New Instagram Features for Q4
Instagram is constantly changing and we’ll be the first to admit that it can be a lot to keep up with! Regardless, staying up-to-date with the latest trends and features is essential to remaining a leader in the digital space. Several new Instagram features have rolled out lately and we’ve heard word of several others also rolling out very soon. Read on to learn more about what’s new on Instagram and what we can expect next!
LINK STICKERS FOR STORIES
In years past, reaching 10k followers was a huge milestone on Instagram because it granted you access to including direct swipe-up links on your stories. Say goodbye to swipe-up and hello to link stickers. Just like other IG story stickers, these stickers can be placed anywhere on your Instagram story and users can tap on them to be directed to a specific landing page. Just like swipe-up, this feature is only available to those with 10k+ followers, but so far we have seen a few users with well under 10k followers being granted access too! See below for an example of the new link stickers. (Spoiler alert: it’s ugly, BUT a solution may be coming soon to the HMS Shop… 😏)
IGTV MERGED WITH FEED VIDEOS
Instagram recently announced on their blog that they are merging IGTV and feed videos into one unit called Instagram Video. To accompany this merge and ease the discoverability of video content overall, the app has added an exclusive Instagram Video tab on users’ profiles. This tab will be the home for these combined video formats. See below for a preview of what the new interface looks like!
REELS COVERS FOR PUBLISHED IG REELS
Instagram has also now enabled users to add covers to IG Reels after they have already been published. Previously, this was only possible prior to publishing.
Shameless self-promo: have we mentioned we have IG Reels Cover Templates available exclusively in our ReelTok Online Course? 🤭
COMING SOON!
Instagram is testing the waters with a few other features that haven’t quite been rolled out to everyone just yet. Here are a few they’re working on:
Map Search will allow users to discover businesses and photos tagged at that business directly on the app’s map. This feature will be extremely valuable, particularly to small, local businesses!
Instagram is rolling out yet another way for users to interact with your Stories - Story Likes! Likes will be visible where users can currently view who watched their Story.
To ensure you’re seeing the content you want to see, Instagram is rolling out a feature that allows to “favorite” users, which will cue the algorithm to rank them high on your feed. This gives users a bit more control over the algorithm!
Another discoverability tool, the ability to add location tags to Instagram Reels is slowly rolling out to users!
Instagram is testing a new Instagram Story sticker that asks followers to write a prompt. This could be another great tool to spark engagement!
Anyone else remember that glorious Monday when IG was down for several hours? Instagram is supposedly rolling out a service outage feature that will notify users when a technical difficulty occurs on the platform.
We hope you found this blog post helpful in discovering what’s new on Instagram and what we can expect to see next! For more social media tips and updates, be sure to follow us on Instagram and subscribe to our social media newsletter.
xx- The Homies
