Instagram Updates: Ads, Messaging, Carousels, and More

Our Take: Instagram's recent announcement to increase the number of slides allowed in Carousel posts from 10 to potentially 15 or even 20 is a significant change that will impact content creators and consumers. While some Instagram users may feel that 10 slides were already sufficient, the expanded limit opens up new opportunities for storytelling and product showcases.

As a social media marketer and creator, Chelsea Peitz understands the mixed feelings that come with this update. On the one hand, the increased slide count means more chances to engage audiences and improve metrics like watch time and scroll-through rates. However, it also raises the bar for content creation, as users may feel pressured to fill up all available slots.

It's important to remember that creators are not obligated to use the maximum number of slides. A well-crafted Carousel with just a few impactful images or Instagram video posts can still be effective. The key is to focus on quality over quantity and use the format to serve the content and the audience.

From a consumer perspective, Chelsea appreciates a well-executed Carousel post. The ability to swipe through multiple images or videos can provide a more immersive and engaging experience. Plus, Carousels have the added benefit of being shown twice to the same user, doubling the brand awareness potential. 

Our Take: The platform's latest update, which allows users to comment on specific slides within a Carousel post, is a game-changer for content creators and consumers alike. By using the “@” symbol followed by the slide number, users can directly engage with the content that resonates most with them.

This new Instagram feature is handy for product-based or image-heavy Carousel posts, where each slide may showcase a different item or visual. Instead of leaving a generic comment on the entire post, users can now provide targeted feedback or ask questions about specific slides. This level of granularity in engagement can lead to more meaningful interactions between creators and their audience.

However, the effectiveness of this feature will largely depend on how easily users can identify the slide numbers. With the potential increase to 15 or even 20 slides per Carousel, it may become cumbersome for users to manually count the slides to leave a comment. Instagram could alleviate this issue by automatically numbering the slides, a feature the platform tested with some users in the past.

If IG does implement auto-numbering, it will significantly enhance the usability of this new commenting system. Users will be able to quickly reference the desired slide without having to put in extra effort. This ease of use will likely encourage more people to engage with specific parts of a Carousel post, leading to increased interaction and potentially valuable feedback for creators.

Our Take: While some users may initially be hesitant about this change, as they are accustomed to the small, round icons at the top of their Instagram feed, Chelsea believes this update could be a positive move for both users and marketers.

The larger, rectangular thumbnails would provide a more visually engaging preview of the content within each Story, potentially enticing users to click on Stories they might have otherwise skipped. This increased visual attention could lead to higher engagement rates and more opportunities for users to connect with the accounts they follow.

From a marketer's perspective, this update presents an excellent opportunity to capture users' attention and drive more traffic to their Stories. Businesses and creators could significantly boost their Story views and engagement by strategically crafting eye-catching thumbnails and incorporating compelling hooks.

Additionally, this change could be part of IG’s broader effort to create a more cohesive design across its parent company's apps, such as Facebook. By aligning the look and feel of Stories across platforms, users may find it easier to navigate and engage with content as they move between apps.

However, some questions remain regarding the specifics of this potential update. For example, it is unclear whether the thumbnail will showcase a static image or a short, looping video clip, similar to Facebook's Story previews. Moreover, it will be interesting to see if the thumbnail displays the user's most recent Story or the one that is about to expire.   

Despite these uncertainties, Chelsea believes that Instagram's potential Stories design update could be a step in the right direction, enhancing the user experience and providing new opportunities for marketers to connect with their audience. As Instagram continues prioritizing Stories as a key communication channel, optimizing the feature's design to encourage even greater engagement makes sense.

Our Take: The platform’s recent update, which allows users to boost posts containing music without the music, is a step in the right direction for marketers and content creators. This change addresses a long-standing issue where users could not promote their content if it featured popular songs due to licensing restrictions.

While the specifics of this update are not entirely clear, it raises some interesting questions about the future of audio on the platform. For instance, if Instagram can remove the music from a video while preserving the spoken audio, it could pave the way for similar functionality in Reels. This would be a game-changer for creators who have faced challenges with music licensing on various social media platforms.

However, it's important to note that boosting a post should not be seen as a magic solution for content that doesn't perform well organically. If a piece of content doesn't resonate with your audience or contribute to your business goals when you originally posted it, simply spending money to reach more people may not yield the desired results.

