Instagram is making waves again, this time with Instagram TV or IGTV. Instagram announced a new way for visual content creators and storytellers to share content. Up to an hours worth of it. 

Who Cares About IGTV?

Video content creators. Those who’ve built their audience and platform on Instagram now have a way to keep them on Instagram. If you are a video creator, you can always tease a minute of your longer, polished content or break it up in stories/the grid for your followers, but what lacked was the ability to place the entire video natively in Instagram. This meant updating the bio with a new link to YouTube or wherever the longer video lived, every time you made a video. Or, if you had enough followers, using the swipe option in stories to lead them to an external link. Still leaving the app.

Now your audience can natively watch your content, in the app. The need to leave your content, click out to your bio, click the link, open a new app, and then click play is gone. That process is annoying and users don’t like annoying.

What Does it All Mean?

It’s very early for IGTV, but I think this is going to be a game changer. I’ve written before about video and it’s dominance in our world, but how and where we consume it is what is ever evolving. Instagram has upwards of 600 million users and 59% of them are in the 18-29 demo. With IGTV, you can now watch branded (or unbranded as everyone can create a channel) content, in app, from the people and companies you engage with the most. This is huge For visual content creators. I predict it will change video and social media usage. Everyone from your local TV station to you favorite Instagram celebrity will have another, native way to reach.

Again, I’m talking about those who’s audience base comes from Instagram, not YouTubers or Facebook. If YouTube is your home base, this won’t matter to you today. If Facebook is how you reach your audience, you’re good. But, if Instagram has been your bread and butter, and you’ve had to maintain a secondary platform solely to showcase your full content, it’s time to rejoice!

Side Note

One of the biggest hurdles for IGTV creators will be the vertical format. We discussed vertical vs. horizontal video a while back and it seems that vertical video is now firmly planted in the visual world. You should be sharing content on multiple platforms, make sure you frame accordingly if you want to dive into IGTV.

Change is on the horizon.

Regardless of where you stand on the 2nd Amendment and the gun issue in America something amazing just happened in the House of Representatives.

Democrats decided there was going to be a sit-in in the House of Representatives in response to the GOP not allowing a vote on gun reform. When Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.) gave his time at the podium to the Democratic Whip, Rep. Steny Hoyer, (D-Md.), the House went to recess. Given that the majority in the House is Republican and the Speaker of the House, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.), run/govern all actions in the House, this meant that proceedings for the day were done. The cameras in the House that are seen on C-SPAN and elsewhere are owned and operated by the House itself. What you see a feed being sent to C-SPAN. Because of the recess, the feed was cut and supposedly no one would witness the sit-in.

“What we show on C-SPAN is the feed from the House. It is the House’s video, their feed, their audio, their camera angles. It’s the House recording studios that operates the cameras under the control of House majority leadership,” C-SPAN spokesman Howard Mortman said in an interview. Mortman said they were not given warning that the House would be recessed or the feed cut off.”
—Politico

When the government (at least part of it) attempted to keep something off the airwaves, a cable network picked up a live feed from inside the event and began broadcasting it.

But what happened next, regardless of the outcome or if a vote ever happens, is the real story. Scott Peters, Rep. (D-Calif.) and Beto O’Rourke Rep. (D-Tx.) began to live stream the sit in on Periscope and Facebook Live, respectively.

This allowed C-SPAN to pick up their live feeds and continue the broadcast of the sit-in. As the day went on, CNN and MSNBC followed suit.

Let that sink in if you don’t realize the importance. When the government (at least part of it) attempted to keep something off the airwaves, a cable network picked up a live feed from inside the event and began broadcasting it.

This is big. Not just because the government is involved, but because C-SPAN has just shown the true power of social media and mobile devices.You can broadcast your experiences and thoughts to any who’s willing to listen. Yes, we’ve had social media, blogs and so on for a while, but we’re talking video. No longer is what you’re seeing and hearing delayed or filtered through the user, it’s the live video as it happens without the needs of major distribution. And mainstream media is finally paying attentions.
The structure and business of the media world has already been changing quietly because of social media. It puts a lot of power in the hands of consumers and that scares executives. It disrupts financial and power structures that have existed for decades. You can say what you will about social media, the internet, people being glued to their phones and so on, but a big change is coming because of it. When it comes to media, what we consume and how we consume it will look completely different in the next 5-10 years (being generous).

Think of it this way, we’re all walking around with the technology to transmit live broadcast from anywhere and receive them from anywhere as well. This will take the notion of hyperlocal broadcasting to a whole new level. Joe down the street can do a daily broadcast with officials in the community at his produce stand. And his Facebook followers will be able to ask questions in real time to get answers. No TV studio, no fitting in between programming, no worrying about paying for airtime. Now everyone with a phone is not a trained reporter or journalist and their sources for information may be sketchy at best…but who’s going to fault them? And it’s not like we don’t turn on cable news now to see wall to wall coverage of an event only to find out what they reported at 9am was wrong and at noon they have it right.

