Upcoming Instagram Features that will be Exciting for Brands

It’s no secret that Stories are a big deal on Instagram, for both brands and users alike. In fact, over 500 Million people use the feature daily. Stories are no longer seen as a fun feature for users, they’re a staple of Instagram itself. The social media giant has also been pushing hard for brands to start creating more content using Stories.

Already armed with a robust arsenal of features, Instagram is currently testing a few new additions that will help to up your Stories game.

Quickly feature Story mentions from other users using “create” mode

Social media expert, Matt Navarra, tweeted last month about a new option he came across while using the app. From his observation, a “@” option has been added to Instagram’s “Create” mode. The purpose of this feature is to allow users to share Stories in which they have been mentioned/tagged.

This is a fantastic addition for brands, as it will allow you to showcase relevant Story tags, which can include consumer feedback, fan promotions, influencer mentions, etc. Looking through your Stories mentions frequently is a great way to catch all posts about your brand before the posts expire after the 24-hour lifespan. Additionally, if you’re looking to run a promotion or campaign in which you’re asking followers to share something in their Story, this would be a great way to track said mentions and seamlessly repost them to your own Story.

Trim video clips within Stories with editing tool

Uncovered by reverse engineering expert, Jane Manchun Wong, this tool would provide a video trimming tool built into Stories, which would function in the same way as the editing tools available on other platforms. The “trimmer,” appears after you tap on the new settings option at the top of the video you’ve added to your story between the stickers and link icons.

While the update is fairly simple, it could provide a serious benefit to brands and creators. As it stands, many people use third-party editing tools to get their timing right for each frame, so the ability to edit in-stream would eliminate that need, which would be especially useful on the go.

Bonus Update! See recent posts with Latest Posts” feature

Users who miss the reverse-chronological feed, rejoice! Instagram has been spotted internally prototyping a “Latest Posts” feature, which appears as a pop-up over the main feed and brings users to a space showing the newest content from who they follow.

This update could help satisfy users who want to make sure they haven’t missed anything or want to know what’s going on at that moment. For brands, this feature could provide a spike in impressions and engagements, as this will allow for more eyes on your content from your followers.  

There’s no official word from Instagram on when these features will be available, so keep an eye out on your app for them! In the meantime, we can’t wait to see what the company will roll out next.

Sources: Instagram, Digital Information World, TechCrunch, Social Media Today

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