Instagram Updates You Need To Know Of

Truth is that Instagram has evolved rapidly over the years since its acquisition by Facebook a while back. This means that the playing field keeps changing, and ever since then, it seems there’s a new feature being released every few weeks by Instagram.

So, it’s a no-brainer that it is now more important than ever for businesses to be in the loop and to stay on top of developments in this space. This will give you an edge in your social media marketing. We’ve compiled a list below of the most important changes.

Instagram updates

Story Highlights

This new feature was announced in December of 2017 yet the public only got their hands on it in early 2018. This feature allows for Stories to be archived and placed into one or more galleries. Once this has happened, Stories are able to live past their 24-hour expiration time.

Algorithm

The Instagram algorithm presents you with content, after considering your interests and relations, based on these three factors:

• Interest,
• Timeliness, and
• Relationship.

In fact, it’s believed that 90% of posts we see are from our friends and family instead of the initial 50% of the chronological feed. Things like frequency, following, and usage also help when it comes to determining the type of content delivered to your feed.

Instagram’s New API

There are a number of things that you need to know about Instagram’s new API:

• Your Instagram Likes are now private. This means that other companies are no longer able to tell which posts you’ve liked or haven’t liked.
• Instagram bots have officially died.
• Searching on Instagram has become limited. The only way to do this is through hashtags.
• It is now possible to schedule organic posts via third-party tools.

IGTV

This has been the big announcement to come from Instagram over the last little while, but somehow the excitement significantly died down after its launch. We’d say the wave of success should be on the up real soon because IGTV has completely transformed the way we view videos, by insisting that videos be vertical, instead of horizontal. There’s been a slow migration to using this new feature. Digital marketers needs to take note of IGTV as it is a strong addition to any social media marketing portfolio.

Story stickers to look out for

• Gif stickers: Can you imagine everyone’s excitement about the news that they could animate static images with gifs? Well, it was over the top. Have you tried it?
• Countdown sticker: This sticker was released in December. It allows you to add a countdown clock to your stories.
• Questions and Polls: This should be every digital marketer’s dream. You get to engage with your consumers. In addition, you could use the Poll Sticker for in-depth results on one of two choices.
• The Music Sticker: Now you are able to integrate stickers with music.

Nametags

This concept seems to be more of a Snapchat thing because Nametags are basically Snapcodes. This means that they are visual codes which can be scanned using your Instagram camera, and you should be redirected to the content on its link.

Share to Stories

It was the first ever native Regram Tool we’ve seen. It allows you to share your feeds as your Story post and it will remain linked to the original post. In addition, when tagged you can share that Story post as your own Story in seconds.

Action Buttons on Business Profiles

The other good news is that we saw the introduction of third party integration Action buttons earlier this year. And this integration with third-party tools like Eventbrite, Resy, Fandango, GrubHub, etc. allows you to add an Action button for driving conversions.

Direct Messages

This was introduced for live video chats on Instagram. The quality is flawless; it’s much better than Facebook Messenger video and Skype in terms of quality and ease of use.

Adding Alt Text to Posts

Instagram has allowed you the ability to add the Alt Text during uploads. This will make sure that your posts are always searchable.

Get in touch with the Digital School of Marketing

Want to learn more about how Instagram – and other social media channels – can add positively to your digital marketing efforts? The Digital School of Marketing’s Social Media Marketing Course will teach you how to use social media marketing to the benefit of your business. For more information about this and our other online digital marketing courses, visit our website.