When it comes to ranking social media sites according to their number of followers, Instagram ranks 5th, with 1.3 billion monthly active users. But year by year, Instagram has pinned its way on the top 3 best social media networks. From a photo-sharing platform, it has evolved into a photo-and-video-sharing platform today.
According to a digital marketing speaker Hong Kong, around 81% of Instagrammers research for companies, products, and services. More than 50% of Instagram users have visited a website to make a purchase of the brand, product, or service they saw on an Instagram ad. As a result, 130 million people on Instagram tapped on Shoppable posts every month.
This 2021, Instagram is all about new features and trends. A social media agency Hong Kong highlights the importance of posting authentic and relevant content. Through Instagram, brands and businesses can engage their audiences using different features and tools. Below are 5 new Instagram features that can help save marketing time!
Add Auto Captions to Instagram Feed Posts
Auto captions make it time-saving for marketers to put descriptions on images and videos. A video marketing agency Hong Kong has noted the importance of caption or text description on images and videos to optimize SEO. Last September 2020, Instagram enabled automated subtitles to IGTV. Stories auto-captions followed in May 2021. It allows users to add stickers to their Stories to automatically turn auto-captions. Last July 2021, Instagram introduced auto-translations. It enabled translating Stories descriptions to the viewer’s native tongue. As of today, Instagram is still testing auto-caption for feed posts. Auto captions can greatly help save marketing time on Instagram. With the smart features of Instagram’s AI or machine learning, they can save a lot of time typing text descriptions for too many post uploads. It also improves accessibility as translation allows users of different languages to read the captions loud and clear.
Draft to Edit Instagram Stories
Instagram launched its Stories feature in 2016. Since then, they became an ideal type of content. Yet, for many brands, publishing Instagram Stories is somewhat a challenge. Storyboarding content and workflow approvals are somewhat complicated. Last July, Instagram enabled saving Stories into a draft. It allows brands and businesses to edit them before publication. Drafting to edit Instagram Stories can help save marketing time among marketing teams with several members. Assigned creators can draft the post, and admins can publish the draft once approved.
Drive Traffic Using Link Stickers
Many Instagram brands struggle to reach 10,000 followers to access better monetization deals when posting on the platform. Last June, the social media platform started testing link stickers. They are available for all accounts. So, brands and businesses no longer need to wait for a big number of followers in order to use them. Instagram link stickers allow brands and businesses to save marketing time in linking their product catalog to ads and organic posts. Another unique benefit of link stickers is the ability for creators to place them strategically on feeds and Stories. Testing a handful of placements lets brands and businesses know which seems to gather the most conversion and engagement.
Post Directly to Instagram via Desktop
Instagram is a mobile-first social media network. But recently, the platform began rolling out desktop publishing tools. To try it out, navigate to Instagram using your desktop browser and click the plus icon on the upper-right hand corner of the screen. You can start uploading an image or video directly on your Instagram page. Please note that desktop publishing of IGTV, Reels, and Stories are not yet allowed. Alternatively, brands and businesses can subscribe to 3rd party tools that allow Instagram to post on desktop. Some of them are Canva, Everliker, Flume, Later, and Pixlr. There are also native Facebook tools that you can use to post directly to Instagram via desktop. Creator Studio allows you to create feed and IGTV posts on Instagram desktop. Facebook Business Suite allows the uploading of photos and videos on Instagram for desktop. Both native tools also allow saving a content draft or scheduling IG posts.
Quickly Switch Between Instagram Accounts
The last new feature of Instagram that can help saves marketing time. Typically, Instagram marketers maintain two or more accounts on their mobile devices. Switching back and forth from a personal to a business account can be a hassle. Currently, users can switch between these Instagram accounts through a dropdown menu on the profile page. But last July, a new feature can greatly save marketing time. Instagram users can now switch between the accounts with just a tap. It is under beta test among iOS users. Everyone is hoping to have a faster and simpler switching for all users in the coming days.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Instagram has continuously been rolling out new features that make a user experience easier and more convenient. Tapping into these new features can greatly help save marketing time!
Reference: https://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/5-new-time-saving-instagram-features-for-marketers/