​It’s been a while since I’ve been down the Instagram rabbit hole on my blog so I thought today, let’s have a look at some of the new features on Instagram that you might find useful as a small business.

Instagram never stops to surprise us really.  They are, as much as I hate to give Zuckerberg a compliment, showing us the way to being innovative, listening to what the users want and building resilience.

If it’s your platform, you will have seen loads of changes, some have come to Australia, some have not yet, some you will be excited about, and others, not so much.

The trick on a platform like Instagram is using the tools of the platform that help you grow your business and provide better value to your ideal audience by expanding your reach.

So, let’s look at 5 new features on Instagram and how you might use them to help you grow.

1. META VERIFIED

Meta Verified is Meta’s next iteration on making some more coin from us and really bringing the platform from “free” to “paid” for small business owners, regardless of whether you do paid marketing.

You can now pay to have the blue tick on your Instagram profile (and Facebook).

This one did surprise me as just a month earlier, Meta did announce that they were “removing increased reach as a subscription feature” – but alas, here it is.

Twitter of course tried to implement it, and I’m not a Twitter person, but my understanding is that it wasn’t a successful revenue stream for them!

So what does the blue tick mean?  It’s basically a way for Instagram to verify the authenticity of your account.  It says to the world “this account is real, this account owner is genuine”.

It can quickly build trust and credibility with your followers.

A verified account is “more likely” to be seen by a wider audience, but that’s yet to be proven.  Certainly, the unpaid version of the blue tick did this, but the paid model is yet to show itself.

I have two problems with this.  Firstly, and this one is my cranky one, just because Meta couldn’t work out a way to stop us all having our accounts hacked and having IDs stolen and being scammed by fake accounts, now we have to pay to be authentic?  I think it’s a cop out.  And a little of the “How Dare You” sort of thing.  You created the platform, you allowed bots and baddies to get an account, but now it’s up to us to ensure our own safety and pay for that safety …. This is just a big business thing to do.  Make the little people pay for a problem we created.

Secondly, will it work – is it worth it (as I come down off my high horse).  My answer – is maybe.  I think if you are, as with most new features on platforms like this, an early adopter, you might see some extra reach but as it becomes mainstream and everyone who’s authentic has a blue tick (and that will happen otherwise, if you don’t have a blue tick and everyone else does, your authenticity will be questioned), then I can’t see how it will help get you more reach, because everyone can’t get more reach – the Maths just isn’t there!

Of course, it’s not all about reach, they say you’ll also get access to new features, improved security, priority support (like there’s any non-priority support!!) and more opportunities to collaborate – whatever that means.

Will I do it, yes probably if I’m honest.  My business is all about marketing and testing and measuring – so this is something I would like to test so I can tell you more about it – whether it’s worth it or not.  At the moment, I am just cranky it’s a thing!

If you want to know more, click here: https://about.meta.com/technologies/meta-verified

2. BROADCAST CHANNELS

The second big update or new feature is one that I’m excited about but isn’t here yet, well not for me anyway.

It’s Broadcast Channels.

I am a fan of this one because it’s about community building.  It’s basically a new messaging space that acts as a direct line between me (the creator) and my followers who want to hear all the latest news directly – so no missing stuff in someone’s feed.

For me, it feels very Podcasty.  Although, I don’t think it’s for live video – it’s more written content to read and the only channel I’m in is Meta’s and it doesn’t appear to be interactive, but I am sure when the little people like us get it, it will be.

Anything that builds community within platforms I like.  Many people say that Facebook groups are dead, but really dead Facebook groups are dead, ones run by fabulous leaders who enjoy creating community are thriving.

So, I’m looking forward to broadcast channels, although I have to say I am a little frustrated as every time I go to apply for one, it says I already have access, which I don’t …. Grrrrr – but I’ll keep updating and trying!

If you want to learn more or request early access, here’s the link: https://help.instagram.com/783859809732797

3. QUIET MODE

The next little hack with Instagram that’s a little new is quiet mode.  Did you know you can silence your notifications by using quiet mode?  You can choose a period of time that you want things to be “quiet” and stop notifications – like between 11 pm and 7 am or better still between 9 am and 5 pm!

To do it, just go to your profile, menu, settings, notifications and then Quiet Mode.  A great little tip for those of us who are totally distracted!

4. MUSIC ON IMAGE POSTS

The next little feature that’s come along in the past few months – this one was late last year was the ability to add music to your posts – so just normal posts via the normal way you do posts on Instagram through the app!

It’s just in the menu before you share, where you will find other features that we are used to like location, tag people and tag products – now you will see add music.  Pretty cool little feature too!  Haven’t seen it used heaps, but it’s there!  So if you didn’t know, now you do!

5. SCHEDULING

The last new feature that I wanted to look at is Scheduling – won’t that be great! Being able to schedule content into Instagram.  I have access to this feature, but you do have to have a professional account to schedule, so if you don’t have the ability that might be why.

You can only schedule, at this point, I believe, reels and posts.  But to schedule, just go through to do your post as usual and when you get to the screen where you would write your caption, scroll down and click advanced settings, see schedule post and then pick your day and time!  I do love the idea of this, especially for reels where Meta Business Suite is pretty subpar.  If we could just schedule in Stories with all the stickers and music etc, my life on Instagram would be full!  Ok, that’s a little dramatic, but would be better!

I think as we get more and more features on an app like Instagram, it’s important for us to think about the fundamentals of marketing – because we can’t be all things to everyone and can’t be everywhere at once and shouldn’t be either!

Maybe it’s time you sat down and had a think about where your audience actually hangs out, what platforms are really best for you to attract the clients or customers you need and within those platforms which features you should be using to attract those ideal clients again.  It’s no longer about choosing which platform, it’s now about choosing which features in those platforms.

So, how’d you go?  Did you learn something or hear a feature that you are a little excited about trialling?  I hope so. If you would like to share some thoughts, then please get in touch!

Head to my Facebook group – Like Minded Business Owners or email me at jenn@jenndonovan.com.au.

As always, if you want to chat about your business marketing, goals, planning or direction, book a discovery call with me http://bit.ly/Discoverwithjenn and let’s do that together.

And we can always hang out and get social on social – you’ll find me on Instagram, Facebook and my fave LinkedIn.

CONTACT JENN:

Don’t forget, you can book a free discovery call with me to talk about how I can help your nail your business goals, planning, strategy and marketing! Simply click the link and grab a spot!

My Like Minded Business Owners Facebook group is also a great community to join – full of awesome people in small business!

Or you can DM me on Instagram or send me an email jenn@jenndonovan.com.au

I wish to acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the land, the Yorta Yorta People, on which I conduct my business today and pay my respects to their Elders past and present. I extend that respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples reading this blog post today.

About the Author:

Jenn Donovan of Social Media & Marketing Australia.  Jenn’s an expert marketing coach and mentor from rural NSW. She is all about empowering business owners to earn what they’re worth so they can make a bigger difference in the world.  The Founder of Buy From a Bush Business, Co-Founder of Spend With Us – Buy From a Bush Business Marketplace and host of the very popular podcasts Small Business Made Simple and Stories from the Bush. Jenn is all about community and humans interacting with humans!  H2H Marketing – human to human marketing. Jenn talks the talk but importantly walks the walk! Jenn’s online community is over 320,000 with her famous Facebook Group currently at almost 370,000 members and still growing every day.  She’s the mayor of her own little online city!

Get in touch – www.socialmediaandmarketing.com.au

On Instagram – @jenndonovan_

On Facebook – Jenn Donovan

Or on LinkedIn as Jenn Donovan