On the other hand, if a post performed well and aligned with your marketing objectives, boosting it to reach a more significant portion of your target audience could be a valuable strategy. The ability to do so without being hindered by music licensing issues is a welcome development for marketers and creators alike.

While we await more details on the extent of this update and its potential implications for other aspects of the platform, it's clear that Instagram is making it easier for users to promote their content. As the platform continues to evolve, it will be interesting to see how this change impacts how businesses and individuals approach their Instagram marketing strategies.

Our Take: Instagram's recent rollout of ad promo codes is a breakthrough for shoppers and businesses on the platform. As someone who admittedly finds shopping on Instagram a bit too easy, Chelsea believes this new feature will make the process even more seamless and enticing.

With this update, businesses can create their own custom promo codes, such as “welcome15,” and apply them directly to their shoppable Instagram posts. Users can then simply click on the code to automatically apply it to their purchase or copy and paste it if needed. This frictionless experience will surely increase sales, as reducing friction is key to driving conversions.

From a marketing perspective, this feature opens up new opportunities for businesses to offer targeted discounts and promotions to their IG audience. By making it easier for users to redeem these offers, companies can encourage more impulse purchases and boost their sales through the platform.

It would be exciting to see Instagram expand this feature to include unique, time-sensitive codes that expire after a certain period. This could create a sense of urgency and exclusivity, encouraging users to take advantage of the offers before disappearing.

While IG may not incorporate every item on our marketer's wish lists, introducing promo codes in ads is a significant step forward in enhancing the shopping experience on the platform. As Instagram continues to evolve as a robust eCommerce tool, features like this will undoubtedly play a crucial role in helping businesses connect with and convert their target audiences.

Our Take: Instagram's recent announcement regarding the expansion of its creator marketplace and the introduction of artificial intelligence (AI)-powered matching between brands and creators is a significant step forward in fostering meaningful collaborations on the platform. As creators have been increasingly vocal about their need for more opportunities and streamlined processes, this update addresses those concerns and demonstrates Instagram's commitment to supporting its creative community.

Integrating machine learning and AI into the creator marketplace will help brands quickly identify creators whose audiences align with their products or services. This intelligent matching system will save both parties time and increase the likelihood of successful partnerships by ensuring a good fit between the brand and the creator.

However, it's important to note that access to this feature seems limited to “eligible brands,” which raises questions about the criteria for eligibility. Instagram should provide more transparency around these requirements to ensure that the opportunity to leverage AI-powered creator matching is not restricted to just a privileged few.

As the creator marketplace continues to evolve, it will be interesting to see how the AI-powered matching system performs and whether it significantly improves the quality and quantity of brand-creator collaborations. 

Another positive development is expanding the creator marketplace to eight more countries. This move will undoubtedly open up new avenues for creators in these regions to connect with brands and monetize their content while also giving brands access to a broader pool of talented creators.

As the platform continues to invest in tools that support its creative community, it reinforces its position as a leading destination for influencer marketing and collaborative content creation.

Our Take: Instagram's recent announcement of several new Direct Message (DM) features is a welcome development for users and businesses. The ability to edit messages up to 15 minutes after sending is excellent for those conducting business interactions via DMs. We've all experienced the embarrassment of sending a message with a typo or accidentally using the wrong name when copy-pasting. This feature will help alleviate those awkward moments and allow for a more polished and professional communication experience.

Another fantastic addition is the option to pin up to three group chats or messages to the top of the inbox. This feature will make it easier for users to quickly access their favorite people or important conversations, saving time and improving overall user experience. For businesses, this could be particularly useful for keeping track of warm leads or high-priority clients, ensuring that users' critical interactions aren't lost in a sea of messages.

Lastly, the ability to save favorite stickers and reply to specific messages with stickers, GIFs, videos, photos, and voice messages is a fun and creative way to enhance communication within DMs. While these features were already available, using them as replies to specific messages adds a new layer of interactivity and context to conversations.

IG’s new DM features demonstrate the platform's commitment to improving user experience and facilitating more meaningful personal and professional interactions. As someone who frequently uses Instagram for business purposes, Chelsea believes these updates will streamline communication, boost efficiency, and ultimately lead to more successful outcomes. 

Our Take: The platform's introduction of file sharing in DMs is a long-awaited feature that has been available on Facebook Messenger for quite some time. This update will significantly enhance communication, particularly for businesses and content creators who often need to share downloadable content with their audience.

