Instagram features: 5 things to try for results

The hardest part of social media is keeping up!

Instagram features are changing all the time, with plenty of options at the disposal of digital marketers looking to get results.

Instagram is constantly evolving with new features; it feels like there is something new to play with every day.

If you want to stay relevant and keep your followers interested in your brand, you have to get on board and get creative with all that the app has to offer.

Let’s take a look at the Instagram features you need to know and implement for 2022, if you want to drive higher engagement and share better content on the ‘gram.

1. Reels

Reels are a great way to capitalise on popular TikTok content, trends and challenges without moving to a new platform and having to build your audience all over again. This short-form video content plays into user’s shorter attention spans, from how-to-videos, before and afters, viral challenges and tips and tricks; Reels offer brands the chance to give your brand a personality.  

2. Instagram shopping

It’s no secret Instagram is on a mission to make the platform a shopping experience, last year implementing shoppable products to be available from the main navigation menu. For businesses, these shoppable posts are a great way to showcase your products and drive more sales.

Instagram Checkout is currently available for US users and is sure to hit Australian screens soon, where users can purchase a product found on the ‘gram without having to leave the app at all. Game changer indeed!

Instagram has also announced that Instagram Shopping across IGTV and Instagram Reels will launch this year, too.  

3. Instagram Guides

One of Instagram’s newest features is Instagram Guides. They’re a new way to share and consume content on Instagram; it is a curated flow of posts with commentary from your own Instagram content and allows you to bring content from other accounts.

Almost like a mini-blog, there are three main types of guides; places (geo-tagged locations), products (shoppable products) and posts (posts you’ve created or saved), all collected into a single resource.

Guides make it easy to showcase key content you want your audience to see and find quickly rather than users scrolling endlessly down your feed.  

4. Carousel posts

A study of over 22 million Instagram posts found that carousel posts are the most engaging type of post.

The ability to post 10 images or videos in a single post allows for creative brand storytelling and offers flexibility to incorporate all types of content.

The previously mentioned study found that a combination of images and videos in the same carousel generates a higher engagement rate per post.  

5. Instagram Live

During the pandemic, Instagram Live experienced a significant increase in interest in connecting, making announcements, and holding events virtually, with usage soaring 70% in just one month, and it’s only anticipated to grow in 2021.

Instagram Live allows businesses to broadcast live videos to other users on the platform. These videos now appear on the explore page on Instagram and have extended from one hour to four hours.

When your brand goes live, it sends a notification telling your followers and bumps your content to the first position in stories, so it is at the top of the user’s feeds, which all helps expose your broadcast to your followers.