Did you check out the new Emoji slider introduced by Instagram? I am absolutely in love with it and all the new features that Instagram has been introducing lately starting from different fonts to the GIF’s.
More followers, increased engagement and more revenue! These new Instagram features provide you with the right opportunity to achieve your business goals by using Instagram as an effective marketing tool. This ain’t that bad for a photo sharing app which has grown to become a social network with more than 700 million users in merely seven years. Actually, It’s great.
The objective of new Instagram features is not just to increase your reach but also provide more traffic, more conversions, more video views, and increased mobile app installs through their story ads. Instagram is also testing a new booking and payments feature for its platform which means you never really have to leave the platform. Totally agree with someone who said convenience sells!
By introducing these new features, Instagram is working its way to becoming a market leader by utilizing the best features of the photo sharing apps. If they are doing it, why should you miss out? Keep on reading to materialize on their new features for your business growth.
Whether you are an Instagram veteran, or a newcomer just about to explore this popular app, these five tips and tricks will help you to use it like an Insta-pro:
#1 Add a location to your story
Users can now add “Location” to their posts which is great for businesses because they can increase your brand awareness, understand user’s experience which means an opportunity for increased engagement and utilising UGC as a marketing tool. Even businesses can add location to their stories. This will keep our users engaged as they will also be able to see the top posts for that location, hence, increasing your reach. It will definitely double your reach if not more. This is because Location can now be searched with stories.
While uploading your story, click on the square sticker on the top right corner of the page. It’s the third icon next to the editing option. Once you click on it, you will see these options including location, time, hashtag, day and much more (See Image 1)
When you click on the location, you can start typing the name or it will itself provide you options to choose from based on your location.
The final image with the location tag looks like this. The pancake was YUM!
When your users click on the location and it will show you the top posts from this place and a pinpoint on the map. 
You can even save the image once you post it as a story or delete it if you don’t like it. Just click on the three dots on the bottom right corner. Although, they only last 24 hours, these stories can be viewed again by your users as well. Adding location is an absolute must to advertise your products or services. How awesome and easy to use is this new Instagram feature?!
#2 Use Hashtags in your stories
Using Hashtag is similar to using Location in your stories. You users can find the top posts by clicking on this hashtag. Hashtags can be used in the live videos which can now be replayed as stories. The send message will let your users engage with you and navigate using the arrows on the videos.
Don’t let your users miss out the valuable content that you curate for them. You can use Hashtags and Location alternatively to reach more users. The key is to always track the results. You can check how many users have watched your video live and as stories. Experiment, analyse and customise these new Instagram features!
#3 Use face filters to engage with your audience
Yes, using face filters on Instagram for stories helps you engage with you followers by adding fun and trendy touch to your brand. Use these filter to synchronise them with your brand personality. There are plenty of ways to use face filters to reach more followers. One of them is starting a competition involving face filters. Try it and let us know your views on this new Instagram feature.
#4 Use Call to Action (CTA’S)
Do you want your users to just see your content and then forget about it? Of course not! This is why it is integral to add CTA’s to your posts and to your bio. You have to tell your users what to do after they have viewed your post and consumed all the information. Use at least 75% of content to educate them about your product and why’s of your product. The rest 25% should be focused on selling this product/service to your users and CTA’s will come in handy while doing self-promotion.
Foxynet Solutions helps businesses in formulating growth strategies on various social media platforms. Contact us now to grow your business!
#5 Add multiple photos and videos to one post
If you cannot decide which is the best photo to post, you can now upload more than one picture at a time. Thanks to the recent update where you can publish up to 10 photos and videos in one post. Hence, you don’t need to take the time to collage a few photos into one. All you need to do is just click the “select multiple” button that appears near the bottom of the currently selected photos to choose more than one photo or video to upload. It is your go to feature to promote your product/service for users from different backgrounds or create anticipation for a new product. Engage your users and drive more sales through this amazing feature.
In short, using these new Instagram features will provide you an edge over your competitors if done right. These features will give you real actionable results. It is important that you adapt to these new changes to survive just like Instagram did.
Article Contributed by Mariessa Lai and edited by Isha Kharub
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