Instagram Testing Stop-Motion Videos for Stories

Despite hearing over and over again how important it is for your brand to create video content, some teams still have trouble prioritizing it. 

After all, creating video content does take planning, equipment, and expertise to pull off effectively. For some businesses, it can seem impossible to “dip your toe” into the video marketing space — it feels like an all-or-nothing endeavor. 

However, Instagram is rolling out a middle-ground option: stop-motion videos for Stories. 

Just like the classic stop-motion Christmas movies, Instagram’s latest add-on will enable marketers to create moving videos out of a series of pictures. 

The stop-motion capabilities opens up the possibilities for marketers to test the waters with video content without needing any additional expertise or equipment than what they’d need to post a standard Instagram Story. 

How Do Stop-Motion Stories Work? 

The feature has yet to be formally announced by Instagram, but was spotted by Twitter user Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane), who shared how this feature works in the backend. 

Instagram's new Stopmotion Story Camera Mode hands-on demo pic.twitter.com/AoICLYLzOd

— Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) June 22, 2019

As you can see, the tool assists the creation process by providing a “ghost” of your previous frame, so you can ensure your next placement flows with the overall videos. 

Of course, the “magic” of stop motion comes from the believability of the movements, so having this frame overlay in place helps make sure nothing feels out of place. 

Ideally, you’d want to create these with a tripod or some other base holding your recording device in place to ensure that the frame overlay is consistent with each shot. 

Wong also confirmed that this process allows up to ten frames — which will result in a shorter video, but this is perfect for the short-form, rapid-paced Stories format. 

It’s unclear exactly when this feature will be rolled out, as Instagram has yet to comment, but we can expect to hear a formal announcement from the platform once it’s rolled out to all users.

How Can Marketers Use Stop Motion? 

Marketers that are new to video marketing can use this stop motion feature as a way to post video content without actually needing the space to plan, film, and edit professional videos. 

In doing this, teams can experiment with stop-motion video posting and determine if it’s worth going all-in to invest in this content, or at least get more familiar with video-like posting. 

Moreover, even brands that do have dedicated video teams can benefit from this format. 

Stop-motion offers a new type of content to share with your audience to grab their attention. 

Brands can use this to capture a product at every angle, or alternatively, post creative videos simulating movement with people or objects. 

Even without this feature built in to the platform, some brands are already posting stop-motion clips to interact with their audience in a new way. 

Here are a few examples from major brands: 

 

 

 

 

 

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For the ride home 🚃 #EggsAndCheeseProteinBox

A post shared by Starbucks Coffee ☕ (@starbucks) on Mar 7, 2018 at 8:23am PST

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Target (@target) on May 21, 2018 at 4:36pm PDT

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Sephora (@sephora) on Apr 17, 2018 at 9:06am PDT

Regardless of your brand’s products, personality, or audience, stop-motion offers a new, fun way to engage your audience on social media. 

It’s unclear if the stop-motion tool will span to posts as well, but brands can always save stop-motion Stories and post to their main feed or highlight reel to keep their efforts accessible. 

At the end of the day, any great social media strategy comes from mixing up your posts and seeing what works. This process, when rolled out, is relatively quick and easy, so why not try it out? 

The results may surprise you!