Social media platforms are constantly evolving, and Instagram has been quite the busy bee this fall. Between prepping for the holiday season, staying up-to-date with current events, and accomplishing everyday tasks, it can be a challenge to keep up with the changes. Here’s a quick catch-up for you!
Let’s chat about some of Instagram’s new features…
Insta has a new look!
When you open up the app, you’ll notice the camera and activity/notifications tabs are now next to the Instagram Direct icon on the top right of your homepage. That prime bottom center real estate now belongs to the Reels and Shop tabs. (I lost count of how many times I have instinctively tapped the shop tab looking for my notifications, but here we are.)
So, why fix what wasn’t broken? Over the past year, Instagram has noticed the viral spread of short, entertaining videos and an increase in demand for easy, on-platform shopping. The purpose of Instagram’s updated look is to keep up with changing user behavior while improving the overall user experience.
Now, you might wonder: what are Reels? Reels (also somewhat new to the platform) replicate the Tik-Tok experience — they’re short, 15-30 second videos primarily used for entertainment. Reels tend to be more choreographed and less timely than stories. They can be a great tool for businesses that have a little extra time and creativity and want to promote products and share valuable information in a new, engaging way. My advice?
DO: Start small, keep it simple, have FUN, and grow from there. Also, just be yourself!
DON’T: Worry if you are overwhelmed or don’t have time to dabble in Reels right now. It’s perfectly OK to focus on strategies that are bringing in conversions and make small goals to help your content evolve with these shiny, new things.
As for the Shop tab, it’s now in a more easily accessible location and allows users to support their favorite brands, find personalized recommendations, discover discounts, shop collections, and more. (If you have a product catalog, here’s your reminder to spend some time in Commerce Manager ensuring your shop is properly optimized.)
Product tags are now available for Instagram ads built in ads manager!
Ads with product tags take users straight to a related product page where they can learn more and get a direct link to your website. You can now use this feature when building your ad from scratch using Ads Manager as opposed to just doing it the old way and promoting organic posts that use the product tag.
A Korean skincare brand that has been testing this feature for the past year saw a 45% decrease in cost per purchase and a 42% reduction in cost per add to cart (source)!
A promising new custom audience!
On top of product tags for ads, Instagram also introduced a new audience tool: Shopping Engagement Custom Audiences. This allows businesses to target users that have previously shown interest in their products, such as saving a product, visiting a shop, or initiating a purchase, according to Search Engine Land. Can’t wait to test this one.
Instagram users’ search ability is getting a boost!
In 6 countries (including here in the U.S.), users will now be able to search the platform using keywords. Previously, users were only able to search the platform using hashtags, location, or by directly typing in an account name. Now, instead of searching #holidayoutfits, a user could search “holiday outfits” and all posts that fit the description should appear, even if the hashtag is missing. This being said, it’s important to note that only certain terms are searchable. It will be interesting to see how this feature evolves but for the time being, it’s an added resource for users to find more content that is relevant to them.
Instagram creators can go Live for longer!
Creators can now share video in real-time for up to 4 hours and have up to 30 days to save the recording. Instagram is also planning on adding a “Live Now” section in the IGTV app and on Explore to make Lives more discoverable.
The wild part? These are only SOME of the recent changes! Which of these (or other) updates are you most excited about?