The ability to attach and send files directly through Instagram DMs is a welcome addition for those who want to share their own freebies, PDFs, or other downloaded content with their followers. Previously, this process would have required users to navigate away from the platform, potentially disrupting the conversation and causing friction in the user experience.

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With this new feature, businesses and creators can seamlessly share lead magnets, such as PDF guides or resources, without requiring the recipient to click out of Instagram. This streamlined approach improves the overall user experience and increases the likelihood of the recipient engaging with the shared content.

However, ensuring that any lead magnets or downloadable content shared through Instagram DMs are optimized for mobile devices is crucial. As more and more users access social media platforms via their smartphones, creating mobile-friendly content is essential for maximizing engagement and providing a positive user experience.

Our Take: Instagram's upcoming “Spins” feature for Reels has the potential to revolutionize the way users engage with and create content on the platform. While it may take a moment to understand the concept, it is quite simple: users can take someone else's Reel and spin it by swapping out the text or audio.

This feature is reminiscent of the popular trend where users create Reels using a standard template, such as a funny meme or a cute animal video, and then add their own unique text or point of view to the content. By formalizing this process through the Spins feature, Instagram is making it easier for users to participate in these trends and create their own versions of popular Reels.

One of the most exciting aspects of this feature is the potential for increased reach and exposure for the original content creators. When someone creates a Spin of your Reel, Instagram will credit you as the original creator. Your content could reach a wider audience as more users create their own Spins based on your original Reel.

However, users will likely need to utilize Instagram's built-in tools to add text and audio to their Reels so that others can edit and create Spins. If you add your text or audio off-platform, it may not be possible for others to swap out those elements when creating their own versions.

Our Take: The platform’s new “Blend” feature, which creates a personalized Reels feed based on the content you and a friend share, is an interesting concept that raises some questions about the platform's direction.  

On the surface, curating a private feed tailored to your shared interests with a specific friend is fun. For example, if you and your bestie constantly send each other funny dog memes and Reels, Blend would create a feed filled with similar content that you both might enjoy.

However, the logistics of this feature are still unclear. Where exactly will this private feed be located within the Instagram app? Will it be a separate section, or will it be integrated into the existing Reels feed? Additionally, will users be able to comment on these Reels, and if so, will those comments be visible only to the two friends, or will they be public?

From a broader perspective, the Blend feature is counterintuitive to Instagram's goal of encouraging users to consume more content from a wide range of creators, including those they don't follow. By creating a private, curated feed based on shared interests with a single friend, users might spend more time in this exclusive space rather than engaging with the main Reels feed.

Furthermore, as Instagram's head, Adam Mosseri, has mentioned, users already spend more time on the platform in private spaces. While it makes sense for Instagram to explore new features that cater to this trend, it's important to consider the potential impact on overall user engagement and content discovery.

While the Blend feature is an intriguing concept that could enhance the private sharing experience on Instagram, it also raises questions about its implementation and potential effects on user behavior. As Instagram continues to test and refine this feature, it will be interesting to see how it evolves and how users respond to it.

Our Take: The platform’s recent announcement of testing 3-minute Reels, up from the current 90-second limit, clearly indicates that the platform is prioritizing longer-form content. While it's uncertain whether this decision is based on original research or simply following in TikTok's footsteps, the move towards extended video lengths seems to be a common trend across social media platforms.

What's particularly interesting about this development is the screenshot shared by a creator, which featured a message from Instagram stating that the length of their Reel might be impacting their reach, with Reels longer than 30 seconds typically performing better. This message is significant because it suggests that Instagram actively encourages creators to produce longer content, potentially rewarding them with increased reach.

We're excited about Instagram favoring longer-form content, especially for educational content creators. It allows us to delve deeper into topics and share more valuable information with our audience. However, it's important to note that while longer Reels may have better reach, shorter videos will likely continue to garner more views simply because they're quicker to consume.

It's also worth mentioning that Instagram's definition of “longer” Reels seems to be evolving. The screenshot mentioned 30 seconds as the benchmark, whereas TikTok has been promoting videos longer than a minute for at least 6 months. As Instagram continues to test and expand its Reels length limits, we'll see a gradual increase in the recommended duration, reaching up to a minute or more.

Creators should remember that only videos under the specified Reels length limit (currently 90 seconds, potentially increasing to 3 minutes) will have the opportunity to reach beyond their existing followers and attract new audiences. This distinction is crucial for those looking to grow their presence on the platform.

