Instagram is a viral photo and video-sharing social media platform now available worldwide in this social media era. Meta is the parent corporation of Instagram and owns Facebook.
Instagram appeals to a younger audience. According to statistics, 15.7% of Instagram users are aged 35 to 44, while nearly 70% are under the age of 34. Through Instagram, businesses can interact with millennials, which is effective for marketing to GenZ and other demographics.
Instagram is still one of the biggest players on the social media scene in 2023 and for a good reason. More than 2 billion people throughout the world are active Instagram users as of 2023. Because Instagram is always evolving and growing, it frequently adds new features.
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Importance of Instagram
Instagram is, without question, one of the most popular social media networks in the modern era. Without Instagram, running an effective social media marketing strategy is practically difficult. Instagram, a social media platform focused on images and videos, became well-known partly because of its straightforward filter tool, making any shot appear high-quality with little effort. However, the platform would not be where it is now if it only had one feature.
Although Instagram might help you build your business, you must still manage it simultaneously. You could have missed out on new Instagram features that can help you expand your business even more if you have been too busy doing everything you need to do to maintain your company in tip-top form.
Instagram is always adding new tools to help marketers and creators to compete with TikTok. When you go onto Instagram, it appears like you are greeted with several new tools and functions that you can use to produce, arrange, and market your material.
Several Instagram features are often updated. Attempting to keep up with them all may be very intimidating. However, there are a few things that Instagram introduced that you should concentrate on if you want to get the most out of your account.
Features
The Instagram features are the heart of the platform. They have become very useful for marketers, social media influencers, film celebrities, sports players, politicians, etc. The top 15 features that Instagram launched silently and are very important are listed below.
#1 Professional Dashboard
Instagram’s Professional Dashboard feature, introduced in January 2021, enables you to monitor your performance, access tools for professionals, and expand your company. You may learn more about how your company connects with its followers and discover the best time to schedule updates based on your audience’s online presence. Along with tips and tactics, there are also tools for creating branded content that you can use to maintain the success of your business on Instagram.
Moreover, there is a part where you can quickly put up your items so that potential and existing consumers can purchase directly from your social profile. It becomes much simpler to sell to your followers once you have set up your store since you can tag shoppable items in your posts and stories.
#2 Stickers that promote small businesses
This sticker has become well-known throughout the pandemic and for good causes. Businesses, especially smaller ones, have suffered greatly due to Covid-19 and other limitations. To assist favored small companies and expand their customer base and brand awareness, Instagram decided to provide users the option to support them with a specific sticker.
As a result, you may tag any company with an Instagram profile to spread their message to a wider audience by utilizing the sticker. You might use the sticker to cross-promote your many profiles. For instance, if you work for a small restaurant chain or other similar company, you can set them all up for various locations.
#3 Stories caption stickers
These stickers, which were released in April 2021, translate what you say into text when you use them. To find captions, simply touch on Stickers. 40% of viewers do not have the sound on when watching videos. The chance to win over that audience is excellent. To get more people to view a video, you may automatically fill in the subtitles using the captions sticker.
You must be careful to include all the information you need to present in a brief clip because this function only works for videos that are 15 seconds or less. Because it might not always use the most exact language, simply tap on any inaccuracies to update them.
#4 Instagram Live Video
With the help of the Live Video function, users of Instagram may broadcast video in real-time. Users may interact with their followers directly by leaving comments and leaving likes. Users may invite their followers to join a live broadcast by clicking the light ring next to their profile photo in the narrative area of their Instagram account while they are broadcasting a live video.
With the help of this Instagram feature, your fans can see how representatives of their favorite brands interact with them, ask questions in the comments area that you can respond to in real-time, and express their reactions with heart and happy face emojis.
Also, this is undoubtedly an excellent opportunity to request genuine customer comments or feedback on your goods. Consider a scenario where you create a new product and want to know what your consumers think. Stream a video and directly question them about it rather than just posting about it.
#5 Instagram TV – IGTV
Long-form videos can be uploaded to accounts using Instagram TV (IGTV), an in-app platform. On the Explore page, users may discover the IGTV page. Videos are automatically presented as viewers enter the IGTV tab instead of starting with the search box.
Moreover, depending on the users’ actions and interests, Instagram presents certain IGTV videos. To communicate with their audience and friends, users from both the personal account and business account groups can submit IGTV videos.
With a maximum runtime of one hour, IGTV movies may convey tremendous information. To prevent your followers from switching to another app to view your long-form material, you may cross-promote your content and upload your YouTube videos to your Instagram account.
#6 Geo-Tagged Content
Instagram’s geo-tagging function enables users to assign a specific geographic location to their content. When a user clicks on location in a narrative post or random post, they are directed to a location library where all the posts that have been tagged with that place are stored.
Moreover, users may also add a location to posts, stories, and hashtags, add location stickers to stories, and establish an Instagram location using Facebook. Customers may pin locations you develop to their stories or images. It is a fantastic approach to help customers locate your content through that area and see more than just the postings on your Instagram account.
Also, guests checking in at your location told their friends about your business. You may increase your following on Instagram and expand your audience by using this function.
#7 Remix Reels
This is the most extraordinary Instagram feature. Instagram users have had the option to remix reels since 2021. They may use this feature to make their content, work with producers, or respond to videos. At present, Instagram photographs may also use the remix function.
