Yes it’s True–Your Instagram Photos Can Now Zoom!

What is InstaZoom?

Yesterday, August 31st 2016, Instagram began its soft roll of their latest update in a long line of newly launched features: Zoom. The ability to zoom is something users have been asking about for some time. And with Instagram being primarily a visual platform, it’s a wonder it took so long to add this feature for camera happy users. Nevertheless we’re thrilled the day has finally come!

Use the zoom feature by pinching on photos and even videos in your feed. That’s right, unlike Facebook, Instagram allows its users to zoom in on video’s as well. Keep with surprises like this Instagram—we like it.

When Will it Roll Out?

Like we mentioned, this is a soft roll. Meaning most but not all iOS devices should have the zoom feature. We’ve noticed while most accounts we monitor Instagram for had the feature live when we checked yesterday, a few are still on the list for the update. Android users are less lucky as they’ll be slowly getting the updates in the following weeks.

What Does This Mean for Future Marketing?

As Instagram serves as the mecca of visual marketing, the InstaZoom feature means quite a lot for marketers. In one scenario (the most common) it means more details can be added to photos to surprise and titillate fans. Your target audience can now zoom in to discover exciting crisp details about their favorite products that may increase the likelihood of making a purchase.

However in the second scenario, the InstaZoom might prove the negative for some marketers. The previous method most people used to zoom in on the details of a photo, was to take a screen shot of the Instagram post, and then zoom within their Camera Roll. The clear advantage of this method is that many persons do not clear their photos out right away. This means that those businesses that had photos that were screen shot, were able to re-market their audience several times: in their camera roll, in their iCloud, and even on their computer. for businesses because not everyone clears about their photos right away. With this new Zoom feature, while the user experience will be better for the customer, some marketers just lost a potentially brilliant marketing strategy.

Nonetheless, whether a few may lose out on one lesser used marketing strategy, more will gain from the Zoom feature. It means high quality pictures matter more than ever—oh and another bonus: no more of those pesky accidental double taps when your parents are trying to zoom in on an Insta photo #3monthsdeep #tapsofshame