Instagram’s Newest Updates and How They’ll Effect Users

Instagram continues to dominate the social media metropolis. Of course, TikTok, Twitter, Reddit, Facebook, etc., will always have their place, but Instagram has proven it is here to stay and it is here to dominate. So, when an update comes along and changes either the user experience or the creator interface, you need to pay attention. 

Understanding the updates in depth will boost your Instagram game and maximize your outreach, likes, comments, and shares. 

Don’t lose your social media game for a failure to learn about what’s new. So, instead of letting your competitors take over, let’s dive into some of the top updates of Instagram in the past few months. 

Instagram Collabs

Have you ever wanted to team up with a different influencer or brand in a post? Most collaborations end up being on one or both accounts with just a guest and a shoutout. This isn’t the best way to advertise your account when you are riding the coattails of someone else.

To remedy this problem, Instagram has created “Instagram Collabs.” With Collabs, you invite a fellow creator to collaborate on a post. You can collaborate on a feed post or a reel, depending on the need. You will both be credited as co-authors on the post or reel. Being a co-author means something to Instagram.

Instead of each creator adding the post or reel to their feeds, the accounts share the content. Think of it as a shared moment in time. The two accounts are linked by this single piece of content, like the silk thread of a spider web. 

Not only will you share the post, but you will share in the metrics as well. With Collabs, both of your names will appear on the header, both sets of followers see the same content, including the description and hashes, the content stays live on both profiles, and you both share in comments, shares, and likes. 

This is the ultimate form of cross-profile collaboration. You get to leverage the entire audience of another account to reach more targets in your demographic. Before, followers couldn’t see your responses, thoughts, profile, or audience’s comments unless they manually traveled to your profile and then to that post. Now, it’s like a content and audience mashup.

Links in Stories Replaces the Swipe Up

If you were one of the lucky content creators with over 10K followers, you already had access to the clickable link sticker in the story video. The rest of us lowly muggles had to ask our followers to “swipe up for more info.” So, if you don’t need to use the swipe-up function, this update isn’t as significant.

For Instagram, this was about “Equity, Sharing, and Empowerment.”

Never take the wall that exists for granted when you need your followers to take a step that isn’t something they want to do. For example, swiping up may not seem like a lot, but it is an extra step that hurts your click-through rate. So instead, followers just hit the link, and boom, click-through captured with a link right on the video. 

The power in the “links in the stories” streamlines the click-through redirect process. Plus, this is a proven technique that is already in use. So, your followers already understand the “links in stories” and will immediately react positively to the change.

Image and Video Desktop Posting

The Instagram app is great. It is an efficient tool that completely fulfills all its needs in the size of a pack of cards. But what about Instagram on your computer? Well, as of October 2021, you can use Instagram on your desktop or laptop for more than just browsing.

You can easily add posts and videos to your feed via your desktop. So, if you are a business or creator, you can put down your phone finally and pick up a more powerful video or photo editor on your computer. Posting via your laptop means that you don’t have to download a selfie, edit it on your computer, upload it to your camera roll, and finally post it via the mobile app.

This update is simple, but the utility of desktop uploading has been needed for years. Luckily, the desktop interface will mimic the mobile interface completely. So, there is no learning curve or unnecessary confusion added. You can start snapping, downloading, editing, and publishing immediately.

Just don’t post a video over a minute. All video uploads from a desktop are limited to 60 seconds max.

Instagram Live Scheduling

Instagram Live isn’t new. However, until now, you’ve had to send out reminders or shoutouts yourself if you wanted to do a Live event at a specific time. Most businesses schedule meetings with a calendar. Most movie theaters have set times for shows. Most stores have open and closed hours. Instagram Live didn’t have anything except your ability to be prompt and organized. 

Now, you can schedule your Instagram Live video feeds up to 90 days in advance. If you can’t schedule up to 90 days now, don’t worry, Instagram is slowly rolling the whole three months out by the end of 2021.

This is a powerful tool because it creates a sense of commitment in your audience. When they see your scheduled invitation and click accept, they create a mental connection to your content and your Live event. This connection improves follower loyalty and improves and increases interactions. Further, your followers will get updates and reminders of the event. 

Winning Your Hashtags After These Updates

Before 2021 the Instagram search algorithm was all about the hashtag. However, the game has changed slightly. Even after Instagram updates, posts with at least one hashtag have almost 13% more engagement than posts with no hashtags.

Instagram is looking to improve its keyword-based search results. Keyword-based searches exist on platforms like Google or TikTok. So, for example, if you type in “cat,” Instagram will generate photo and video results that show cats because there are cats in the content, not just because “Cat” is listed in the caption, comment, or hashtag.

This update shouldn’t change your strategy for hashtags. However, you should focus on how well your caption and hashtags fit your content. You can reasonably guess that you may fall flat if you try to manipulate the rankings based on redirecting traffic through hashtags that don’t match your content.

How to Understand Analytics Improvements

Instagram Insights is your in-app business and creator account analytics dashboard. There are three aspects to the analytics updates for 2021. Don’t worry. These aren’t the first updates, and they won’t be the last.

First, Instagram now provides improved and expanded “insights and trends” based on the performance of your account. Second, you can now check on your monetization status from your dashboard and access new branding tools. Third, you can access educational tools straight from the dashboard filled with tips, tricks, helpful tools, and tutorials to ensure that you are at the top of your Instagram game.

Now, you can review the performance of your account via the dashboard with metrics on an “Engaged Audience,” “Reached Audience,” and “Accounts Engaged.” Understanding your performance is key to improving your social game. However, you can’t improve if you don’t know how to read the data. Using these new accessibility tools will significantly help you identify your weak areas and make changes.

Bottom Line

Instagram continues to update its platform to either reinvent the “post” or to copy another player in the industry. Regardless, you need to leverage these updates as quickly as possible to increase your follower numbers, likes, shares, and brand strength. So don’t stop creating, and don’t stop improving.