Instagram Update: Will It Drive Users Away or Create a Convenient Future for Fashion Brands?
By Rua Dinm
Business Fashion Writer/Editor
Instagram updates: everyone hates it, but no one leaves it. No matter the amount of drastic changes Instagram has made, the origin platform for influencer culture and social media marketing derives from this Facebook-owned app. The app has set standards and opportunities for small businesses and influencers to utilize their platform as an advertisement and marketing tool over the last few updates. Last week, Instagram came out with another update with an inclusion of a shoppable module for users to buy anything they might desire from approved pages.
The precision from the data collected on this app is most definitely to cause profit margins to rise for fashion and beauty brands. Though the layout has caused an uproar of complaints on Twitter from users, including beauty influencer James Charles, are people going to leave Instagram? People stayed after the feed took away chronological posting, added channels, added Reels, and now a new shopping feature. Realistically, Instagram has served as a trendsetting app, especially for the fashion and beauty world. No matter the long-term societal impact, brands, and advertising teams pour their money on Instagram marketing. Specifically, fashion and makeup brands continue to utilize influencers and visual aesthetics to lure loyal customers.
The app knows exactly what each user wants, so it will most likely continue to show the clothes, accessories, makeup, and all products related to vanity, catered to each account. There are two types of developments that can occur from this new update. A positive one, benefiting businesses and creating more opportunities for influencers. If users can get over the undesired new layout, adjustment to this app is most likely to create more “Instagram fashion brands” such as Fashion Nova, Missguided, and Pretty Little Thing. Newer Indie Brands that struggled before, will also be likely to get more opportunities to be on people’s explorer and shopping page. Influencers, both micro and macro, might gain more opportunities to work with brands, which can create more exposure to their page. It might even lead to an influx of influencers depending on brand preferences of micro over macro-influencers. However, that might dilute the value of influencers’ influence on their followers. Not to mention, people can start to stray away from Instagram if all that shows up on their feed are advertisements disguised as posts. Either way, the new shoppable feature is bound to disrupt the fashion and beauty industry.
Contact Rua at dinmrua@shu.edu