Are you making the most of Instagram? These are frequently overlooked Instagram functions by social media professionals. Don’t risk it by doing that!
As a social media marketer, I’ve been amazed to see Instagram go from a simple (if popular) photosharing app to one of the most popular social media marketing platforms in the world in only a few short years.
Its rapid ascent is in no little part due to the fact that it is dedicated to constantly improving the platform by adding new features often and at a near-constant clip. At the very least, Instagram has revealed a new feature every single month for the previous three years.
However, it’s easy for social media professionals and agencies to overlook some of Instagram’s best features due to the sheer number of options available.
Both new and established Instagram features will be discussed here, along with tips on how to make the most of them.
Fun, Engaging Stickers for Instagram Stories
One of Instagram’s most prominent features is the Stories feature. You may be missing out on some of Stories’ most impressive features if you’re focusing just on posting a few times a week.
This is especially accurate when talking about interactive stickers.
While the usage of interactive stickers in Instagram Stories is nothing new at this point, many companies are still unclear of how to take advantage of this feature.
Here is an excellent high-level summary:
Users of your Story may listen to the music you upload with music stickers.
If you click on a location sticker, you will be sent to the search results for that specific place.
You may tag other users in your Stories by using the “Mention” stickers.
People that utilise hashtag stickers may quickly and easily access the relevant hashtag page.
Sticker donations provide instant monetary contributions to a selected charity or group.
Stickers in the form of questions allow your audience to pose queries that you may subsequently address.
Sliding emoji stickers allow you to pose a question and get responses by moving an emoji up or down a sliding scale.
With the use of poll stickers, you may pose a question to your audience and provide them with two potential responses.
Quiz stickers are quite similar to poll stickers in that they provide a question and provide users with two options for how to respond, but the goal is to test their knowledge rather than gauge their preferences.
Activation Controls
Have you seen the “Book Appointment” and “Order Food” buttons that have been added to Instagram company accounts as of late?
The “Contact Us” and “Shop Now” buttons on your mobile Instagram profile aren’t the only calls to action you can use.
Take a look at this if you’ve ever thought, “what are new Instagram features that might help me?”
By connecting to external applications like scheduling or table management systems, “action” buttons can trigger predefined tasks inside the platform itself. Thankfully, they can be set up quickly, albeit subscriptions to the necessary third-party tools are required.
To begin, go to your profile and select “Edit.” Search for the section labelled “Action buttons.”
The next step is to select the button that you wish to add.
Select “order meals,” “gift cards,” “book now,” or “reserve” to connect with the external service you like.
After you connect your accounts, this button will appear on your profile.
Instagram Posts With Alternate Text
Google and users of assistive technologies such as screen readers can learn more about the context of an image by reading its accompanying alt text. As such, it provides background information. On a visual site like Instagram, whether or not people with sight problems can join makes a huge impact.
Instagram feed posts can have alternative text added.
Simply click the “Advanced options” link on the screen that appears before you actually make your post.
Under “Accessibility” in the page’s footer, select “Write Alt Text.”
Limiting User Access and Other Control Options
Instagram has moderation tools, but you may have been wondering, “How do I utilise Instagram’s moderation tools?” The good news is that it’s more simpler than it seems.
When it comes to managing who sees and who may comment on your Instagram posts, you have a lot of options to choose from thanks to the app’s robust privacy settings.
Consideration of account restrictions is a good choice. With this feature, you and the person who is publishing may control who sees what they are sharing on your site. Since they can view the remark but everyone else cannot, they will be unaware of the restriction. In all honesty, that’s a great resource for both private and commercial finances.
You may limit a user’s access to whatever they want, but if you’re wondering what they can view on Instagram, the answer is “everything.” The issue is that nobody recognises the value of their work.
You can limit someone’s access by visiting the Privacy tab under Settings. The “restricted accounts” section is below below. You may then pick the user whose access you wish to limit by searching for their name. Keep in mind that you may permanently ban anyone who you don’t want to see your content or interact with your account in any way.
Labels for Advertised Material
Instagram is a typical place for marketers to collaborate with other Instagram users or influencers to promote a product through sponsored posts. This is fantastic, however it should be marked as sponsored content if you intend to distribute it.
By doing so, the sponsoring account will be indicated in your post with a “paid collaboration with” label.
Your partner must add you as a branded partner on Instagram for you to be able to use this function of tagging.
When they do, you may “tag a business partner” in your post by going to the “advanced options” section. Post using the account’s tag.