Social media platforms are constantly updating their platforms to better serve and work bugs out and at the end of the day to gain more users. Users = Money in the long run, so gaining new users and keeping them on the platform longer is the goal.
So how do businesses keep up with all of these changes while still running their business effectively? It is learning what these updates are, and how to leverage them correctly for your business, so you can stop stressing out about all of the changes and just get back to business. The big thing to keep in mind with any update on any of the social platforms, is they want the update to be successful; so the faster you embrace it the better! The social platforms favor the accounts that use their updates, meaning it is a great time for you to grow your accounts with minimal added efforts. It is also important to remember that not all updates roll out to all of its users at the same time, so if we review an update and your account does not have it yet, don't worry, it is coming!!! Use this time as "given time" to plan how you can embrace this update when it does roll out on your account.
Let's start off by talking about all of the updates with Reels. We have seen that Reels are a great way to cast a wider reach faster. It has the longest shelf life of any content you will put on Instagram. If you are not using Reels for your business you are missing out! Every view is someone you are introducing to your business in some way. Think retail front, those are people walking by "window shopping" looking at what you have inside. If you are afraid of putting your face on the camera (now is an amazing time to get out of your comfort zone and do it anyway!) there are many creative ways to still create a reel. The reason I will always recommend putting your face out there is it will create trust within your business and people will feel more connected to your message and overall easier for you to hit the goals you are going after! So, let's dive into the new updates in Reels!
1. Interactive Reel Stickers
Up until now, you have only been able to use interactive stickers in Stories (polls, quizzes, slide bar). But it is now available in Reels as well. This is great because it turns Reels more interactive than ever before. People watching are able to be more involved with you and your ability to get them to interact easier. This is great because once views turn into interactions, it will trigger the algorithm as a "valuable" piece of content and will show it to more people, and it becomes a domino effect in a positive way!
So, how do you leverage your business? Think about your goals in your business at this time: recruiting, sales, building your email list, awareness... whatever the goal may be, and think of creative ways to get your viewers to interact with you and the brand. Maybe if you are selling a product, then you come up with a clever way to show 2 different products and ask them to vote which one they love more? If you are recruiting and scaling your business, maybe you use it as a way to show off your company culture and have them vote on which is most important to them when joining a business. The possibilities are endless... you just need to start thinking outside of the box and be creative with this one!
2. 90-Second Reels
We have seen reels go from 15-seconds to 30-seconds to a full 60-seconds and now we have 90-seconds! This is going to be great so you can give a bit more information about a topic when needed. For your business, this is a great way to make more meaningful videos.
3. Original Audio / Import Your Own Audio
This means fewer trends! More original content! Think speaking to your phone-type content. If you are not yet building value in your area of expertise, you are missing the boat! You should be building your marketing strategy around this idea and really spending time building content people are going to want to save, share and "buy" into your business for the long haul.
On the flip side, you are able to upload your own audio now! This will be great if you have a message and want to share but show something else. You can also use this if you are recording podcasts and things along that nature. The possibilities are endless and you are able to be as creative as you want!
4. Grid Pinning
As a business this is HUGE!!! When people make it to your profile page, you are now able to focus them on what you want them to see vs the last thing you posted. This is a great opportunity for you to create specific content for these three spots at the top of your grid. Think about an introduction to your brand, a service you may offer, or even a special promo. This could also be a great place to share your business's history and how it even got started. Whatever you want someone to see first this is where you will want to put it.
This will be located under your profile, bio, and highlight bubbles... it is the first 3 squares of your grid.
BUT... how do you pin it there?
It is really simple... you will click on the piece of content you want to pin, and there will be three dots at the top of the post, and then click the option to pin. Once pinned it will show a thumb tack at the top right corner of the post on your grid. You will remove it the same way. The order in which you pin your posts will show up the same way on your grid. So think strategically when picking your pin orders.
5. Followers vs Favorites
You can now control your normal feed. The goal will be for your viewers to mark you as a favorite so that they are sure not to miss anything that you post! You would also show up in their stories first with a green circle around your profile picture vs the pink.
Why is this important?
Well, it is important because now that people are able to control what is in their normal feed, and if you are not in their normal feed, you will be creating all of this amazing content and they will never see it! The goal of putting content out on Instagram is for followers to see the work that you are putting out to help you hit the goals in your business.
Many people are unaware of how to do this... so teaching your followers (in stories or reels) how to do this would be ideal, so you could continue on with business as usual. But, keep in mind... not everyone sees every piece of content you put out there, so maybe adding this into your strategy for a little while would be smart, until it is no longer a new update.
6. Sizing
The sizing of static posts (graphic and pictures) are no longer going to be square (1:1)! I personally have mixed feelings about this one, as someone who creates lots of branded posts for my clients, this is going to add an element of design that was not there before. So the new size is going to be the full 9:16 (Stories and Reels) to take up the screen.
So, this means that captions are becoming less prevalent because they are not as obvious to see. This also means that you will need to think of the whole design in a little bit different way because your grid is still a 1:1 design. So, depending on how important esthetics is to your business and branding this will need to take some thought.
If you are still uploading a 1:1 design the rest of the space will be blurred out via Instagram. So be sure whichever direction you end up going with embracing this update, be sure to think it through from every angle.
At the end of the day, Instagram will always have updates and it seems very prevalent that they are making big shifts to their platform. So, be sure to educate yourself and come up with a strategy for your goals and embrace all of the changes!!! If you need help coming up with a strategy for your business and goals or if you are looking for a social media manager to represent your business online, so you can get back to the things you enjoy please be sure to connect with me today!
If you want to continue to learn about each of these features be sure to head over to Instagram and push the follow button and make me a favorite!!
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