Content Marketing with The New Instagram Direct | Bedford NY Realtor

Just a month ago the ephemeral messaging service Snapchat turned down a  massive $3 billion cash offer from Facebook—a move that left many people  surprised, perplexed, and in some cases, downright angry. To many, the  unavoidable question was, how could something that’s free to use, that produced  no product, lacked any sort of inventory, and had no prospects for monetization  be evaluated a $3 billion. Furthermore, how could that same company subsequently  refuse such a massive cash offering from one of the biggest companies in the  world? Well a month down the road and there’s still no good answer, but one  thing that we can say with some certainty is that with today’s introduction of Instagram  Direct, Snapchat is probably kicking themselves for not accepting Facebook’s  offer.

Now the company’s closest competitor, Instagram, who is backed by Facebook,  has set its sights on the ephemeral messaging market, providing its already  massive user base with a viable alternative to Snapchat. Much like Snapchat,  Instagram Direct allows users to send photos and videos directly to their  followers of choice, without the image being shared on their feed. Not only is  Instagram’s latest update a “competitive move,” but it also affords users a  brand new, hyper-focused means of marketing that has the ability to really  strengthen the relationship between advertisers and consumers. While the ability  to monetize Instagram direct is yet to be seen, and sources say that that is an  unlikely avenue for the new feature, it will allow advertisers to connect one on  one with followers and help facilitate new types of interaction between brands  and their followers.

Less than 24 hours after its release, some brands are already finding new  ways to tap into their following and further cultivate relationships with their  fans. GAP for example, used the new service to run a contest in which users were  asked to send photo messages directly to the clothing company in order to be  entered into a contest. While Facebook has long had the ability to facilitate  these types of marketing activities, Instagram Direct brings with it a much more  personalized feel, where users and brands can interact one on one.

As days go by and more brands and advertisers adopt the new Instagram Direct  technology, we’re sure to see a number of different marketing practices employed  through the direct messaging service. If you are on Instagram Direct and using  it as an advertising tool, let us know what’s working for you in the comments  below—we’d love to hear some of your ideas!

Read more at http://www.searchenginejournal.com/content-marketing-new-instagram-direct/81967/#JsvQPrvVVJmIbxFq.99