Social Media: Here are the latest Instagram updates that you'll want to take advantage of!
Lauren Beeching
Every social media channel knows that being on top means having to be innovative and keeping up with what your audience wants… which means we get regular updates and changes!
Today, we'll focus on Instagram.
Instagram has been a pivotal platform for social media marketers, content creators, entrepreneurs, and businesses alike, whether you love it or hate it.
It's become a key component in the customer user journey, with many people searching for a brand on Instagram to inform their consideration of a product or service. So, be honest, how often have you looked up a brand's Instagram to see whether they had a legitimate social media presence?
To keep its slice of the social media cake, Instagram continues to roll out new updates across the platform to keep its users engaged and remain competitive against newer platforms, like Tik Tok.
Quite a few updates have happened this year, so we thought it'd be good to run you through some of our favourites in case you've missed them.
LIVE CAPTIONING ON INSTAGRAM STORIES
Many people use social media with the volume off, especially if you're scrolling through a feed like Instagram's and you're out and about. But, of course, people using TikTok is a different story!
That's why, at Honest London, we always make sure that our client's videos have subtitles on them. Not just for people who occasionally forget to bring their earphones out with them, but more importantly, to make the content we create more accessible to others, such as those who are hard of hearing.
With this in mind, Instagram introduced speak-to-text on Instagram Stories, allowing users to create their subtitles just by speaking. Just remember to enunciate words as clearly as you can to get the most accurate captions!
INSIGHTS NOW GO UP TO 90 DAYS
If you ever found Instagram's 30-day cap on its insights a little restrictive, then you'll be glad to know that they expanded the reporting window up to three months! This means that you're able to draw more accurate averages on the results of your content based on the past 90 days and better compare one month's results to the previous month.
INSIGHTS FOR INSTAGRAM REELS
Speaking of insights, do you remember when Reels were first introduced on Instagram?
You couldn't pull insights other than how many views, likes, and comments it received?
Now, you've got access to many other insights that other posts have too!
In recent months, Instagram has opened up insights for Reels to now also include the number of accounts reached and the number of saves and shares.
As a side note, saves and shares can often be considered essential metrics as they represent a higher level of engagement beyond likes and comments. Shares, in particular, demonstrate how others have amplified your content. The more your content is shared, the greater your reach becomes.
INSTAGRAM'S RECENTLY DELETED
Have you ever accidentally, for some reason, hit the Delete button on a post you wanted to Archive or Edit instead?
Instagram's 'Recently Deleted' feature means that all is not lost! This feature was introduced as users who had the misfortune of having their accounts hacked would sometimes find that some of their content had been deleted with no way of getting it back.
MORE OPPORTUNITIES FOR CREATORS
Instagram has recently stated that it will be focusing more on video content, its in-app shopping functionality, and Instagram content creators. This means that they are creating more opportunities for creators to earn money on the platform, and many of their upcoming updates are sure to reflect this.
One of these new features is Affiliate, a native affiliate program launching soon.
Though it's an update that isn't quite here yet, we must say it's quite an exciting one, particularly for content creators. With this feature, not only will users be able to tag products in on-feed posts and stories, but they will also be able to earn a commission off of every sale that occurs through their post.