Currently, Instagram is one of the most preferred social networks. Thanks to regular Instagram updates and additions, Instagram is becoming even more popular. This year, Instagram is likely to see improved insights for brands and creators, features focused on security and transparency, and new engagement-oriented features, including those for stories.
Have a look at some of the latest features released by Instagram.
1. Age Gating
Now, you can set age limits on your Instagram accounts. This feature is useful especially if you are in restricted fields like alcoholic beverages. You can also set age limits to restrict access to your channels.
You can set a minimum age limit by either setting up a global minimum age or opting for country-specific minimum ages. Country specific minimum age is important if you are selling products like alcohol, which has different age restrictions in different countries.
To set up age limits, go to your Instagram business profile and click on the settings;
Depending on the type of account you hold, choose either Creator or Business
Click on the Minimum Age
Set up age restrictions
You can change these settings at any point in time.
2. New growth Analytics
The new growth Analytics in Instagram’s Insights is a great feature. Unlike the previous updates, this new algorithm will show you which posts and Stories are helping you get most followers.
It is an asset as it will help you grow your follower count.
Additionally, this feature will also show you how your follower count has changed in the past 24 hours or the past week. It will also help you see how many people have "un-followed" you and what the overall net total was at a quick glance.
3. See Aggregated Stories mentioning about you
Wouldn’t you love to know what people are talking about your brand? Well, now you do that with Instagram’s new feature. The feature will show you a list of Stories that have mentioned content about your brand within the past 24 hours. You can find this aggregated list at the top of the Activity tab.
You can even share the content yourself and capitalize on the powerful user-generated-content (UGC).
Another interesting functionality about this feature is that if you follow the account that tagged you, the Story can automatically be added to your “ About You” story reel. This will give you user-generated content in a quick and easy way.
You can also choose to share any Stories that have mentioned you, manually. However, for best results, make sure to tag the original creator in yours to thank them.
4. Flexible formatting for Business Pages
Earlier, Instagram profiles had one set look. A listed business category would help users know what type of brand they were interacting with and contact information was clearly displayed for easy access.
Now, you have the option to hide the contact information and business category from your Instagram profile.
This option gives you the flexibility of how you want your profile to appear. It also gives you more control over how users interact with your profile and business.
Do note that if hide you hide your contact and business category information, it may be difficult for users to get in touch. You may hide your contact information if you want customers to reach you through your website or direct message instead.
5. New Inbox Organization
Instagram New Inbox Organization helps break your inbox into two different tabs- Primary and General. This allows you to sort messages based on their importance and priority.
You can swipe on a message and move them from one to another and sort them accordingly.
Messages in the Primary tab can be seen first and notifications for these messages will be enabled automatically, letting you know whenever you get a response.
Messages that don’t need immediate response or engagement can be placed in the General tab. Though this won’t have notifications enabled automatically, you can change the settings manually.
With more and more people turning to Instagram’s direct message, this new inbox feature will help you keep track of messages that you need to respond to and those that you don’t.
Conclusion
There’s no telling what incredible features Instagram has up its sleeves. In addition, it will be interesting to see if Facebook’s search ads will have any impact on Instagram ads. However, Instagram is sure to include features specific to the Shopping functionality.
That aside, stay tuned for more updates from Instagram!