If you’re an influencer, business owner or marketer, you’re probably feeling a little overwhelmed at the moment with all of the new features Instagram has been throwing our way. You’re not alone.
After some research, I’m ready to walk you through all of the recent changes to the app. We’re going to break down what they are & how you can start using them today, if you have access to them!
So if you’re ready to stay on top of the Instagram game, you’re in the right place. Let’s go!
1. Grid Pinning
Following in the footsteps of TikTok + Twitter, Instagram has finally rolled out grid pinning!
By pinning a post to your grid, you’re able to direct new traffic to the most important posts you want them to see.
You can use this in many ways. You could pin top preforming posts to continue their longevity. You can also treat it like a website, which will be my approach – with an “about” post, a “services” post, and a testimonial / validation piece.
Currently you can only pin 3 posts, so use them wisely!
2. Interactive Reels
We’ve talked about interactive story stickers on this blog before in relation to boosting your story engagement!
Instagram has now blessed us with the option to add the same interactive stickers to our Reels! With this new update, you have access to add the Quiz, Poll + Slider Stickers!
Take advantage of this new update to organically boost the engagement of your reels.
3. 90 Second Reels
With TikTok rolling out 10 Minute Videos, it was only a matter of time before Instagram started budging on their time cap for Reels. We haven’t seen that large of a jump… yet.
However 90 second Reels are here to treat us to an extra 30 seconds of screen time.
While this update is exciting – I caution you to consider the content + your audience when determining the length of your video. Sometimes shorter is better.
4. Import Custom Audio In Reels
Previously, if you wanted to use your own audio on Instagram Reels, you would have had to upload a completed video with the audio already attached.
Instagram has recently rolled out an import your own audio feature! This allows creators to make their videos fully in the Reels editor with the control of using their own audio.
Hot tip – take a second to rename your original audio so it can become more searchable.
5. Full Screen Feed
This feature has been slowly rolling out over the past month. One of my clients has access to the new Full Screen Feed, however I’m still waiting for it myself.
Going fully in on their Reels investments, Instagram has updated their main feed to prioritize Reels.
The “white space” that we’re used to is now gone & posts are touching. Reels look great on this new feed, however it’s static posts that are now suffering aesthetically.
If you post doesn’t fully fill out this new 1080×1920 space, a gradient background is added on the top & bottom of the post.
Here’s the kicker – when it comes to static posts, the max post size it’ll accept before cropping is 1080×1350. So it’s not even possible to resize your static posts to fill out the space properly. It’s been quite frustrating & I hope they fix this soon.
6. Grid Landing Page
This is an update I’ve just noticed on my own. Depending on what type of content you’re consuming, when you tap the creators profile to go to their account, it’ll redirect you to the corresponding Grid.
For example, if I’m watching a Reel on my feed, and then I click that creators profile, I’ll actually land on their Reels Grid.
You don’t need to have the most top notch Reels covers out there, but with this new feature make sure you’re at least staying on brand colour/font wise so things look cohesive.
7. The Sale Of NFT’s
I am no NFT expert – however I felt like I’d be doing you all a disservice if I didn’t mention this new feature.
NFT’s or Digital Collectiables as Instagram is calling them is currently only being offered in the US, so I don’t have fully access to the details for you.
From what I understand, you can connect your existing NFT wallet to Instagram + select which artwork you would like to share to the platform. Then Instagram will automatically flag that the post is a NFT & tag both the owner + creator in the post.
I’ll bring you more details on this as it rolls out to more regions, like Canada!
Change Is A Part Of Life
So there you have it. All of the new features + updates that have came to Instagram within the last month.
I hope this breakdown allows you to go try these new features with confidence + gives you the knowledge to adjust your content strategy accordingly.
Happy Creating!
