Nearly ten years ago, a new social media platform entered the scene, entirely geared towards the fast-scrolling, low attention span browsing we’ve all become accustomed to. Ten years later, Instagram is beginning to revolutionize the way people shop online. Giving birth to “Social Influencers” and sponsored ad content, Instagram is an increasingly useful tool for businesses. Instagram, which is now owned by Facebook, is now rolling out new features to help eCommerce shops realize their full potential.

Ensure that your business stays current with these new trends and features rolling out to Instagram in 2019.

Instagram Shopping Carts

What was almost certainly inevitable is the leap from browsing to buying. What was once a delicate process of enticing potential buyers and then directing them off of Instagram and into your shopping cart is now becoming a straightforward process. Slowly rolling out with a few accounts, Instagram is beginning to allow users to complete the check out process within the app itself. In-app purchasing has enormous potential to revolutionize the way influencers sell to their customers. Now instead of having to direct customers to their bios or links in the comments, they can instantly sell to their followers right there in the app. Expect the availability of Shopping Carts on Instagram to expand rapidly in the next year.

Shoppable Tags

On Instagram, there are Creators or Influencers whom brands use to push their products through various sponsorships. These Creators have previously been pigeonholed into linking click-through sites in comments and bio descriptions. Now, Instagram is rolling out Shoppable Tags. Creators can now tag a product in a photo or post and have that tag link directly to the website for purchasing information. Pushing viewers directly through to the site will exponentially decrease purchasing time and increase conversion rates from Instagram.

Share Posts in Stories

Finally, the feature everyone has been asking for: You are now able to share posts on Instagram in your Story. No more screenshots! This new feature is perfect for businesses owners with an eCom store. Now you can share users posting about your products directly to your Story. All you have to do is select the “Create a story with the post” option from the dropdown menu within the airplane button. And that’s it! Viewers can now tap on your shared post story and be linked directly back to the original user’s post. Your users get publicity, and you get free referrals!

Polling in Stories

Now creating a user poll is easier than ever. With built-in quiz stickers, you can now add multiple choice options to your stories for instant customer feedback. You will now be able to A/B test your customers in real time and see just what their opinions of your products are. Interactivity is endless with this feature. Imagine you’re a boutique which is going to buy clothes at a trade show. You can now instantly poll your customers and see which styles they would prefer.

Donations

With crowdfunding and cause-based marketing becoming more and more popular, Instagram is adding a way to raise money directly in the app. With Donation stickers for stories, you can create a button that directly links viewers to donate. These donations will go right to the designated nonprofit you have selected. There is also the option of viewing how many donations users have given.

Creator Profile

Instagram is now getting into the business page game with Creator Profiles. These profile pages will give analytics on engagement, demographics, and viewing stats allowing businesses to know exactly how their influencer sponsorships are being utilized. Ultimately, this new feature may be the most important in a long time as it will allow businesses to shop for their best CPC advertising dollars when looking into influencers. It will also enable top influencers to charge more accurately with the statistics to back it up. One of the more useful features for Creators will be the DM (or direct message) filtering, which automatically sorts by relevance. Now you will be able to see who is contacting you for what reason without having to sift through unwanted messages.

Hiding Likes

Perhaps the most controversial and game-changing feature is the ability to now hide the number of likes a picture has gotten. The owner can see the running total, but viewers cannot. Hiding likes is all in an attempt to decrease the competitive nature and give way to a more authentic service. The goal is to diminish viewer judgment of photos based on their amount of likes and more on the content of the post.

Whether these changes will dramatically impact the future of Instagram and online marketing remains to be seen. Some of the new features are in beta testing and only on select accounts with 10k+ followers. In the coming months, we will see them be rolled out more widely or adapted as feedback from Creators rolls in. For all the latest Social Media Marketing and for advice in running your campaigns, contact Lafayette LA Website Design at 337-223-3305.