Mainstream media will have to adapt and find ways to incorporate live streaming or it will fall behind. We can now experience the world in real-time from real people. As a recent article by Tech Crunch noted – This is the end of the Information Age and the birth of the Experience Age.

 Summer time was the when I was a kid

Not because school was out, though it helped, but because I got to roam free with my friends. Growing up in a fairly large city with a decent sized population meant we had a lot of schools…a lot. This meant that my friends from the neighborhood and I weren’t at the same school. We hung out after school, but it wasn’t the same.

Then summer time…where we could run amuck together and share in each other’s experiences. That was the key… sharing in the experience. Telling someone about the fun you had is one thing… but sharing the experience with them is another.

Understanding Sharing

Back in 2010, Russell Davies broke sharing down into three categories – sharing goods, sharing services, and sharing information. While goods and services tend to exist in the physical world, information made the jump to the digital world. What started as music files and peer to peer messages has blossomed into the crazy world of social media where we, literally, deal and trade in information on a daily basis. Why?

It’s just human nature. It’s how communities grow. If we go back to Psych 101 and look at Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, sharing is what we do. By sharing… we can move our community and selves higher. Goods and services cover the bottom three. Sharing food and shelter has been evident throughout all of history. As we feel more secure and safe, we share more.

If we place information at the esteem level, we can see that the idea that what we share online helps shows the world who we are. That helps to build our esteem and we can see how sharing is tied into who we are.

So what about experiences?

Creativity, spontaneity, morality… until late we could only share information about these things… but the world has changed. Social media has changed and it has changed how we share. No longer do I have to tell you how my trip went, I can show by posting to Facebook and Instagram. I can live tweet my responses to a show that I’m watching and everyone can follow or talk back, even if they aren’t in the same time zone. We can all share in other experiences… nearly. It’s still really just information, texts, pictures, emoticons, about someone’s experience.

Until now. There are two very big changes taking over. Virtual Reality and Live (reality?). Yeah…live tweeting is live, but it’s only text. It’s still detached and only after I’ve synthesized my thoughts and written something. But Snapchat, Blab, Periscope and Facebook can give us real-time experiences.While you are immersed in something, I can experience it along with you. Imagine walking through a haunted house with Facebook live on. Even though I’m not there, when that clown pops out, I’ll probably still jump. (partially because clowns are just creepy!). The viewer gets unfiltered access to your experiences.

Want proof, look at Snapchat and Facebook

And while Facebook and Snapchat are probably the polar ends age wise of users, grandma can now be live at Megan’s birthday party or see her graduate. Yeah, older audiences will eat this alive as well.

Virtual Reality or 360 videos and photos are now popping up as well and give you the ability to see the world around the shooter. No longer just the shooter’s perspective, but also what’s happening around them. Safari, train rides, concerts, sky diving… you name it and we can insert ourselves into it. And share in the experience.

So how does this all help your business?

This means it’s time for you to make a shift. It’s time for you to start engaging and interacting with your clients. It’s time for you to build a relationship based on experiences with your audience. Not for sales, but for reputation, brand recognition and top of mind placement. You need to shift from sharing information to sharing experiences. Tech Crunch has a great piece on the dawn of the sharing age.

What do I mean? Are you Coke or Pepsi? Miller or Bud? (Star Wars or Star Trek???) Major brands like Coke and Pepsi don’t advertise to sway people…you’re one or the other. It’s for brand reputation and recognition. They already know you drink Coke. The formula isn’t changing, they aren’t adding a new product, there’s nothing to advertise. But they do it, because it makes Coke drinkers feel good about their choice. It helps to keep them top of mind, so when they get thirsty it’s not even a choice, it’s a reflex.

This is what sharing your experiences can do for your company, especially small businesses. What may seem like the mundane to you, helps to build a connection with clients and helps make new ones. Get a new shipment of something you sell, Snapchat opening it. If you create the products in-house, do it on Facebook Live. Going to a conference based on your industry, Snapchat or Periscope your time there so your clients can see that you really know your stuff.

Don’t feel that live experiences are the only way, Instagram and Facebook are still great places to post video that show your companies personality. But the key is to show. To stay competitive and stand out among the competition, SHOW clients who you are.

The silly ritual the kitchen staff has when opening restaurant.
The process of screen printing a shirt.
How you freehand a tattoo design
A time-lapse of setting up your venue for a wedding.
A 360 image of your banquet hall.

Whatever it is you do, show us. Bring viewers in as part of the experience and use that as a way to build trust and a relationship. You have a website that has ‘Information, Goods and Services’, don’t just use your social media to replicating it. Use your social media to also be social, tell stories and share experiences.