New Instagram features and tools are always rolling out to enhance your social media experience. Whether you’re a small business owner, content creator, or just someone who loves keeping their feed fresh, these five features can help you make the most of your Instagram presence. Here’s how you can step up your Instagram game with these handy tricks!
1. Changing your Reel cover after posting
Here’s one of the Instagram features you’ll love if you don’t already know it. You’ve just posted a reel, and now you realize the cover doesn’t match the aesthetic of your grid. No worries! Instagram allows you to update your reel cover even after it’s live. This means you can tweak it to perfectly align with your feed at any time. Here’s how:
- Go to your reel.
- Tap the three dots (⋮) and select “Edit.”
- Tap on “Cover” and then “Add from Camera Roll.”
- Choose a new cover image and save your changes.
With this feature, you can keep your grid looking cohesive and engaging, making your profile more appealing to visitors.
2. Adding polls in comments
Polls are a great way to engage with your audience and, when done right, to gain insight into your social media effort. We have some good news! Polls aren’t just for Instagram Stories anymore.
You can now add polls directly in the comments section of your posts. This is a great way to engage your audience and get feedback without them having to navigate away from your feed. To create a poll:
- Write a comment on your post.
- Tap the poll icon (visible in the comment section).
- Type in your poll question and options.
This feature can be especially useful for gauging opinions, running quick surveys, or just having fun with your followers. (Learn more here)
3. Managing potential spam
Spam accounts can clutter your follower list and lower engagement. Instagram’s “Flagged for Review” feature helps you handle these potential nuisances effectively:
- Go to your “Followers” list.
- Tap on “Flagged for Review.”
Here, Instagram automatically identifies and lists suspicious accounts. You can review and remove them, keeping your follower base clean and engaged. This is meant to help maintain a genuine and interactive community on the platform.
4. Sharing your Saved Posts with the world
There’s always that special recipe or life hack that we don’t want to lose to doom scrolling. There’s also content that we save because it suits our audience. Sharing a single post to our Story is one thing but what if there’s a lot and you want it to last past highlights?
If you have ever wanted to share your favourite posts with your followers, Instagram now lets you make your saved posts public. This is a great way to showcase what inspires you or highlight content you find valuable:
- Go to your profile and tap the hamburger menu (☰).
- Select “Saved” and choose a collection.
- Toggle the visibility to public.
By sharing your saved posts, you provide followers with a glimpse into your interests and personality, adding another layer of connection. Well-curated saved posts can add massive value to your account.
5. Importance of tags
We all know about tagging. We tag folks in our images, carousels, and videos and we tag them in captions and comments, too. Tagging is more than just a mention.
Tagging another account in the image or video serves a different function and has a different effect than tagging someone in the caption or comments, each method has its own benefits:
Tagging in the content (image, carousel, or video) makes your post appear in the tagged section of the tagged account’s profile, increasing visibility to their audience.
Tagging in the caption ensures your followers see the tag directly, enhancing engagement from your existing audience.
For maximum impact, you can use both methods! Tagging in both the content and the caption/comments can significantly boost the reach and interaction of your posts. (Learn more here)
Instagram features are always changing
Instagram’s constant updates can seem overwhelming, but incorporating these features into your routine can make managing your profile easier and more effective. Experiment with these tools to see how they can enhance your content strategy and help you build a more dynamic presence on the platform. Happy Instagramming!