The Good, the Bad, and the Wait To See: Hot Takes on Instagram’s Newest Features
I am currently going through a slight obsession with Gordon Ramsey. I know, how 2007 of me, right? But, I just love it all — Hell’s Kitchen, Kitchen Nightmares, Masterchef, even the horribly underrated Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted (really you should check it out!)
In addition to being an incredibly talented cook, Gordon is no nonsense in his delivery of expertise as he transforms a business or chef from the inside out. Whether it be the food itself, customer service, marketing, or effective management, he tells people what they need to know whether they like it or not. Plus, I’m a big fan of when he calls people “an idiot sandwich!”
So, with that secret confessed, I am going to channel my inner Gordon Ramsey and tell it to you straight — these are my hot takes on the newest Instagram features.
Instagram Broadcast Channels
Announced: February 16th
Classification: The Good
Even though I haven’t been graced with Broadcast Channels for any of my accounts yet, I think this is the update I am most excited for! Admittedly, I refresh every single Instagram account I run everyday just waiting to be granted access to this holy grail of conversions.
So, what am I so excited for? According to Instagram, “Broadcast Channels are a public, one-to-many messaging tool for creators to directly engage with their followers at scale.” Essentially, people will be able to sign up for your broadcast channel, after which they will be added to a group chat in which only the creator sends updates (similar to an email newsletter, but in Instagram messenger.) Once following the broadcast channel, users will get a notification every time you add to it, effectively cutting out the middle-man of feed placement in an effort to reach your most loyal customers.
The opportunities are limitless here, but these are a few of the ideas I am dying to try:
Growing Broadcast Channel subscribers by enticing them with exclusive BTS content or first access to sales, specials, and announcements.
Using reaction and polling features to crowd-source feedback on business decisions (i.e. what color for the new launch, what burger special people want to see that week, etc.)
Instagram has already confirmed that they will be testing Broadcast Channels in Messenger and Facebook in the coming months. So although they're currently testing this new feature with only a handful of U.S. Instagram creators, we can expect it to hit the wider community soon!
(Many) Updates to Reels
Announced: April 14th
Classification: The Wait To See
Instagram dropped an information bomb on April 14th, with a nearly thousand word description of their newest features. If you like to nerd out like I do, give it a read here. But otherwise, let me break it down for you!
The article overviewed four major changes:
The first change created a dedicated space within Instagram where users can see what’s trending and immediately use templates to get in on the action. Gone are the days of scrolling for the perfect audio or trend!
The next, and probably biggest, change included a total redesign of the in-app editing experience. You are now able to visually align and time elements for the perfect punchline moment. I’ve already used this new experience for several of my clients, and let me just tell you, it is a game changer!
Instagram also added two new insights for Instagram Reels, total watch time and average watch time, along with more convenient access to analytics from your Reels page. I’m looking forward to using this while pulling reports in the future.
Finally, they updated gifting for creators, however, I won’t be touching on this as I have no personal experience with influencer income-making from the platform.
So, you may be asking, “Delaney, that all sounds great. Why are you classifying it as ‘Wait to See’?” Great question. I’m choosing to be hesitantly optimistic on these updates, as the future of Instagram Reels still seems rocky. Will these updates mean Instagram will continue to push video content through its algorithm or can we still expect to see a shift back toward static content as we’ve seen predicted? Only time will tell!
Display Up to 5 Links in Your Profile Bio
Announced: April 18th
Classification: The Ugly
For years, we’ve been allowed one link per Instagram bio. Cue a sub-culture of social media managers lying awake at night with nightmares of outdated, broken links. But, those days are over. Now, Instagram is allowing up to five links per bio.
On the surface, this seems like a great update, and I can admit it does have its benefits. I can see ecommerce brands using it to list multiple products simultaneously, or a business utilizing multiple links to share not only their product or service, but also links to resources that support their social initiatives.
However, remember the goal here, guys! We need clickable links in the caption on Instagram posts themselves, not yet another confusing set of verbiage begging the user to keep clicking to get to our website. In the words of my mother, “keep it simple, stupid.” Well, quadrupling the number of links I have to remember to update before they're outdated? Yeah, that is NOT simple.
In the words of the man, the myth, the legend Gordon Ramsey, “I spend more time in the kitchen than I have in the dining room, for obvious reasons, however, I just want to sit and indulge.” Hopefully, in the future, Instagram will step out of the kitchen, listen to its users, and continue to build up “The Good” and trim out “The Ugly.”