Instagram is usually the social network known for resisting mass social media management tools.
However, it has just launched an update which may have flown under the radar for some, but will be music to the ears of anybody with multiple accounts on the platform.
You can now post an update from multiple Instagram profiles at once in the New Post screen.
This is a significant move for Instagram, as the Facebook-owned image sharing platform has opted to exclude an in-platform sharing function to date.
What makes Instagram Different?
This is a small change when you consider that you still won’t be able to repost your own content, or share posts from others, but it’s a change nonetheless.
Attempts to maintain the originality of content on the platform have seen off the addition of features like sharing, reposting, cross-posting and even externally scheduling content.
While the platform has firmly positioned itself as one of most popular social networks amongst teens and millennials, third party apps have sprung up over the past few years to provide the features many have felt are missing.
Apps including Repost for Instagram, Instarepost or DownloadGram have become popular, but Instagram T’s and C’s still stipulate that users need to get written permission from a content creator to reshare their content.
One thing is for sure – it will be interesting to see how this update impacts on the wildly popular platform.
How Can This Help?
Good question, we’re not convinced that it can.
One of the most common mistakes in social media management is sharing the same content on multiple accounts, without personalization for the audience.
We’ve learned from years of working with clients that the best performing content is written with a target persona in mind from the very start.
Unless you’re working on two or more very very similar accounts, it’s not likely that you’ll be able to share the exact same content without losing relevance.
You may also run the risk of losing the legitimacy of the account, if an account looks like it’s posting irrelevant content which other profiles post too, then your followers will lose trust and interest in you.
The Rot of Organic Reach
Adding to challenges facing brands using social as a content sharing platform – which should really be all brands with a small number of interesting exceptions (we’re looking at you, Apple) – is the swift and continued decline of organic reach.
While there are no press releases to confirm what we know, organic reach has plummeted in the past few months and years, and platforms are moving en masse towards paid content being the only way to reach a meaningful audience.
Platforms including MSA’s social scheduling tool of choice, Falcon.io, are integrating features to help advertisers spend pounds on Instagram.
As Instagram pushes beyond 1 billion monthly users, it’s essential that brands are creating content that’s much more than churn.
Adding Instagram to Your Paid Strategy
As it’s a Facebook-owned platform, paid campaigns can be managed through Facebook’s Ad Manager.
It’s easy to add Instagram as a platform for existing Facebook paid campaigns, however you really should be creating bespoke paid content for each platform.