8 Exciting Instagram Updates Coming This Summer
#1 IGTV – Instagram TV
Instagram just launched the TV app called IGTV. It’s a stand-alone app, which you can access from the Instagram.
You can add or view up to 1 hour long videos, vertical and full-screen, just like a longer Stories. Also, IGTV integrates with Instagram so your followers will be notified if you add a video. Once you open the platform, a video will start to play, just like in an actual TV. The difference is that users will be shown targeted content, relevant to their interests. It seems to be a valuable new tool for the brands with ability to share long content with their audience.
#2 Instagram Algorithm
While the Instagram algorithm remains unknown, the app now shares a new insight on how it works and outlines the most important factors that heavily effect algorithm placements.
These factors are:
– How recent is your post. Recent ones are given more priority
– How interested the user is in content like yours
– Interactions with the content: if a user likes/comments on your content a lot, they will see more of it
What the algorithm means for your brand:
– Implement more engagement-buliding techniques to improve interaction with your followers
and be more visible on their feeds
– Timing matters, so experiment a bit in order to find best posting times
#3 @mention Share for Stories
User generated content is great way of reaching larger audience for your brand. With the new function on the Instagram you can easily share other user’s Story if they @mentioned you. Whenever it happens, you will see “Add this to your story” option above the image in the direct message. You will be able to customise the content and also tag the user it came from.
#4 Shoppable Tags in Stories
Great product-tagging feature will soon be extended to Stories, making it really easy for customers to make an order. Whenever you tag a ‘shoppable’ product, users will see a shopping bag icon linked to a product page. The feature is now being tested with the big brands, but it will soon become available for everyone.
#5 Share Spotify song to your Story
Instagram decided to meet users demand and will soon be implementing a feature to share Spotify songs straight to your Story. To do this, you would just tap on a song on Spotify and click on of the “share” options. What more, you will be able to listen to the songs without actually having to go to Spotify.
#6 VideoCall in DM
Now, Instagram allows you to make a video and audio calls, also within the groups. To use it, just go to your DM section, select a person or a group and click on the camera button in the top right corner.
#7 New Explore Page
Instagram is going to redesign its Explore Page. In addition to showing you the most popular content related to what you like, the new feature will allow you to actually choose the content you want to see. Cool!
8# Usage Insights
Instagram is currently testing a new feature that will allow you to monitor how much time you actually spend on the app by looking at ‘Usage Insights’. It is not sure yet how the function would work, but we hope the app will help users to have a responsible online experience. #selfcare
