Instagram is retiring the Swipe-Up
Instagram is getting rid of the swipe-up gesture to access links in Stories and replacing it with a new sticker that contains a clickable link. If they roll this change out to the full user base we will see a lot more opportunities for brand pages to be smarter with the format that’s quickly dominating usage on the platform.
Some users have reported that they have received a notification in the app stating this change and that it will be implemented from August 30, the exact timeline of the roll-out is still speculative but it will likely come in waves.
To date, there have been 3 ways to include a link of some sort within Instagram; either own a profile with more than 10,000 followers and gain access to the ability to include a swipe-up link, put the link in your bio, or run an ad as a brand page. The replacement of swipe-ups with the sticker and the removal of the 10,000 follower limit is set to open the floodgate completely to clickable actions within the platform. On the surface, this may seem like a run-of-the-mill feature change but there are some potentially exciting outcomes if we dig a little deeper.
What can we expect?
The rise of Instagram Stories has caused a bit of a chasm on the platform in terms of usage. While users tend to perceive feed content and stories similarly, they also associate them with very different use cases.
Stories are viewed and designed around being timely and fleeting. Users have an understanding and appreciate that it disappears after 24 hours - a large reason for the popularity and view time stories generate. Internal data shared by Instagram in early 2019 showed Instagram stories are used by 500 million users every day. One-third of the most-viewed Instagram Stories are from businesses and 50% of businesses on Instagram worldwide created at least one story during a typical month. So a new feature entering this format is certainly one to watch.
Apart from the obvious change in gesture; here are some of the good, bad, and ugly outcomes we foresee in the platform. The bottom line is that a mix of content is needed between the two sub-channels when it comes to the feed vs story debate.
Everyone can be an influencer now
Instagram says that for now, only people who had swipe-up privileges beforehand will receive the sticker option, but that it’s “still evaluating” rolling it out to more users. This update will “help us determine whether it’s the right decision before expanding access to more people”.
If the rollout reaches all users; then the offering that micro-influencers can bring to the table for brands is about to expand massively. Up until now, you would have to rely on a micro-influencer’s audience clicking a link in a bio or caring enough to use their promo code on your website for tracking. If people under 10,000 followers gain access to the sticker we could see micro-influencers being able to do and charge more for their social media space as they get more opportunities to stand over results in the form of trackable clicks.
Prediction: Ecommerce within the platform will still remain a focus
Facebook has spent a lot of time and money developing out their own e-commerce system within the Instagram app, so we wouldn’t at all be surprised to see some sort of throttling or rule about links to e-commerce sites. This will be an effort to keep transactions and brands busy within their own walls rather than sending people off-site where users can no longer be exposed to ads and earn revenue for the platform.
Much like when Facebook introduced native video as an option nearly a decade ago; their values when it comes to keeping users on the platform will remain the same.
The feed will fall further down in usage
The other underlying reason why the newsfeed is losing attention is due to the rise of stories. Having new and easier capabilities for adding links and direct clicks (If it opens to all users) will likely cause another large shift in this space.
On the other hand, users use the feed for a broader range of reasons. A survey carried out by Facebook revealed that the most common reasons were to find information and discover new products, brands, or accounts related to their interests. The same research has shown a decrease of around 25% since 2016 in the amount of content going on the feed for brand pages. Based on that data it would seem that the newsfeed is becoming over-saturated with content and it is becoming harder and harder to stand out from the crowd. Therefore, users are saving their “best” content for the feed, this way posting less often and pushing more day to day content into the story space.
Creativity should rise
Some of the most creative things come from limiting systems, but the swipe-up really was difficult to add flair to. Once a swipe-up link was applied you had a single CTA with an arrow in the same position for everyone. The new stickers reportedly will be able to be placed anywhere on the screen and contain different versions and gifs.
This should lead to a nicer-looking story for many brands trying to get a valuable site visit from a user. Unfortunately, whenever the internet offers people the chance to make a link look nice you will often see the bad actors trying to game the system by hiding links or creating situations where a link click is unavoidable.
Like our Ecommerce prediction and with the learnings from display advertising we foresee some sort of limitation or regulation that will govern how the stickers look and behave in general to ensure the user experience is upheld on the platform.