Instagram features every musician should know about (and use)

Instagram is a platform that is always evolving, so in order to be successful it’s important to keep up with all their new features. Let’s dive in…

by Randi Zimmerman of Symphonic Blog

Think you’re up to date with every new trend Instagram has to offer? With new updates launching left and right, it’s not your fault if you miss one or two! Here are some of my new favorite features that I definitely missed, but I’m glad I know about them now…

Instagram Features Every Musician Should Use

Find Creators

Did you now that you can add brands to a preferred list so that when any of those brands are on the hunt for creators to work with, you will pop up first in their search? That way, brands get recommended creators who they know are already interested in working with them, and you have a better chance of working with a dream brand. Brands can also filter their search by follower count, age, location and gender to help them find exactly what they’re looking for.

As long as you have a creator or business account, you can access this feature.

Subscriptions

Back in 2020, Instagram launched a feature called Subscriptions. With it, you can earn consistent income by offering exclusive content and benefits to your most engaged followers at a monthly fee. These subscribers not only get exclusive content, but also the opportunity to connect with you on a deeper level through a plethora of unique features. Some of these include:

Exclusive Tab: This is a dedicated tab on your profile to save all that exclusive content like subscriber lives, feed posts, and Reels, giving your subscribers a hub to find everything in one easy access spot.

Subscriber Chats: With Subscriber Chats, you can add up to 30 people to connect and mingle with you through Messenger. This chat only lasts 24 hours, and you can let your fans ask whatever they want to know, share thoughtful comments, or even ask for advice. All you have to do is use the “join chat” sticker on your story and your subscribers can tap to join.

Partnership Inbox

When you’re a part of the creator marketplace on Instagram as a creator, brands that are interested in working with you can send you partnership messages. Once you get your first partnership message, you get access to a new messages folder just for those. To find these, just go to your main inbox on Instagram and tap Partnership messages. With this, you can keep track of all the brands who have reached out to you with opportunities and avoid missing anything important in your main inbox.

Reminder Ads

If you’ve got new music coming out, a big show coming up, or anything your fans are looking forward to, you can remind them of what’s to come with Reminder Ads. To do this, you can create a reminder ad for an Instagram post in Meta Ads Manager. Once you set this up, people will see an add with a Remind Me button they can click which lets them opt in to receive reminders (specifically 3 of them before the day of your event).

Using this feature ensures people won’t forget to tune in to whatever you have in store, as well as increase the likelihood they’ll share your event with others! For new upcoming songs, tour dates, music videos, merch drops and more, this is a great tool for musicians big and small.

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Reels Template

If you don’t have a ton of time to spend making Reels, using templates could be the perfect life hack for you. To use a template, all you have to do is:

• Find the Reel you want to use.
• Tap the three dots to the right.
• Tap Use As Template
• Click Add Template
• Now, follow the steps to make it exactly how you want it.

Any time you find a Reel with a template you feel like you could use, save it! It’s save you time and energy so you can do what you really want to be doing… making music.

Merch Shop

When the pandemic started, Instagram announced Shops on Instagram to help creatives drive product discovery and make it easy for people to shop their products. As an artist, this feature is a great tool for driving merch sales right from your profile, in your feed, or through IG Stories.

To set this up, you’ll need to check these eligibility requirements to get started. You must:

• Be located in a Supported Market.
• Have an eligible product.
• Comply with Instagram’s Merchant Agreement and Commerce Policies.
• Own a website domain in which you intend to sell from.

If these all apply to you, you can start up your merch shop on Instagram! For a step by step on how to do this, check this out.

Analytics Insights

This one is a given for anyone, but be sure to switch to a business or creator account to access insights about your audience, reach, and engagement! This data is the ultimate key to help you tailor your content to your audience’s preferences and optimize your Instagram strategy.

Interactive Stickers

Many of the interactive stickers you know and love from Instagram Stories are available on Reels, too! For example, try these out:

• Poll: Poll your audience on what should happen in your next video so they can help shape the storyline themselves.
• Quiz: Put your audience’s skills to the test (or teach them something new!).
• Emoji Slider: Let your audience share how your content makes them feel with a sticker that makes their reaction even more powerful.
• FB and IG Add Yours: Call on your community to participate in a trend you create using the Add Yours sticker, a Stories favorite, now available to use in your reels on Instagram and Facebook.

Grid Pinning

I’m sure you’re already using this one, but Grid Pinning lets you pin your favorite posts to the top of your profile. Not only can you pin your favorites, you can pin tour announcements, important updates, or anything you don’t want your fans to forget about.

Collaborative Posts

Do you have a new song coming out with one of your homies? Post about it together and build the hype with a collaborative post!

As the creator, you can invite another account as a collaborator, and if they accept, their username will be added to the post and the post will be shared with both your followers. Whether you’ve dropped a song with someone or going on tour with them, get the news out to as many people as possible by combining your efforts.

Good luck!

HYPEBOT NOTE: Just last week, Instagram also added music to photo carousels. Learn more here.