There’s no denying the power of Instagram.
(It’s certainly one of my favorite platforms.)
When used well, the medium allows any person or company to tell a visual story. If nothing else, it’s a unique opportunity to share your brand’s message in a new and interesting way!
But enough espousing the virtues of Instagram. I think we all know that the platform is wildly popular and widely used.
Earlier this week, Instagram released an update to their popular platform, which provides value to brands—like yours, I hope?—using the service.
Updated Exploration
Whether you’re looking for potential customers to follow, relevant companies to collaborate with, or competitors to watch, the updated Explore tab (now a “magnifying glass” icon, instead of the “star” icon it was previously) will point you in the right direction.
Now, instead of just providing you with a feed of pretty photos you might “heart”, the Explore tab will feature both photos and accounts you might be interested in—based, of course, upon your own activity on the platform and the most popular posts.
While the Explore tab used to be just a fun way to like popular photos—both stylized and selfie, alike—it’s now a fantastic tool to find the perfect accounts to follow!
Caption Editing
I’ve been waiting for this one! (Haven’t we all? Instagram called it “one of the top requests” they heard from their community. Obviously.)
Given that Instagram is the only platform that doesn’t allow you to schedule posts in advance (an advantage in that it allows for time to review and re-review a post before it goes live!), previously a brand’s Instagram post might include a typo that could only be fixed by deleting and reposting—though not before fans had likely begun engaging with the photo.
Who cares, you may ask? Well, by deleting and reposting, you lose the valuable customer engagement you garnered when you first posted.
It’s not the worst mistake in the world—and can be avoided when posting with careful precision—but we’re all human and I’ve no doubt we’ve all fallen victim to auto-correct’s quick “corrections” just as we hit the “Share” button.
With Instagram’s new caption editing capability, you can quickly and easily edit a photo caption should you mistype—and maintain the engagement your post has already accumulated.
The new “Edit” option can be found in the menu underneath your posted photo, by using the “ellipsis”-looking icon that was formerly used just to “Delete” or “Share” a posted photo.
I’m sure you’ll never need to use it, but isn’t it nice just to know it’s there?
I’m curious: What update would you request from Instagram—or the social media platform of your choice—next? Leave a comment below and let me know!
