No More Hustleporn: Storytime! Why Instagram Channels, the new one-to-many channel, is a bigger deal than it seems, and how it’s following the same playbook as Wechat. 🧵
Tweet by Connie Chan 🍒
https://twitter.com/conniechan
@conniechan:
Storytime! Why Instagram Channels, the new one-to-many channel, is a bigger deal than it seems, and how it’s following the same playbook as Wechat. 🧵
@conniechan:
Let’s go back to 2012. WeChat’s widely used in China already, but only for personal chat and group chats. But in April 2012, WeChat launches its first one-to-many official account at… a music concert!! At a solo concert in Beijing’s Olympic bird’s nest stadium, pop star Leehom…
twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
@conniechan:
It was a huge hit. Within 24 hours he had over 200,000 messages and within days over 600,000 video messages alone of fans singing to him.
@conniechan:
Soon after, brands and other influencers were asking Tencent for the same functionality. For the longest time, WeChat kept it to a select group of brands to test out all the kinks. Supposedly companies were willing to pay $$millions to get an official account but WeChat kept it…
twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
@conniechan:
Eventually, WeChat launched more official accounts, and then added red envelopes which successfully caused many users to link their bank accounts to the messaging app (to cash out the money they received from friends). This post covers that:
a16z.com/2016/07/24/mon…
@conniechan:
Soon, tons of companies and influencers, big and small, had these new private broadcast vehicles. And thanks to the red envelope phenomenon, many users were one-click purchase enabled.
@conniechan:
With Instagram launching Channels, it’s the first step in transforming a messaging platform to a super app. You allow creators and brands to own “private traffic channels” — causing them to invest more into the platform and create unique experiences for these super followers.…
twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
@conniechan:
Eventually the responses get personalized, based on the recipient’s history, location, it allows the creators/brands to hyper target communication in a way that feels more intimate and authentic. More on private traffic potential here:
a16z.com/2022/04/08/why…
@conniechan:
Instagram Channels could be the start of something much bigger. Brands and creators should take notice.