Are Instagram Reels dead?
Well… not quite.
Static feed posts have made a comeback on Instagram after a very long time of Reels being the format that ruled over your social media success or failure. We‘re super happy about this and you’ll understand why in a second. Buckle up, we’ll share all the juicy details and how you can navigate this change in today’s blog.
ADAM MOSSERI SAID IT FIRST
As you might know in 2022 and prior, Instagram started to heavily push out Reels and suggested content, which left industries like photographers, art accounts and other creators who mainly work with photos feeling devalued as their static posts gained little to no traction. Fast forward to 2023, Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram finally listened to their users and stated the following:
“We were overfocused on video in 2022 and pushed ranking too far, and basically showed too many videos and not enough photos. We’ve since balanced, so things like how often someone likes photos versus videos, and how often someone comments on photos versus videos are roughly equal — which is a good sign that things are balanced.” — Adam Mosseri
And we’re so glad about this change, we’ve seen an increase in traction with our client’s carousels and single posts and we LOVE IT. As much as we celebrate video content and urge all our clients to focus their marketing efforts on it, we understand that static feed posts are vital to so many industries (I mean just look at these client results - GORGEOUS)
TIKTOK TOO
TikTok - THE video content platform rolled out with not one but two static content formats: Carousels in September of 2022 and now recently, even single posts. This means Instagram is not the only platform bringing static posts back, it seems as though this is a trend across all of social media this year.
Pro Tip: Like with any new feature, we suggest hopping on asap as this is what currently gets pushed by the TikTok algorithm. So, go on and create that TikTok carousel, like right now.
ARE REELS AND TIKTOKS STILL RELEVANT THEN?
Short answer: Absolutely. Video content exists on every single social media platform and has gained and will continuously gain popularity, especially amongst Gen Z. Both static content and video content should play a role in your social media marketing strategy to experience incredible results.
But don’t take it from us, take it from the head of Instagram:
“We’re not deprioritizing Reels. We still think Reels are incredibly important… But we think photos and carousels are also an important part of what we do at Instagram and they will continue to be – forever.” — Adam Mosseri
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR ME?
What role should this change play in your content strategy, you ask? Well, here’s a quick breakdown.
Your video content can help you reach new people and grow your brand awareness, as it is more likely to be discovered from people that don’t follow you yet and not so much by your current audience. The majority of your video content shouldn’t be too niche, we want it to relate to a bigger audience that is not familiar with your business yet.
Examples:
Tips
Day in the life
Advice
Relatable trends
Behind the scenes
Memes
Industry hot takes
Tutorials
Then we have your static feed posts and carousels, these are extremely good for nurturing your current audience, so community-building and conversion. We mainly want these to be targeted directly at your ideal client.
Examples:
Problem awareness
Providing solutions
Client results
Storytelling content
Selling
What this essentially means is that it is always dependent on your unique business and social media goals, what content format and in which capacity you should focus in your content strategy. Let us know what you think of this change, are we happy about it or could we not care less?