Are You Using These Features on Instagram?
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With over a billion monthly users, no one can argue the value of having an Instagram strategy for your business. In recent months, some new features have been rolled out on the platform. With a couple of simple tweaks to your profile, you can maximize your Instagram impact.
While we all love to get lots of comments on our posts, sometimes the very best ones get buried in a sea of emojis or spammy replies. Now you have the capability to pin comments to the very top of the list! To do this, go to the comment you want at the top, and swipe left. You will see a pushpin icon. When selected, it will pin that comment to the top! You can choose up to three to pin to the top, per post. This will help your audience see the most valuable feedback on your content.
New Instagram Features
Did you know that Instagram recently changed how it's showing your “Name” field? This is an excellent opportunity to sneak some keywords or descriptions in. For instance, mine now says ‘Samantha-Content Marketing Mngr.' How you can leverage this change for your Instagram account?
Instagram Stories are a great way to connect with your audience or show “behind the scenes” activity. Since stories only stay up for 24 hours, there is less focus on curation and more focus on connection. Instagram has rolled out some additional stickers to reinforce the sense of community on the platform. “Donate” allows you to choose a nonprofit to support, and your followers can donate to a cause that is important to you. They receive 100% of the donations made through this feature. The “Support Small Business” sticker allows you to tag your favorite shop in your story, and pulls in images of their three most recent posts.
More features are rolling out for shopping on Instagram. I love this because so many of my clients are in the e-commerce industry, and these features facilitate shopping on the platform. As a user, I enjoy the ability to explore and purchase a product that I am interested in. The shopping features seem to be rolling out in waves, and I have not seen consistency in the availability of features yet. Product tags, found in both posts and stories, can take you to the information and the price of the product. You can save items for later in your private shopping collection, or you can purchase right on the platform for select accounts.
Each new feature brings a new way to connect with your ideal client. Are you maximizing your Instagram account?
