Are you struggling to keep up with all the Instagram 2020 updates? Doing the job for you, our team compiles in this article the essential new features, new functions, and new tools of Instagram in 2020. Keep an eye out in this article as we will be updating it regularly to bring you all the Instagram 2020 Updates. You may also check our other social media insights articles, like our series of articles on Instagram hiding Likes: How does it affect Marketers?.
Update 9: Instagram – Reels
- August 2020 – Live – Instagram has launched a feature for users to create and share fun 15 second long multi-clip videos.
Instagram Reels features:
- Create 15 second long multi-clip videos with many different effects, audios, and creative tools.
- Reels can be shared to followers for individuals with a private account.
- Business and creator accounts can share their reel on the reels page in the Explore tab.
Update 8: Instagram – Fundraising for personal causes
- July 2020 – Live – Individuals can now create personal fundraising campaigns and add details to tell their stories and encourage others to donate through Instagram.
Fundraising features:
- All fundraisers will go through a review process.
- The donations from the fundraising will go through Stripe, the Instagram payment processor.
- Fundraising campaigns will run for 30 days.
- Campaigns can be extended as many times as the creator wants.
- Fundraising is live in the US, UK and Ireland.
Update 7: Instagram – Facebook Pay can be used on Instagram
- July 2020 – Live – Facebook Pay can now be used to make purchases on Instagram as an easy checkout method.
Facebook Pay features:
- Users who make purchases using Facebook Pay via Instagram Checkout will have extra security features. For example, a personal identification number (PIN), facial recognition and fingerprint scanning.
Update 6: Instagram – Shop
- July 2020 – Live – Instagram Shop is now an easy place for consumers to discover and shop the brands and products they love.
Instagram Shop features:
- Businesses can tag their products in their content which will be linked to a collection of products in their shopping page on Instagram.
- Consumers will receive personalized recommendations on brands and products. This is based on their existing following and likes.
- Instagram shop is also offering tips for brands to best utilize their shops for this festive season. Find out more here.
Update 5: Instagram – Updated tools for businesses.
- January 2020 – Live – Instagram has now added new features and tools to help businesses understand their audience better. In addition, businesses are now also able to get deeper insight into their presence on Instagram.
Updated tools and features:
- Growth Insights: Instagram now has insights to show businesses which posts and stories have performed the best. There are also tools to track follower growth per day and week.
- Stories: Instagram has now consolidated all story mentions into one activity tab. Businesses can now view their mentions in one place, as a whole story.
- Age Gating: Instagram now allows businesses to set an age limit for them to target people of a specific age across different countries.
- Profile Displays: Instagram Profile Displays are now more flexible and businesses can easily share relevant information to present themselves.
- Secondary inbox: Instagram now allows accounts to categorize their messages into two separate inboxes. This will ensure the messages they need to read will be prioritized differently.
Update 4: Instagram – New Commerce eligibility requirements.
- July 2020 – Live – Introduced in July, Instagram shopping has now expanded to include many different types of businesses. Creators can now connect with their shoppers to sell products through their Instagram accounts.
Commerce eligibility features:
- Any eligible business or creator account with at least one product can access this feature.
- Commerce eligibility is live in Instagram Shopping supported regions.
Update 3: Instagram – Guide.
- May 2020 – Live – Introduced in May, Instagram Guide aims to provide accessible and reliable information to users. The function is currently available for a limited amount of content creators and organizations to share well-being advice during the COVID-19 pandemic. Instagram hopes to expand this function to other credible accounts in the future.
Instagram guide Features:
- Curate informative and interactive content on Instagram.
- Leverage post, IGTV video and text content in Guide.
Update 2: Instagram – App installs objective for Branded Content.
- May 2020 – Live – Instagram has expanded the advertising capability for branded content. This allows advertisers to promote app installations.
Instagram app installs objective for Branded Content features:
- Instagram users can enable Branded Content Tools in settings.
- Advertisers can partner with users to run branded content ads with the new objective.
Update 1: Instagram – Hiding Likes.
- November 2019 – Beta – Instagram removed likes from posts after testing this feature on the platform since 2019. It has now expanded to cover and test accounts from all over the world.
Instagram hiding likes features:
- Removal of Likes on Instagram.
- Tested users can access the number of likes and views of their own photos and videos.
- Tested users cannot view likes and views of photos and videos of others on their feed.
Go Beyond Instagram 2020 Updates with our series:
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