The world of Instagram, now owned by Facebook, is fluid and ever-changing. With updates coming out daily, it’s easy to get overwhelmed with the new features and changes. While all of these features can seem superfluous, making use of everything Instagram has to offer has its advantages. With over 1 billion active users, ensuring your profile stands out to your target audience can only be accomplished when you interact with your audience. From Reels to Instagram Live, here are three updates to the features we know and love! 

Reels 

Reels is a video concept where content creators can share and discover short videos on Instagram.This feature allows creators 15-seconds to create multi-clip videos with fun effects and audio. Since it’s rollout in late 2020, Instagram users have seen millions of views, followers, and engagement thanks to this interactive concept.

Creating a reel is super simple and a fun way to engage your audience in a new way! To make your own reel, head to your Instagram stories camera and choose ‘Reels’ which is located next to ‘Story’ and ‘Live’. Here you’ll see all of the editing tools available like Audio, Effects, Align, and Speed. This ensures you can create a cohesive video even if you’re uploading several different clips. You can either upload a video from your camera roll or start recording. After you’ve finished your Reel, you can add text, music, gifs, and much more to make your video branded and ready for your audience. 

One of the newest functions released for Reels is ‘Remix’. This feature allows users to collaborate with a Reel to show their reaction, create a duet, or respond to the Reel in a split-screen video. It’s a super fun and unique way to engage with another brand! To use it, simply tap the video you want to duet and click ‘Remix This Reel’. From here, you’ll film your response and post it for the world to see! 

Instagram Live & Live Rooms 

Instagram Live has proven to be a beneficial tool for businesses to grow their following and engage with their audience. From establishing trust in your brand to increasing your discoverability for potential new followers, Instagram Live is a valuable feature when it comes to establishing human connection with your audience. 

To start an Instagram live, open the Stories camera and swipe across to the “Live” mode. Tap “Live” to start your video. From here you can ask or answer questions, share new information or products, or highlight your business in an authentic and fresh way. The opportunities are endless! Once you end your Live, it will be available for followers to stream for 24 hours and you have the option to save it as an IGTV for longer storage. 

New this year is Live Rooms. Live Rooms enables users to go Live on Instagram with up to three other people or accounts. If your brand calls for it, this is a great way to monetize your Instagram account. Live viewers can now purchase badges for their favorite creators to show their love! With Live Rooms, your audience has the opportunity to buy badges for the hosts and use other interactive features like Shopping and Live Fundraisers. Overall, Live Rooms will without a doubt increase your reach and following, as your participants’ followers will be notified of their collaboration with you. 

Starting a Live Room of your own is super simple. Open your Instagram app and swipe to stories. Swipe left in the Instagram Live setting on your Story and pick the Live camera option. From here you can include a title to grab your followers attention. Tap ‘Rooms’ to add in your other participants. 

IG Stories

Instagram stories are a fun and easy way to share content, information, polls, and much more. If you have over 10,000 followers, you also have the option to add a ‘swipe up’ to your stories which takes your viewers to direct links! It’s suggested that you keep your story updated daily since content on your stories only lasts for 24 hours. Create branded, engaging content for your stories and interact with your followers to increase credibility and brand trust. 

A new feature recently rolled out by Instagram is the stories caption feature. This automatically turns verbal words into written. Since a majority of users watch stories with their sound off, this is a great way to keep your followers engaged with your stories and to become a more inclusive profile. To add this feature, simply record a video or upload one from your phone. Then, you’ll open the stickers option and look for the new sticker titled “Captions” – this will automatically add your speech to text! 

Go out and conquer Instagram! Stay tuned for more social media insights, tips, and tricks coming soon.

Liza Graves

Liza is Founder and CEO of Blueprint.Inc, the home of StyleBlueprint.com