It’s been a busy month for the folks at Instagram. The social media network has added a couple cool new features. These changes can benefit all users of the popular platform.
Instagram Live gives users a chance to connect with their followers on a new level. The platform reminds me of Periscope and Facebook Live. The feature allows viewers to show some love for what you’re saying by clicking the heart. People with lots of followers and a positive message tend to amass a huge number of hearts. Viewers can comment too, which of course makes the experience all the better. From a branding standpoint, if you’re doing any kind of live video you should be engaging with your audience and not just going live for the sake of doing so.
Here’s where the live feature differs from Facebook. There’s no archiving or saving the live feed. It’s one and done. Followers receive a notification of the live feed. Right now there’s a 60-minute time limit on the function.
If you haven’t tried the live broadcast yet, give it a whirl. Click on “Your Story” at the top o
f the Instagram home page. You then chose “LIVE” and then “Start Live Video” and you’re in business. My first go around with the feature only landed one viewer. If you don’t have a huge following, you may want to try broadcasting at various times of day and see what lands the best results. Learn more about the live feature here.
Another new function on Instagram is the ability to save content from others privately on your own page. This is something not seen in other forms of social media. This could be considered a “creepers” dream come true, but there are some practical uses for this new feature too.
If you’re scrolling through your Instagram feed and in a hurry, you can save the picture or video content and refer back to it later. Once you’ve hit the “bookmark” icon your set. No more screenshots required, which take up room in your camera roll and phone’s memory. The benefit of this new feature for business is the opportunity to give content more life than the second or two users see it as they’re looking at what’s been posted recently.
These new Instagram features are an early Christmas gift to its millions of users. Play around with each and see how to make the most of them, whether as a customer or a marketer.
Kevin Hunsperger | Twitter: @kevinhunsperger, @my123cents | Instagram: @kevin_hunsperger, @my123cents | Blog: www.my123cents.com
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