IG’s push for longer Reels presents both opportunities and challenges for creators. While it allows for more in-depth content creation, it also means adapting to the platform's evolving preferences and staying up-to-date with the latest recommended video lengths. As Instagram continues refining its Reels approach, creators must remain flexible and experiment with different formats to maximize their reach and engagement on the platform.

Our Take: The platform’s recent update to simplify the hashtag and search experience seems to be part of a larger trend of moving away from the traditional importance of hashtags. Over the past couple of years, we've seen various changes and hints that suggest hashtags may eventually be phased out, at least in their current form.

While keywords and tagging content will likely remain essential for discoverability, the hashtag symbol might become less significant. Instagram has experimented with different recommendations for the optimal number of hashtags, introduced topic tags for Reels, and now, they're consolidating the hashtag search results.

This simplification of the hashtag search experience, which now shows a single feed of results instead of separate top-performing posts, could be Instagram's acknowledgment that while hashtags help users find content, they're not the be-all and end-all of discoverability. It's likely that IG will still personalize search results based on each user's engagement history, so two people searching for the same hashtag might see different posts.

Chelsea believes this change is a step in the right direction. For years, content creators have tried to find the “perfect” hashtags, researching the right size and combination and putting in a lot of extra effort to optimize their posts. By simplifying the hashtag experience, Instagram is potentially reducing this mental load and allowing creators to focus more on the quality of their content.

However, it will be interesting to see how this update affects users' discovery and engagement with content on the platform. Will it lead to more diverse content discovery or limit exposure to specific posts? Only time will tell.

Our Take: Instagram's recent testing of a lock screen widget that directly opens the Stories Camera clearly indicates the platform's increasing focus on private sharing and the growing importance of Instagram Stories. The platform prioritizes convenience and speed for those who frequently share moments through Stories by allowing users to access the Stories Camera without unlocking their phones.

This development aligns with the insights shared by Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, who has repeatedly emphasized the trend of users gravitating toward more private sharing and the significance of Stories as a communication tool. The fact that IG has created a widget specifically for Stories rather than for posting to the main feed or Reels speaks volumes about the weight and prominence of Stories within the platform.

From a design perspective, it's interesting to consider the deliberate choice to limit the widget's functionality to Stories. Instagram's team likely carefully considered whether to include options for regular and Carousel posts but ultimately decided to focus solely on Stories. This decision underscores Stories' central role in the IG ecosystem and how users interact with the platform.

The introduction of this widget reminds marketers and businesses to prioritize Stories as a key aspect of their Instagram strategy. As users increasingly rely on Stories for quick, in-the-moment updates and personal sharing, brands that effectively leverage this format to connect with their audience will likely see greater engagement and growth.

However, it's important to note that while the Stories Camera widget offers convenience, most users—especially marketers—will still prefer to create more polished content, such as Reels, using other tools and methodologies. The widget's primary appeal lies in its ability to facilitate spontaneous, off-the-cuff sharing, a hallmark of Instagram Stories.

Our Take: Instagram's ongoing efforts to enhance security and protect users from impersonation, scams, and deceptive activities are commendable and much-needed in today's digital landscape. As someone who has experienced the challenges of dealing with impersonation accounts, Chelsea appreciates the platform's proactive approach to alerting users of potential threats.

Introducing notifications that warn users about newly created accounts or suspicious links is a significant step in helping individuals make informed decisions about their interactions on the platform. By providing these timely alerts, IG empowers users to exercise caution and avoid falling victim to scams or deceptive practices.

Moreover, the availability of security checkup features, such as two-factor authentication and backup codes, is crucial for users who want to safeguard their accounts. As cybersecurity threats evolve and become more sophisticated, users must take advantage of these tools and regularly review their security settings.

However, while Instagram's security measures are valuable, they are not foolproof. Even paid verified users with strong security settings can encounter challenges when attempting to access support or recover their accounts. This highlights the need for users to remain vigilant and proactive in protecting their online presence.

One key takeaway is the importance of saving backup codes and keeping them in a secure location. These codes can be a lifesaver when dealing with account access issues, especially as cybersecurity threats become more prevalent on major platforms like Instagram.

Furthermore, for those who work with clients or manage multiple accounts, it's crucial to ensure that all stakeholders know these security measures and access the necessary information, such as backup codes, to prevent potential disruptions to their business or online presence.