The move by Instagram this week to introduce bite-sized video will accelerate the seismic shift to communicating via film and online, and provide a new platform to showcase the skills of the beauty industry, predicts social media expert Valorie Reavis of Linkup Marketing.
Instagram’s answer to Twitter’s Vine app, revealed earlier this week, will enable users to make 15-second films and even add the additional filters that made the network famous. More than 130 million users are currently active on Instagram, bought by Facebook in 2012, creating beautiful still pictures using the networks filters. Now they will be able to make videos.
"According to Instagram this has been two years in development," explains Reavis, who is also the creator of social network management system The Shout Lounge. "With this and Vine, it shows the networks are convinced video is the new way to communicate. In such a visual industry as beauty, being able to showcase the craft in bite-sized videos is hugely powerful."
The potential of Instagram’s video app lies in its ability to dress up the films with filters, making ad hoc footage shot quickly in-salon look less harsh. And at 15 seconds, it is long enough to showcase new colour techniques or some magic manicures, but not so long that the viewer gets bored.
"Both Vine and Instagram are incredibly user-friendly and, and because of the stop/start functionality, can make really exciting little films that are perfect for this industry,’ added Reavis. "We are going to see a lot more of these instant films in salon communications, on the networks and via the website."
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