6 Instagram Features Marketers Should ALWAYS Use In 2024

My new business, Jamal's Cookies, is struggling to grow its Instagram presence, but I think I just discovered the secret to building engagement on Instagram. I read this blog post From HubSpot with 41 hacks for increasing my following, showcasing my business and developing my Instagram marketing strategy. So I picked out six of my favorite features and I'm going to see if they can really grow my Instagram feature. Number one Reels Turns out Instagram encourages users to create reels to qualify for recommendations or within its algorithm. Time to go beyond simple image posts and get creative with video. Reels are short videos of up to 90 seconds that can be used to entertain, inform and entice your audience, boosting awareness and reach. And the options are endless. I could showcase my products, give a behind the scenes sneak peek into my business, or just get absolutely silly with it. For example, GoPro uses sometimes hair raising user generated content in their reels to show how their products are used in the wild and inspire others. So I'm going to get started by clicking the plus icon and choosing reels. I could record a new video, but I think I'm going to use prerecorded content for this particular reel. Maybe a recipe tutorial to get people's taste buds a tingling. It is that time of year after all. I can edit my video right here inside of the Instagram app, add effects, text, stickers, audio, music, or even remix other users reels. But what if I need a little more inspiration to create a shareable reel? Well, it's even easier to make a reel using a template. Let's take a look at some of the options. Maybe this one. Now I can add my own content to it to make it my own, which is super cool. There's so much inspiration out there. Save your favorite templates, reuse audio, or even remix someone else's reel with your own take. And don't forget, you can add subtitles for your audio to increase accessibility. Include a snappy caption, a few choice hashtags to help users find your content, and that all important call to action. Now if you're feeling like you still need some reels help, I'm using HubSpot's Instagram for business guide which includes advice, tricks and templates to help you up your reel game. Check it out in the description below. So posting more reels should result in plenty of engagement comments and shares and help to build my following. But what if I want to create a deeper, more personal connection with my followers? Broadcast channels are one of Instagram's newest features and allows you to create a private group for you and your followers. Essentially, it's a group messaging tool where you can post behind the scenes content, voice notes, run polls, and engage on a more personal level with your audience. Channels are great for strengthening your community and boosting engagement as users feel like they're a part of an exclusive club. Followers can't send messages in channels, but they can react to yours and vote in polls, giving you extra insight into what your audience wants to see more of. For example, Karen X is a director who shares amazing behind the scenes info on how she makes her videos in her broadcast channel. So let's give it a try. I'm going to create a broadcast channel by tapping on the messages icon in the top right of my feedback, then tap the new message icon and choose Create Broadcast Channel. I can even segment my content with different channels, making it super easy for my followers to enjoy the content they love. And unlike stories which disappear after 24 hours, posts and broadcast channels can be engaged with and shared again and again and again. Just an FYI though, not everyone has access to this feature yet and you need at least 10,000 followers to create your broadcast channel. Okay, so what if I don't have time to post new content but still want to give my followers a quick update? Well, let's try out feature number three and drop an Instagram note. Inside notes are another little personal touch I can add to my profile. Kind of like a status update. I can share my thoughts, pose a question, comment on current events in the cookie world, announce offers or promos, or build anticipation for an upcoming post or project. Creating a note is super easy. Just go to Instagram messenger and click the little plus above your profile picture. Then simply share your latest thought as a Note. Up to 60 characters. And for the boomers out there that remember MySpace, this is a nice callback because you can even add your favorite song to your note. Pretty cool. But this isn't just for the boomers among us. According to Instagram, Gen Z and teens are posting more than 10 times the amount of notes as other users. So go ahead and share those thoughts. So I still need to grow my audience even more. How can I step outside my bubble to reach new followers? Well, I think it's time for a good old fashioned collab. Collaboration posts could be a powerful way to boost my following, increasing engagement and building my credibility. On Instagram, all I have to do is work together with another brand, user or influencer to create a collaboration post and share the same content creators on both our feeds, doubling up on visibility and compiling comments and likes into one place. Collaboration is obviously key here, so I'll need to pick a partnership that has a complementary demographic or an audience with a similar interest. We could probably collab on a giveaway, some kind of partnership or a cross promo to raise awareness. Take Borough 22 for example. This specialist donut bakery teamed up with a local delivery service to make sure that their gluten free vegan treats are head delivered with love to create a collaboration post only to make sure that myself and the other person I'm working with both have public accounts that allow tagging in our privacy settings. I can do that by clicking on Settings and Privacy, then checking tags and mentions and allow tags from everyone. Then all I have to do is create a post as usual, tap tag people and then click the button that says Invite collaborators. Pretty easy. Now all these features are helping me to grow my following, but I'm still not seeing that translate directly into sales. So how do I increase conversions from Instagram? One of the challenges for businesses on Instagram is the fact that you can't actually add links to Instagram post descriptions, hence the phrase link in bio. But what if there was a way for users to make a purchase directly from my Instagram with one click? Well, there is. So let's give Shoppable posts a try. When you're scrolling, you don't always want to have to check a business profile, click the link in their bio, and then have to find what it is that caught your eye through scrolling. A far more effective solution is to include tagged products in your posts so users can see it, want it, and get it in just a few clicks. Now, there are a few requirements before you can set up Shoppable posts. First, I'll need an Instagram business account. My own website domain and my Insta profile must be connected to to my Facebook page. From there I can use my Meta Commerce Manager account to create a shop catalog and add products to my Instashop, making them tagg in posts. Now it's just a matter of clicking tag product whenever I create a Shoppable post. And as always, Instagram is all about the visual, so I'm going to make sure my Shoppable posts are extra enticing. Personally, I like to use Canva to create bold and impactful products product images. If you want a video about that, definitely let us know in the comments below. But how do I know if any of this is actually as effective as possible? Well, we can check how effective each of these new features are by looking at my Instagram analytics via the Professional Dashboard. There are a whole load of data insights to be found right here on Instagram to help me see which posts are actually doing the best and what my audience is engaging with and why. If you have a business Instagram account, you'll find your professional dashboard right there on your profile. Let's click through and check it out. Here I can browse a whole load of useful data and insights to help measure performance and improve my strategy. And there's a great inspiration section too. I can also check the info on any post by clicking the See Insights button. So on my Professional Dashboard, I can check likes, comments, followers as well as engagement rate and other stats. Pretty nifty. All these insights can help me analyze my IG performance so I can see which posts and reels work best for my audience, tweak my content and copy and make my call to actions even more effective. And if I keep testing out the other six features we've looked at today, I should have plenty of data to work with to really optimize my Instagram strategy. And the crazy thing is, there are even more features, hacks and tips to be found in that blog post that I mentioned. So whether you're just starting out or wanting to level up on ig, dive into Instagram features and find brand new ways to connect with your followers, boost your engagement, and elevate your presence. For even more tips on how to crush your Instagram game, check out the blog post as well as HubSpot's free Instagram for Business guide. You can check out both in the description below. And don't forget to like, share and subscribe for even more marketing insights. I'm curious which features you guys are starting to incorporate into your own strategy, so be sure to leave that in the comments as well. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go do a collaboration post with Beyonce. I've been in her DMs for the past several weeks. I think she's gonna respond any minute now, so I need to be ready. Until then, I'll see you next time. I can find this client info have.

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