You surely have heard that the algorithm rewards creators who use new features. Does Instagram get something out of this deal? Oh, come on. If you use a brand new feature, chances are it will make your community more likely to give it a chance and test it out too. So it’s beneficial for both sides – your profile and the whole platform as well! How can you make it work FOR YOURSELF? As always, to majorly up your engagement, a great place to start is testing which features feel good to you. Try using new features once in a while, and watch your reach and engagement soar because even if it sounds a bit too good to be true, it’s not a rumor: Instagram will really reward you if you utilize their new features. Real-life example?
If you use Reels, Instagram will push your posts to more users.
The video keeps Instagram users on a platform for a longer amount of time, so they really care about prioritizing it. So if you’re creating video content, you’re basically supporting the platform’s growth, and you’re helping Adam Mosseri keep users on his platform. And yup, they need our help, and they’ll reward us for it. It sounds really fair, huh?
The best thing? Instagram won’t ever get stuck in the past, as some of the other platforms do – they’re still introducing new features and new formats. In addition, Instagram is transparent and communicative about all upcoming features, so they basically keep us all informed about new moves, and we can feel like we have all the updates.
Essential new features to test out right now?
Collabs: If you want to supercharge your posts reach, it’s time to start experimenting with this beneficial feature. It allows you to invite another creator to collaborate on a regular post or an Instagram Reel, and it works like co-authoring content. Both of your usernames will appear on the post and appear on both feeds. The best news? Two different audiences will see your post, which means double chances for likes, comments, and shares. That way, you can easily double your reach. Sounds good, huh?
Adding your custom stickers to instastories
They don’t just help you engage with your audience, they can give your instastories a totally new look and reframe your storytelling. Why would you even want to use other creators’ GIFs when you can come up with your own? The best part? That’s not as complicated as you may think – and we can help you with that!
So, how to make your own Instagram GIF stickers?
All GIFs used in Instagram Stories are powered by the platform you’re probably familiar with: Giphy.com. The first step to create your own stickers: you’ll need to create an account and go through the process of verification. Then you’re ready to start your GIFs journey! With the platform’s help, you don’t need any pro badass animation and graphic design skills to create something impressive. To be honest – they have made the creation process extremely straightforward and intuitive. Giphy also offers pretty helpful analytics for each of your GIFs. This means you can track how many times users were viewing your creations. That’s some powerful stuff!
Schedule LIVE videos and practice performing live in advance.
Now you’re armed with a great feature to build up a bigger buzz for your upcoming Live session by scheduling it (up to 90 days in advance), then sharing info across Instagram to alert your followers. Instagram has also rolled out a feature, “Practice mode,” which allows you to test going live ahead of the scheduled one to try your connection, lighting options and rehearse any other pre-live activity you may want to prepare.
Let us tell you: testing new features is more important than ever because it’s your chance to get rewarded by Instagram’s algorithm. So that’s it – now is the perfect time to try how these new features can work for you: you can learn at your own pace and become comfortable with the new possibilities. And if the changes are a bit confusing, don’t worry – you’ll quickly become familiar with them (and the best part – Bien sur, we’ll help you, that’s more than obvious).
New Instagram Features Q&A
As always, I’ve gathered the most burning questions right here! To give you easy access to the critical questions with answers, I will be creating a short FAQ at the end of almost every post, so look out for them!
How to make a collaboration post on Instagram?
Instagram Collabs give you an opportunity to invite another creator to collaborate on regular posts or Reels so that they can share the content with their audience as well. It’s like co-authoring a book! Essentially, you co-author post with another Instagram user, and the content will show up on both of your feeds. When you gain access to the Collabs feature, you’ll have a chance to send and accept requests to collaborate on co-authored content.
The good news is that it’s really easy-peasy to arrange a Collab on Instagram – the whole process is exceptionally similar to tagging someone in a post. Let’s dive in deeper!
How to land your first Instagram collaboration? And how to find a collab partner?
- Find a creator you love and trust and you’d love to work with. A successful collab post starts with finding the right collab partner! You need to find someone who can be a good fit for your strategy.
- Start by preparing a list of about 15-20 creators you’d love to collaborate with. Reach out to them all. Say hi, and ask them if they’d be interested in preparing a collab post with you. Pro tip? Introduce yourself and explain a little about your idea and why you wanted to collaborate with them. Throwing in an HONEST compliment is also a beneficial idea, so don’t hesitate to use it.
- Many of your dream collab partners might not respond. And that’s okay too, don’t take it personally – they might be too busy, overwhelmed with work or an important project they’re working on.
- If someone says they’re in, prepare your Instagram collaboration idea in detail. Yass, once you’ve found your Instagram collab partner, it’s time to discuss the concept!
By the way – reaching out to people you don’t know yet can be a big challenge, so the next time you post a regular post or a Reel that you made with your good friend or a photographer you’re working with, why not make it a Collab post? That’s a great way to start with this feature!
How to send a collab request?
- After uploading your new content (Reels or a regular post), go to the next step of the process as usual, and find the option “Tag people.”
- Look at the bottom right corner – there, you should see the “Invite Collaborator” feature. After tapping on it, choose the creator you want to collaborate with.
- After you’ve picked the user, you want to collaborate with, post the content as usual, and your collaborator will receive a request (right in their DMs inbox).
- The content will not be posted on their feed until they’ve accepted the request.
Can I create collab post with more than one creator? Can I invite 2-3 users?
ATM, you can only collaborate with one creator!
Why can’t I post collabs?
Collabs feature was rolled out to everybody (no matter where you live), so you should have it by now! Make sure you’re using the latest version of the ‘Gram (update it just in case), but if you have the latest version and you still can’t use the collab feature – unfortunately, all you can do is wait (or get in touch with IG’s helpdesk).
What other new features can be beneficial for MY account? How to tell if they’re going to work for me?
Which formats will be the best choices FOR YOU? Well, the most crucial thing: you need to experiment, test them all out, and then analyze the insights. If you’d like ME to help you, audit your current content strategy, find your strengths and obstacles you might unconsciously be facing + research which formats can work wonders for YOUR content creation, there’s still a chance.
Right now, I want to make this 1:1 game-changing audit accessible to as many of you as possible. And hey, I have dropped its price from last year to prove my commitment. Book it now (for 29$) as this is the only way you can get this kind of 1:1 audit and my personalized insights ❤️
Now, I would love to hear from you…
What questions do you have about Instagram strategy, new features, or hashtag research? Notice that I said question(s) plural. Ask a lot of them. Don’t be shy!
Your answers help me create better future blog content, ebooks, and guides. So what would you love to know? By the way- stay tuned for an entire post about the ways you can benefit from using Collabs feature!
