Hi Reader,

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Yesterday was a big day with news about social media.

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There are 2 major announcements you've gotta know about - one from Pinterest and another from Instagram.

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These are a pretty big deal because they reveal the direction platforms are headed in 2021 and well beyond. It's fascinating stuff when you consider the broader picture.

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Let's talk about Pinterest first.

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Pinterest is a big platform if you're a brand that works with women, however men do have a presence on the platform, albeit smaller.

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Because it's largely female-focused, one of their brand values is to foster a community that's supportive. AKA... no content on the platform that's going to contribute to low self esteem, body issues, etc.

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Are they doing this out of the purity of their heart? Or because we've all watched the dumpster fire of Facebook and its "inability" (read: refusal) to do anything about misinformation, live streamed violence, etc on its platform and Pinterest wants to get ahead of that?

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It doesn't really matter. What does matter is Pinterest has announced it's banning ads around weight loss topics.

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Pinterest had already banned ads around body shaming, before and after transformations, etc. But this is a really big step for them. (Read an article via Social Media Today here.)

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Why? Well they're among the first platforms to take a stance on something huge like this.

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The weight loss industry is HUGE. There are a lot of companies in various niches that speak to weight loss. And targeting women is part of that.

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So the inability to promote any part of their funnel on Pinterest ads will force these companies to rethink their strategy. And, dare I say, maybe it will make for a better experience on the platform for those people searching for weight loss solutions.

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The catch is (there's always a catch) you can still post this material organically. Just no media buying around it.

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I'm pretty thrilled with this move, to be honest with you. But it's because I do feel social media platforms should be held accountable for the content they allow to be put on their platform. With the influence social media has on our culture, these platforms play a big role in shaping perceptions of multiple generations about their realities. It's a very big responsibility. But that's a rant for another day.

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Now, let's talk about Instagram's big changes.

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It's a few changes rolled into one. Yesterday, Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram operations, announced on Twitter (...because why?) that Instagram will be shifting away from being a photo sharing app.

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Instead, they're going to compete directly against TikTok and become a vertical video swipe-up platform.

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This means the Instagram home feed will no longer be square shaped images. Instead, it will be vertical videos you swipe up to scroll through.

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In his update, Adam stated the future of Instagram - if it's to remain competitive in today's social media app market - has to shift to mobile video because that's where the market is headed.

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Instagram already has Reels, so clearly Reels will shift from sharing the stage with static photos to overtaking them.

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My predictions are:

• Reels will be the primary tab on all user profiles
• Static photos will still be on the platform, but they'll be a secondary tab on profile and will receive little to no organic reach
• The home feed will be a mixture of Reels from people you follow and people the algo thinks you'd like
• The explore tab will be a mixture of organic Reels, some static posts from popular accounts, and shopping posts
• Ads will still play a role, but now when you buy media on Instagram, the primary way will be vertical videos
• IGTV will remain because it's long form video, but will continue to play second fiddle to everything else
• You'll still be able to go Live and it will be formatted as a vertical video
• You'll still be able to post Stories, and they'll remain vertical video

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There's no timeline when these changes will roll out for Instagram.

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Needless to say, though, with the announcement... people were not thrilled.

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Instagram has been around for a long time. For many of us, it's one of the first social media apps we full scale adopted and we've spent years sharing our lives there.

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Which means for a huge chunk of its user base, there's a strong sense of nostalgia with Instagram.

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Messing with nostalgia is a risky play.

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But, from a marketing perspective, I can see where Adam and the Instagram team are coming from - because they're focused on driving downloads and profits from ad buying.

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The truth is... Instagram and Facebook are both experiencing lower downloads month over month.

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You know what's experiencing MORE downloads? TikTok and other new apps that are similar.

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So I'm sure Instagram is feeling the crunch. Facebook is too. That's why they're rolling out all these new features like Bulletin (their version of paid email subscriptions, like Substack) and a Clubhouse-rip-off called Live Audio Rooms (really clever name, Zuck).

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Here's what this Instagram shift means for your business. Because if the entire value prop of Instagram is changing from static photo sharing to vertical short videos... your strategy is going to change, too.

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Why? Well, for a couple reasons.

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First - the audience on Instagram may experience a turnover. People may leave the platform who are in certain niches that benefited heavily from static imagery versus video. Photographers come to mind, first and foremost, along with certain artists.

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Second - vertical, short form video is an entirely different game than static photos. It's still about storytelling, except you won't be using a caption to tell the story. You'll be relying on your visuals and your voice to do that. It's going to take a little more creativity and planning.

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The good news, though, is that thanks to apps like TikTok and even its precursor, Vine (who remembers Vine?!), people are getting increasingly used to informal, shot-on-the-go style videos.

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So you don't need to feel pressure in terms of production value. It's more about flexing your creativity and learning how to interpret your content pillars through a video lens versus strictly a photo lens.

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And that's what I've got for ya, Reader.

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Big changes. Not the end of the world. Just a little tweaking. As always.

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What do you think of Pinterest's move? And what about Instagram's changes?

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Have a wonderful weekend!

Amanda

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PS: I opened the doors on my brand new group program, Marketing Strategy Lab. This is the program I've been hinting about for quite some time and thought I would launch as a huge thing (and even had a different name for it).

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But I realized I wanted to do a beta launch and keep it simple. There isn't even a sales page. There was just an email announcement about it on Monday with all the details.

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You can read that email right here, or wait until this upcoming Monday when I'm going to send another one. Reply if you've got any questions!

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