All You Need To Know About The New Instagram Updates

Instagram boasts of a massive client base. It recently introduced some major changes that give you a new approach to market products.

With the new updates, came tools for easier interactions and relating to other users as well as post monetizing features. We will focus on Instagram swipe up to help you understand the new updates better.

Instagram Stories

In the last few months, you could open up Instagram and find a familiar story. The stories on this site resemble and function just like the features of Snapchat with a similar name.

The stories were recently released to allow you to share all moments of your day as opposed to the older version that only allowed sharing of important moments of the day.

Before the changes, you could only post visuals to your feeds. The images would be kept in the profile grid.

But with the new changes, you have the option to add the video to your story and give your followers the chance to view it any moment they click your account profile.

Adding at least two images in your story will make it possible for the followers to watch the image in a sliding chronological order. The slides will be available for viewing for a maximum of 24 hours.

The new update also reduces your worries of posting to much information. You can even add a bit of creativity and post as much as you want throughout the day. You can use the text and drawing tools to bring your post to life as discussed below:

Mentions

The ‘mention’ tool allows you to shout out the names of your followers in the story you are posting. It is not a must to feature the users in the story before you can give them a shout out.

You can also tag your preferred brand into your story using eye-catching texts in the title. You can do this by following the simple steps below:

• Type the “@’’ button just before the handle of the account user you want to mention. Use the text tool to do this.

• A small line will be displayed beneath the handle. This indicates the link that your tags can click to view your story. It is just that simple.

Boomerang

Instagram released this tool last year. It allows the users to record short, interactive and looped videos. Private users and companies have capitalized on this feature to showcase their talents and creativity.

You simply need to install the boomerang app on your mobile device. However, with the new Instagram update, you have the option to add a boomerang to your story on Instagram.

The feature also allows you to quickly create engaging stories as well as freeing up more storage space on your telephone device.

Story Links

Previously, business owners were not able to add links to their posts. This forced them to promote their products through other creative ways like changing bio links to indicate a recent advert.

With the new Instagram story links, verified users can provide links at the bottom of their post to direct customers to content outside the Instagram platform.

The viewers and followers can easily swipe up and be directed to the content without necessarily leaving the platform. This makes work easier and more interesting.

Simple Steps You Can Use To Create A Story On Instagram

Before you get all excited about the new updates, you must first create an Instagram story. What will be the need for all the features if you do not have a great story anyway? Below are the simple steps you can use to create an Instagram story:

1. In your feed, swipe left. Alternatively, find the camera icon in the top left of the home screen. Tap the camera icon.

2. Swipe left on the camera screen and create a boomerang post. Alternatively, take a normal picture or video using the default settings.

3. Add words or mention tags as you require using the text tool. You can get a little more creative and showcase your talents using the marker tool.

4. Once you are through with steps 1 to 3 above, edit as desired and click ‘’done’’

5. Click the ‘’+’’ button to add the image, videos or shout-outs to your story.

6. Repeat the process several times with different images and videos to create a slideshow if you wish to.

Instagram Algorithms

Instagram algorithms have had many changes in the recent past years making it harder and frustrating for the users.  The algorithms limit the chances of your posts being seen by other users.

How the Algorithm Works

The Instagram algorithm rewards stories with a high number of viewers. You, therefore, need to work around the clock to get maximum likes, comments, and even people sharing your stories. You can achieve this by:

Spending More Time Posting To Instagram Stories

Instagram stories help you to interact with many of your followers. There are more than 300 million people who actively use the stories on a daily basis.

If many users interact with your stories, there are high chances that your story will appear in their feeds.

Maximize on the stories engagement opportunities by including the ‘’swipe up’’ feature if you have many followers.

Another great way to take advantage of the story engagement is by telling your followers to send you private messages. This will drive them to your inbox and may just increase the number of your followers.

Treat every comment on your story as a conversation.

Keep Tabs On Your Instagram Comments

This will help you reply to the comments of the users, even through your computer. You will also be able to view the conversations you have had with your followers.

You can achieve all these by using later’s brand new conversation tool. This tool helps in saving time as well as well as keeping tracks of the comments in your story.

Find Out The Time Your Audience Is Most Active

Use Instagram marketing tools such as Later to know when your followers are active on the platform. Remember, the time spent on viewing your story is important in accessing how popular your story is.

This is why you need to make your posts when most of your followers are online so that they can spend quantity time to read the story.

Optimize Your Instagram Hashtag Strategy

It is easy and free to create hashtag using later saved captions feature. After creating the hashtag, add them to particular posts using the click button.

You can save the hashtags that you commonly use in the Instagram template. This will save your time and best of all, the feature is free.

Grab The Attention Of Your Followers With The Perfect Caption

Craft a great caption to beat the algorithm. Make the caption as engaging and attention-grabbing as possible so that followers can actually spend time reading your story or click on your text links.

Conclusion

Take the Instagram swipe up updates and algorithm changes as an opportunity to help you interact more with your followers. You can seek professional help from Lander. They are the best in social marketing.