The “Duet” option on TikTok, which enables users to add their image or video to another, is the feature that best describes the remix function. You may create a reel on Instagram by sharing your video or photo with someone else. Furthermore, you may “remix” the material by adding stickers, surveys, and text.
Depending on what your audience wants to see, you may be creative here, whether it is extending upon the already prepared reel, making it a duet, or adding humorous comments. A video that already exists may be uploaded, or you can make the reel inside the program itself.
Also, you may boost your visibility to their audience by asking them to share your material on their feed, as they will be alerted if you use any of their stuff. Remixing is not available if you click the three dots at the bottom since the capability has been disabled by the user, as noted.
#8 Dual Camera
Instagram’s new dual camera functionality enables users to capture content simultaneously with their front-facing and back-facing cameras. Additionally, the front-facing picture will show up in a small window on the side, with the image from the back-facing camera taking up most of the screen. When recording Reels, the dual feature is the only one accessible. It is one of the top Instagram feature that they have launched silently.
#9 Instagram Hashtag
Probably one of the most well-known Instagram features is the hashtag. Simply described, a hashtag is a tag made up of a string of letters, numbers, and other symbols. In the caption of their postings, users use this sentence. This tag has a clickable link that leads to all entries with the same tag. When someone clicks on it, a tag page including all the posts with that tag will be shown.
Instagram users commonly utilize the search feature to look up persons or specific subjects using hashtags. To provide results, Instagram matches the searched word with hashtags. Because of this, when you add hashtags to your posts, they are cataloged and accessible to Instagram users who are looking for that specific term or phrase.
Even if they have not yet followed you, the appropriate hashtags can help you reach your target market. The best hashtags are those specific to your brand or that Instagram users commonly search for.
#10 Instagram Creator Studio
In addition to Personal and Business Accounts, Instagram also introduced the Creator Account in 2019. Instagram offers a product called Creator Account for the steadily growing community of content producers, including influencers and gurus. An Instagram product called Instagram Creator Studio offers publishing control and audience data.
In addition to the visual features Instagram offers, you can utilize Sound Collections to include music in your photos. This allows you to combine sounds from already-made or most-liked material, combine them, or produce new sounds. Take your time and play with this feature; there are numerous ways to use it.
Moreover, you may check Creator Studio to see how many minutes have been spent watching your movies or how many people have interacted with your postings. When developing your content strategy, this information is excellent feedback.
#11 Interactive Stickers
A lot of the interactive stickers that were previously available for Instagram Stories are now accessible for Reels. To engage their audience, marketers and content producers may include the below-mentioned stickers in their Reels.
- Poll: Ask your followers what they think of or ask them to vote on what your next piece of content should be in a poll.
- Quiz: Use this function to assess your audience’s knowledge or impart fresh information.
- Emoji Slider: Enables readers to express how you are writing or a certain subject makes them feel.
#12 Find Creator
With new tools to facilitate connections between marketers and creators, Instagram is now actively playing matchmaker.
Starting with the creators, users have the option to add brands to their favorite brand list. Those with the brand on their list will appear at the top of the search results when a brand looks for creators to work with. As a result, it is simpler for marketers to locate creators who have previously shown an interest.
Additionally, marketers may filter creators based on their follower count, age, gender, and geography. According to Instagram, this feature enables brands to “organize shortlists to easily manage multiple campaigns.” Only creator accounts and business accounts have access to this functionality.
#13 Instagram Stores & In-Store Promotions
Facebook (or now: Meta) introduced Facebook and Instagram Shops, which are immediately accessible in the applications, as part of a significant investment in strengthening its eCommerce side. Businesses can develop personalized catalogs of their items that people may explore, store, share, and buy from as a result.
It must initially be set up, but once it is, you may display your items in various ways, such as by choosing a color scheme or adding a cover picture to give your online store a distinctive appearance.
Furthermore, Facebook Pages, Instagram profiles, Stories, and even advertisements may be used by users to access Facebook Shops. If a company has enabled checkout in the US, customers can now purchase goods without ever leaving the app.
#14 Auto-Captions for Reels and Stories
Instagram’s captions sticker was once only accessible for stories, but the app recently added Reels to its list of supported media types. This tool automatically transforms what is spoken in a video into text, allowing users to view it without hearing.
With or without sound, viewers may now interact with your videos. Additionally, this function significantly increases the accessibility of Instagram material.
#15 Subscriptions
Instagram just introduced Subscriptions, a tool enabling artists to charge a monthly membership fee for special access to content and privileges. Creators can establish a monthly membership fee via Subscriptions, and a subscribe button will show up on their profile.
They may be able to provide subscribers with a variety of advantages, such as private live streams and stories. The function is part of a larger initiative to assist artists in generating income on its platform, incentivizing producers to stick around. Additionally, this function helps authors to establish closer relationships with their audience.
Conclusion
Instagram is among the most popular social networking platforms in use today. However, the platform is not just expanding; it is also changing.
The user experience on Instagram is quickly developing and getting better every day. You can never become bored with this social networking powerhouse since it constantly receives upgrades, from small ones like relocating a few buttons to major ones like introducing completely new features.
Another effective way to get clients to your company is through Instagram. One of the explanations for this is the platform’s constant evolution and addition of new features to enhance user experience. Now that you are aware of the top 15 features that Instagram quietly introduced, you must use them to your advantage.
