Meta has begun testing a new premium subscription on Instagram in a few countries, including the Philippines and Mexico, as confirmed to TechCrunch last Monday. This follows announcements of testing premium subscriptions on Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. This subscription, called ‘Instagram Plus’, will bring about multiple exclusive features and options to users wanting to grow their publicity and engagement. But are these just novel perks or truly beneficial to your business? Keep reading to find out if Instagram Plus could benefit your business in Sheffield and beyond.
Instagram’s new paid feature
The main additions in Instagram Plus are related to stories. One key perk is the addition to your “Close Friends” list. Rather than just having one, you can create multiple audience lists. Think of how you can target content – with segmenting by different groups in various stages of the purchase funnel. For example, one group for repeat customers and one for those who haven’t purchased yet. This, paired with the feature that allows users to see a record of how many people have watched your story, will make it easier to create targeted marketing content.
On top of this, you will be able to preview stories before they go live and search through your viewers, adding to the ease of use.
Story duration
Stories will now be viewable for up to 48 hours rather than the standard 24 with Instagram Plus. This will help grow audiences faster and create extra visibility. With this, the option to see who has viewed your story multiple times will prove especially beneficial when targeting your marketing.
Superlikes
Do you reserve your story likes to just a few or like to hand them out like there’s no tomorrow? With Instagram Plus, you can send stronger reactions, such as “Superlikes” or “Super Hearts,” that let you show more interest than a standard like.
Spotlights
Want to make one story stand out for a week? Instagram Plus includes a spotlight tool that lets you place a story at the top of the page for its duration. However, users share concerns surrounding multiple story spotlights. What happens if multiple users try to spotlight their stories? Who will come up first?
How are current users responding?
Many have commented on this feature’s likeness to Snapchat+. Which, if you have not used (understandably), offers bonus features to the app’s users, allowing you to remove ads, view rewatch indicators, add custom app icons and more.
Instagram users complain of the lack of ad removal and unfollow insights in Instagram Plus, stating that if there’s any reason to upgrade, that would be it.
Keep up with digital marketing trends
Instagram Plus is still in testing, and there is no confirmation of when it will roll out to the UK and South Yorkshire.
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