Instagram trials new video tool

By

Gabriella Lacombe

Published
Apr 1, 2019

Instagram is testing a new seek feature for video posts, following the announcement of a roll-out of tools set to help brands and influencers establish and maintain more powerful marketing partnerships. 

According to reports, the Facebook-owned platform is currently trialling a seek bar which would allow users to move back and forth through video posts.

The feature follows Instagram's announcement of a new roll-out of tools set to help brands and influencers establish and maintain more powerful marketing partnerships.

One update will let brands pay to promote sponsored content on Instagram. In this way sponsored influencer posts can be spread across the social media platform in order to find targeted users who do not already follow the influencer.

Previously, brands who entered into paid partnerships with influencers for sponsored posts – which can be identified through a sponsored tag – had to rely on the influencer to promote the post, and potential views were limited to the influencer's followers and any users who might visit the influencer's page. 

The changes will also reportedly allow anyone to apply for access to Instagram's paid partnership tag. Combined with the update allowing brands to pay to boost posts, this means brands will have more space to consider partnerships with smaller, more specifically on-brand influencers.

Previously, businesses tended to prioritize partnerships with Instagram users with follower counts in the millions. However, massive audiences do not necessarily bring massive engagement, and smaller-scale influencers – whose audiences are more likely to be more interested in the products they endorse – have also been shown to have significant impact. 

Instagram will also continue its efforts to sniff out fake followers and engagement, in an effort to give businesses a greater sense of security when looking for influencer partners who will deliver results.

Additionally, the company is introducing “creator accounts”, a service which will provide more analytics tools to help big influencers better understand and grow their audience.

The new tools are being introduced at a time when influencer marketing continues to prove its importance and potential for businesses. Of the over 1 billion members who use Instagram around the world, the company says 68 percent use the app to interact with social influencers, and it is estimated that influencer marketing on Instagram will generate $1.7 billion in revenue in 2019. 

A date for the roll-out of the new marketing tools has yet to be announced.