Madonna just released sneak-peaks at their new tracks through the feature. John Legend even recorded one of the 15-second clips during his Good Morning America performance to show the audience his point-of-view.
So what does this mean for your small business? Instagram has just provided you a free audience of about a billion users! The 15-second videos you create are the same length as an avergage TV commercial that would normally cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. These days nobody wants to sit through commericials anyhow. Your customer wants to see authenticity. Give them a tour of your office, a sneak-peak of a new sale item, and interview real customers. The filters and stabilization make it simple for you to share a beautiful and believable video that will connect with the human side of your customer.
