Get Familiar with Instagram Features and Make the Most of Them

Instagram has grown into a platform that many consider critical for business. This growth has resulted in many new features getting added to the platform. All these features help business owners create more engaging posts.

Businesses should learn more about these features and how to use them to improve their Instagram following. Your Instagram page is important because it is the first impression you make on potential customers who look for you on the platform. Therefore, you want to make sure you leave them with a great first impression.

Here are a few features that can help you do just that.

Explore Carousel Style Posts for Instagram

This Instagram feature has been around for some time. Whether you have a beauty product or pet service, the ability to share multiple images is the perfect way to drive interest to your Instagram profile, and interest converts to sales.

Here are the steps to creating a Carousel:

• Find the “+” icon at the bottom of the screen and upload a video or photo.
• Add more images by tapping “Select multiple” on the bottom right.
• For more interest, use a mix of photos and videos and increase the time followers spend with your posts.

Use Hashtags to Keep Up with Your Community

Thanks to one of the latest updates, hashtags can be followed on Instagram now. Your business can use this to follow a community with the same interests as your brand.

It's important to make sure you set up your own hashtag and then follow it. This allows you to stay on top of what people are saying about your brand and engage with followers. When you find hashtags that you like or that are relevant, follow them. To do this, simply open the hashtag and tap “Follow.”

Make sure you check your business’s hashtag regularly and nurture it by liking comments and responding to them. This kind of interaction helps your community and encourages brand growth.

Familiarize Yourself with Instagram Stories

Snapchat Revolution was a big hit with Gen Z. Because of this, Instagram has unleashed tools to help keep in touch with the younger generation. Every business now needs to get familiar with Instagram Stories and use them.

Instagram Stories allow you to show your personality through posts with images of what goes on behind the scenes and more. It allows you to connect with your followers on another level.

Make sure to mix up the content here the same way you do with your general posts and you will see traffic soar. Using Instagram Stories helps customer interaction and drives engagement and can be used to showcase services and products.

Use Stories to Take Polls on Instagram

Within Instagram Stories, you can use an interactive poll sticker to pose questions to your followers and see their answers. Here are some tips for using this feature:

• Take a video or photo for your store and choose the ‘poll,’ sticker to place anywhere in it.
• Type out your question and customize the poll answers.
• Use the feedback to develop future content, services, or products.

Story Analytics

Once you start posting stories, you need to make sure you know how they are performing. Instagram collects and provides data and analytics on accounts, and using this data is the perfect way to ensure you drive traffic and engagement.

To check the view count on your Instagram Stories, you simply have to open the Story and swipe up. You will then be able to view the names and Instagram profiles of those who’ve viewed your Story.

The Highlight Feature

With the Highlight feature, your Instagram Story no longer disappears after just 24 hours and becomes a permanent fixture on your profile.

The steps below detail the process of turning a Story into a highlight:

• On the profile page’s far left side, you will find a “New” circle. Tap this.
• Select Stories from your archive.
• Choose a highlight cover and name it.
• Once finished, the highlight appears on your profile as a circle with your chosen highlight cover.

Additional Instagram Accounts

When you run a business, it may be important to add other Instagram accounts and drive some of your traffic to these. This can help filter clients by interest and allows you to better market to different subgroups.

Luckily, there is an option in your Instagram bio to add another account. For this, type ‘@,’ in the space for your bio and select the account you are adding. Once you have added the accounts, you can easily drive traffic to them.

Reordering Filters

People who use Instagram regularly know that not all filters are created equal. Make your life easier by arranging filters in an order that makes sense to you. To do this, you need to add a post and start editing. Once you’re at the page for filters, click and hold down on the one you want to move and drag it into your preferred location.

Optimizing Features for Instagram

While your friends and family may flock to your Instagram page, getting more followers will prove not so simple a task. An important aspect of this is getting your profile on Instagram’s Explore page.

You can get to this page by clicking on the magnifying glass. Use hashtags to get your posts to show up here when people search for interesting content. You can also use the information in your bio to get you here as well.

For instance, if your name is “John Doe,” and you’re a dog groomer, why not make your username or profile name “John Doe Dog Groomer?” This will work like a hashtag to pull your name up when people search the term “dog groomer.”

Conclusion

Instagram is an ideal tool for keeping in touch with your customer base and has lots of features to make this process easier. Knowing how to take advantage of Instagram’s features will help you stand out to potential followers and drive traffic to your profile. The best small businesses make it a practice to learn about Instagram features as they are released.