In terms of social media marketing Facebook and Instagram have long dominated the stage. Yet, last week we saw the dramatic rise of a rival image-sharing app in the form the platform Vero. The app’s journey is remarkable, having had a more or less unchanged usership of 150000 people since its launch in 2015, saw this rise to 3 million over a matter of days - it would be an understatement to call that a record breaking week! Though, we have seen other challengers come and go and barely cause a wrinkle in Instagram’s monopoly; on this occasion these dramatic figures certainly warrant giving this new competitor a closer examination!

Why the sudden growth?

Considering that this app bumbled along at a low level for three years, one assumes that there must have been a significant event that prompted their rise in usership, and indeed that seems to be the case. On this occasion, the catalyst for the growth was the decision (on the part of Instagram) to introduce algorithms to dictate who sees your posts and what order they appear in (based on popularity and relevance respectively). Though this hardly sounds drastic, it can actually have a significant impact on the way your business is exposed to your followers online. By dictating that your posts only appear to your most relevant followers, Instagram is effectively cutting the exposure of your posts to just 15% of their usual audience. Understandably, this has led to protest amongst businesses with large followings who are missing out on potentially thousands of views.

What’s the difference to Instagram?

Like all good competitors, Vero has maintained many of the major features of Instagram. It is similar in the way that it allows you to upload photos, edit them, and post them out to your following. There are a few subtle differences, however, that have pushed it into the favour of disgruntled Instagram users. Firstly, you can separate your followers into categories consisting of ‘close friends’ ‘friends’ ‘acquaintances’ and ‘followers’ allowing you to be more choosy about who sees what. Secondly, Vero calls itself a ‘truly social’ app because it allows you to post books, films and music that you have enjoyed as well images so you can build yourself a rounded online persona. Finally, and most crucial of all in terms of its recent popularity, Vero promises to never use algorithms or adverts on the platform so that you are the only one managing your work and data.

How could this help your business?

Though subtle these differences can have a huge impact on the app as a platform for your business - here’s why:

1. Algorithm free. As touched upon above, the introduction of algorithms is really what has got the goat of many instagram users. On Vero, you can enjoy building a chronologically ordered portfolio that will be exposed to your whole following not just the fraction deemed suitable by Instagram.

2. Purchasing Power. Unlike Instagram, Vero allows you to place links to in-app purchases under your posts. As a business this couldn’t be more key as it means that the marketing platform can double up as a direct sales opportunity. Nice!

3. Exposure Control. By giving you the option to control who sees what on your profile (friends and followers etc.), Vero gives you the control to divide your following to match your business requirements - you can make all your main clients ‘close friends’ to ensure they see all your activity as its published, for example.

Considering becoming part of the Instagram diaspora?

There’s always a chance that Vero will end its days as a fleeting, barely remembered challenge to Instagram’s hegemony. Yet, considering the almost overnight rise to prominence this site received, it is worth bearing in mind a few factors. Namely, that the app currently boasts 2850000 new users who will no doubt be exploring the platform and looking to follow new people. This gives you as a business a rare opportunity to harness an internet sensation to generate considerable online exposure. Moreover, due to the sudden growth in users, Vero has currently waived its annual subscription fee so now is the perfect time to experiment with no cost!  

Flora Dallas

---

Flora Dallas is a content writer for Fat Lama the world’s fastest growing peer-to-peer rental marketplace. The platform, available in the US and UK, allows people to rent almost anything easily and cheaply from people nearby. It’s mission is to enable people to share and monetise their unused possessions, increasing the efficiency of both the consumer and the planet’s resources.