I’ve identified 3 features that are going to be big on the Instagram platform in 2021. If you want to get ahead of the curve with your marketing efforts this year, read on!
2020 was a year of huge change on Instagram with several updates to existing features and a few completely new ones thrown in. Updates to Stories capabilities, keyword searching, removing likes, a whole new homepage and, of course, the introduction of Reels to name just a few of the changes we have seen in the last twelve months.
Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, said that if 2020 was all about introducing new features, 2021 will be about simplicity and consolidating all of the changes they have made, maybe it will give us all a chance to catch up and get on board with some of the updates!
The 3 features to look out for? Instagram Shopping, Instagram Reels and Instagram Guides. Let’s take a closer look:
1. Instagram Shopping
We’ve had the ability to link Instagram with Facebook shops and tag products for a while now but 2021 is going to see Instagram truly prioritise this feature of the platform with a raft of new functionality coming to UK users.
And if we needed any more evidence that Instagram see shopping as a big part of it’s platform going forward, they have even added the shopping icon to your newly updated homepage so it’s slap bang right there in front of you every time you log-in, no more having to search for shopping posts via the Explore feed tabs.
Every time you tag a product, that product and all the featured posts are added to your shopping feed for anyone to check out by tapping on the shopping bag icon on your homepage.
Why use Instagram Shopping?
130 million users tap on an Instagram product tag or sticker every month and over 500 million people view Instagram Stories every day. That’s a LOT of custom you could be benefiting from.
If you are a product business, it’s a no-brainer to offer your customers another way, another platform to easily purchase from you.
Instagram shopping is easy to set up, free, and offers the chance to be discovered by new audiences.
How do I set up Instagram Shopping?
You first need to ensure that your business primarily sells physical products and that it complies with Facebook & Instagram commerce policies and terms of business.
You will need an Instagram business account, which means you will also need a business Facebook page.
You must have your own website where people can purchase your product and a catalogue set up within Facebook, either in Commerce Manager or Business Manager. You do this by manually adding your products or linking to your existing catalogue. Facebook has several integrated partner sites such as Shopify and Woocommerce that makes the process of linking your catalogue from these sites super easy.
Once you have created your catalogue, you will submit this for Instagram to review.
As soon as you are approved, you will be good to go with tagging your products!
Where can I add a product tag on Instagram?
You can add up to 5 product tags on a single feed post on Instagram and up to 20 product tags in a carousel post with up to 10 images.
You’ll find the ‘tag product’ instruction on the share screen when you come to share your post. Tap ‘tag product’ and you’ll be shown all available products that you are able to link to in the post.
You can tag one product on an Instagram Story using the Product sticker which you will find with all of the other standard stickers and GIFs
What’s coming to Instagram Shopping?
At the moment in the UK, when a customer taps on your product to buy, they are directed off Instagram and over to your website to complete their purchase, but in-app purchasing is currently in BETA testing with some big name brands and will be rolled out here in the UK in due course.
This means consumers can tap on your product, view the details and complete their checkout all without leaving the Instagram app.
As well as being able to tag products in your images and Stories, we will soon be able to tag products in the copy of our posts, giving the audience another chance to tap on the item for details and to purchase.
As Reels gathers popularity, it is only going to be a matter of time before shopping tags are added allowing creators and influencers to tag products in their Reels videos.
AR Shopping – Instagram is working on developing its Augmented Reality technology so that consumers will soon be able to ‘try it on before you buy’ with certain products. Particularly useful for fashion and beauty brands. Imagine being able to ‘try on’ that new outfit or eye-shadow before you buy? Pretty amazing.
Live video shopping – think QVC on Instagram!
2. Instagram Reels
Instagram’s blatant rip-off, er, I mean, coincidentally similar to Tik Tok, video creation feature really took off in the last few months of 2020 with Instagram users reporting a massive dip in reach on feed posts as Instagram prioritised Reels in our news feed over all other content.
You’ll now find the Reels icon right in the middle of the navigation bar at the bottom of your news feed so now you cannot miss it!
Love them or hate them, Reels are here to stay. Reach on Reels continues to blow all other Instagram content out of the water.
This year, expect to see a few updates and additions to Reels:
The algorithm for Reels will adapt and become more sophisticated in terms of personalising your experience and what Reels you get served in your feed and on your Explore feed.
We will see Instagram testing increasing the length of a Reel from 15/30 seconds to 60 seconds
Shoppable tags will be available in Reels meaning creators and influencers will be able to tag products in Reels. This will go hand in hand with new Instagram ads formats for Reels.
Improved editing tools will be added to ensure Reels can compete with the functionality of Tik Tok. Expect to also see more collaborative capabilities being added too to enable brands to engage with their communities via Reels.
Read my blog: 24 scroll-stopping content ideas
3. Instagram Guides
Instagram Guides have been around for a little while, but they have the potential to become a key part of the platform in 2021.
Instagram Guides allow users to curate and categorise selected posts in one of three ways: by location, by product or by post.
Users can select from their own posts or those they have previously saved so it’s a great way to showcase and share all of those brilliant saved posts you have sitting in your app.
As Instagram shopping gains popularity, expect to see brands and influencers using Guides to showcase product posts, using this as another place within the app for their products to be discovered.
Location Guides
Choose from any area that has previously been tagged as a location on Instagram. Once you have selected the location, all posts that have been tagged with that specific location will be available for you to add to your guide.
If your business has its own location and you use this to tag your posts, you can use the location guide to showcase all of your location tagged posts, or use it to showcase posts from your local area or a specific place that means something to you.
Product Guides
This allows you to choose from any posts that have used a shoppable tag in them. You could create collections and categorise your product ranges, making it super easy for your customers to find what they are looking for and browse similar products.
In time, Guides are likely to be able to be sponsored so that influencers can monetise their promotions. Brand will be able to pay influencers to add their items to their recommended guides.
Post Guides
Simply choose from any of your own posts. A little like creating highlights for your Instagram Stories, you can create guides in order to save your best posts into collections. If you are a service provider, create guides to let people know what you do and how to work with you.
Expect to see these kinds of guides also being used by creators and users to share posts about things that matter to them, giving their audience a chance to see more of their brand values.
So there you have it, the three features I think are going to be big on Instagram in 2021. Would love to know if you are using any of these features already or if you’re excited or anxious about them?
If you need help with Instagram Shopping, you can download my free starter guide here and sign up for my newsletter to be the first to hear about my upcoming Instagram Shopping masterclass.
Thanks for reading,
Kerry x
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