Instagram Reels has turned two!! The short-form video platform, which went live internationally in July 2020, is moving forward cautiously rather than rushing into providing in-stream advertisements. With around 230 million users, India happens to be Instagram’s biggest market worldwide and as of now Reels, according to the company are the main drivers of engagement growth.

Indian consumers create approximately 6 million Reels every single day, as per the company. According to Arun Srinivas, director of the global business group-India, Meta, not all Reel audiences have yet had access to in-stream advertisements.

Reels happens to be a clone of TikTok, a 5-year-old short video website, which in 2021 generated $4 billion in ad revenue. Srinivas adds that they will continue to work on scaling up and learning, and they want to provide value to marketers as an ethical and responsible platform. The site has currently partnered with some advertisers targeting specific audience segments. Working with Meta platforms, brands have started reaching customers through Reels, including both conventional CPG and digital-first ones. Srinivas says brands such as L’Oreal Paris and Maybelline have recently launched advertisements to market their cosmetics and personal care items, while Spotify worked with creators on Reels to promote their Holi playlist.

The Spotify playlist became the most downloaded playlist and L’Oreal and Maybelline experienced unassisted ad recall and top of the mind awareness boost. The brand study in particular showed that the advertisements had an impact on younger consumers who frequently spend more time on Instagram Reels. Almost all branded posts on Reels currently come from partnerships with influencers as well as content producers.

Issues With Instagram

Despite the fact that Instagram and its many content formats are very well-liked by its consumers, companies and content producers must always stay on top of the algorithm changes to guarantee that their posts are viewed by the intended audience. The Whole Truth Foods, a company that sells healthy foods recently announced that it will be taking a hiatus from Instagram. The D2C startup’s founder and CEO, Shashank Mehta, confirmed that there were two reasons behind them taking a break. First off, because the algorithms were always changing, the brand had to devote a lot of time to keeping itself updated. Second, the platform goal of handling complex topics is not served by the pattern of short-form content.

Given that the D2C brands were created on Instagram, is this a cause of concern, Srinivas says that brands may target people with affinities and interests suitable for them with Meta platforms. This lowers the price of advertising. According to him, 90% of Instagram users follow a brand, and a sizable portion of them ultimately make purchases through it.

According to brand consultant Abhimanyu Mishra from Brandfizz, it pays to have a presence on Instagram, whether you are in e-commerce, education, or media and publishing. But in order to succeed, one must fully understand the platform, including the most effective types of content to share, how to develop an Instagram Stories plan, and how to monitor the analytics and indicators.

WhatsApp For Business

In addition to Instagram Reels, brands are showing some interest in WhatsApp for Business as a tool. More than 15 million WhatsApp for Business accounts have already been in existence in India, such as HDFC, Uber, Kotak, BPCL, IOCL, ICICI Bank, and MakeMyTrip, etc. Srinivas says that WhatsApp enables potential customers to start a conversation with brands. It, according to him, works at all phases of the funnel. Brands without an online presence can start using WhatsApp for very little to no money.

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