The year might be racing to a close, but the team at Instagram aren’t slowing down. In fact, the platform has just announced a stack of new features and functionality in the final few days of 2023, designed to help brands, businesses and creators express themselves on Instagram.
While tools like Instagram Notes have struggled to gain widespread traction, Instagram isn’t letting that deter them. Instead, the team are looking to offer new ways for users to harness existing tools in an effort to boost engagement and inspire new connections on Instagram.
Plus, Instagram Stories continue to be a key area of investment, with Instagram rolling out new interactive stickers to make it easier for users to harness existing templates and make this content their own.
If you’re looking to harness the latest functionality on Instagram, keep ready for five must-known Instagram updates to round out 2023.
Instagram experiments with new Notes functionality
Hands up if you’re harnessing Instagram Notes? We get it: this feature has scored a mixed reception from users, with many unsure how to leverage these ephemeral 60-character posts.
But younger users (specifically teens) are shown to be 10x more likely to create a Note, showing that the tool does have relevance with certain markets and demographics.
With Notes only having a lifespan of 24 hours, the team at Instagram seem to be heavily investing in this part of the platform with a stack of new features and functionality dedicated to Notes.
First up, Instagram is reportedly testing Notes on profiles. This update would allow Notes to display on your Instagram Profile, with an extended lifespan of 72 hours.
Interestingly, this update would mean that followers who you follow back can also leave notes on your profile. In early tests, this appears as a dedicated ‘Notes’ icon on your profile where simple, text-based conversations can occur.
Another interesting update for Notes has been testing the display of Notes on both feed posts and Reels clips.
At this stage, these placements appear to be in the test-and-learn phase. While we’re unsure if this Noes functionality will be rolled out globally, it’s worth testing Notes for your brand or business on Instagram to get familiar with this feature.
🔥 Hot tip: Why not tease an upcoming product launch, flag your latest offer or drive DM engagements with a daily update to your Instagram Notes?
Instagram rolls out new looping video for Notes
Think Instagram is done with new Notes features? Think again.
The next change to Notes is the addition of a looping two-second video. This will appear in the DM inbox section and will be visible to mutual followers or Close Friends for 24 hours.
Way back in October, Adam Mosseri teased the rollout of this feature, revealing that these videos introduce a fun new animated element to support your text-based notes.
Post by @mosseriView on Threads
But that’s not the only new multi-media feature Instagram is rolling out. Now, users can respond to Notes in a range of ways, from audio to photos as well as video, GIFs and stickers. This appears to be an attempt at encouraging engagement and usage of the Notes feature within Instagram.
Once you gain access to these new Notes features, why not test and experiment with looping video clips to see if they inspire a boost in engagement?
Instagram launches new ‘Add Yours’ Stories sticker
Templates are nothing new on Instagram. In fact, Instagram Reels templates have been around for a long time, giving creators and brands the chance to speed up and streamline their content creation.
But this month, Instagram has launched a new way to swipe an existing Instagram Story design. Say hello to Instagram Story’s new ‘Add Yours’ templates. Located in the Stories creation suite, this feature allows you to create a reusable version of your Stories slides, allowing other creators to replicate the exact same GIFs, text and gallery images you’ve used in your template.
To create a template, head to Instagram Stories and select the “Add Yours Templates” button. Here, you’ll be able to create a template by inputting the stickers, text and elements you want to include.
Then, all you need to do is publish your Story and the “Add Yours” clickable prompt will appear at the bottom of your slide.
This new feature seems to be designed to create and inspire viral moments on the platform, making it easy for brands and businesses to jump on trends and share a unique perspective.
Instagram combats spam with new engagement filtering tools
Are you drowning in a sea of spam comments and messages on Instagram? Good news: Instagram is rolling out new tools designed to filter out these interactions.
New automated detection technology is being used to pinpoint interactions (such as messages, comments, follow requests etc.) coming from spam and bot profiles.
There are three new changes to look out for:
• Potential Spam: an automatic filter will be applied to all follow requests, with suspect spam accounts being labelled as “Potential Spam”. From there, you can review this list and approve or deny requests easily.
• Spam Tags: This tagging will allow you to bulk review any suspected spam-tagged posts. If you don’t take action within 30 days, these tags will be removed automatically.
• Spam View: Instagram is reportedly testing the ability to hide views on your Stories that are suspected of being from unwanted spam accounts, helping you pinpoint your true engagement metrics.
Get ready for expanded Advanced Comment Filtering tools, which will help protect your account against offensive or unwanted engagements.
Ultimately, we believe these new updates are an important step forward on Instagram. With the rise of bots and spam on the platform, these automated tools will allow you to spend more time engaging with real, authentic users and less time wading through spam comments and messages.
Live streaming on Instagram with third-party tools is getting easier
Are you harnessing the power of live broadcasts on Instagram? This latest update makes it easier for you to leverage third-party tools via desktop PCs to power your next Instagram Live.
As Instagram explains, “Now, if you’re a professional account, you can go live on Instagram using streaming software like OBS or Streamlabs through a stream key. We hope this helps broadcasters take their content to the next level and connect with their audiences.”
The goal of this update is to encourage more creators to go live and level up the quality of the live broadcast they’re able to produce.
To access this new feature, creators will need to head to the Create menu in the desktop version of Instagram to score a stream key. Then, you will be able to preview your live stream via the Live Producer Viewer on the desktop version of Instagram. From there, you can hit ‘Go Live’ to begin your broadcast.
If live broadcasts aren’t already part of your social media strategy, now is the time to find creative ways to incorporate this real-time format. From live product demos and AMA sessions, its never been easier to go live on Instagram.
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