Today something holy was born in the world of social media! It’s Instagram Direct!

In New York today, Kevin Systrom, Co-Founder of Instagram made the special announcement just in the nick of time for Christmas fun & holiday gift giving.

Systrom says, “More than half of our (Instagram) users log in daily.” Therefore Instagram wanted to create something that can “gather people around a photo, a moment and have a conversation with it.”

Think about it! The Instagram team must really love us! They have created such a cool user interface for sharing pictures and 15-second videos already and then whoala….it wasn’t Jesus, but a baby was born ~ Instagram Direct!!!

What exactly is Instagram Direct?

In short it’s a private instagram message. When I first saw it I couldn’t help myself but to think of sending photos and videos that I would normally wait to show my closest friends on my iPhone or Apple TV at a dinner party.

YeS!  There are things that I do that everyone on my friends list or family members may not approve of! I can now send them to up to 15 people in my life that will appreciate the southern humor of a geeky blonde girl. Yippppeeee! Now, I still have to master taking selfies (aka. self portraits & videos). L When viewing my selfies you’ll know that I am in the Stone Age, I just manage not to look like it.

There are 5 main options within Instagram Direct:

1. Control your inbox with request.
2. Easy access from your feed.
3. Send up to 15 people at once.
4. Revisit moments as much as you like.
5. View real-time likes, views, and chats.

Watch the video announcement from the press conference in New York:

How will Instagram Direct affect marketing?

This is a marketers dream considering, “after sending, you’ll be able to find out who’s seen your photo or video, see who’s liked it and watch your recipients commenting in real time as the conversation unfolds,” says Systrom. He goes onto elaborate, “photos and videos that you receive from people you follow will appear immediately. If someone you’re not following sends you a photo or video on Instagram, it will go to your requests so you can decide if you want to view it.”

As an online marketer, I was blow away with the ability to send messages to people not already following. With the already open platform and searchable hash tags this is a true marketer’s dream.

Imagine how people will use this feature to shop both in stores and online in the future. A picture is worth a thousand words and a 15 second video could be worth 15,000! We’re super excited here at PuTTin’ OuT about this #Instagood #InstaNews!

What about Instagram Sponsored Advertisements?

Systrom said, “We’re taking it very slowly {when asked about Instagram Ads}.” He did suggest an Instagram will have a sponsored ad-related announcement would be coming soon.

Drop me a comment below and let me know what you think about it. Thumbs up if you LIKEd what you read. (Be nice, it is Christmas and Santa is checking his list twice to see who’s naughty or nice.)

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