A long-awaited feature was implemented recently by Instagram: adding hashtags and profile links in bio.
Those new features were added in order to help users better express themselves and show others topics they are interested in. Mentioning other profiles in their own bio can help creators promote businesses they are working for or just highlight businesses they love and want to spread the word about.
After introducing the possibility to follow hashtags back in December, the step of adding hashtags to the profile description was the only natural thing to do. This is a new way of expressing yourself, by showing people that follow you, your interests and passions.
How can you ad # or @ in your profile description?
There are a few easy steps to follow in order to do this: tap on the “Edit profile” button and go to the bio section. Once you do this, just type # and a list of suggested hashtags will appear; do the same with the @ and then just add the profile you want to promote or to highlight. Once you have followed those steps, the hashtags and profiles will appear in your description. Then click the “Save” button and the new details will appear on your profile until you decide to change them.
When mentioning someone on your profile, they will receive a notification about this and decide whether they want to accept the mention or not. If they don’t, they are able to remove their profile from your description. Their name will still appear in your profile description, but it will not be clickable and will not redirect your followers to the mentioned profile.
The new additions to Instagram, together with the possibility to add highlights to your profile are ways of expressing yourself and let your followers know what you are interested in and get to know you better.
What does this mean for influencers in their relationship with brands?
Let’s say you are an influencer and work with a certain brand for a campaign? How will those new features help you position yourself within the campaign?
Until now, influencers have used links to their websites to tell the story of a campaign they were involved into. From now on, they will be able to add the business’ that has the campaign profile in their own description, together with the hashtags associated with the specific campaign. This way, your followers will be just a click away from the products they might like.
What do you say about the new updates from Instagram? Do you think they are a good engagement tool?
See also: Instagram expands shoppable posts to six new countries
