Instagram Albums Aren’t Just for Advertisers Anymore

Instagram has been getting us all warmed up to the idea of swiping through albums in our feed since it introduced the feature to advertisers not long ago. Now the floodgates have been opened, and Instagram is letting us all indulge in this quasi-controversial feature.

The reaction to the new feature has been mixed. Some are afraid that by introducing albums to the public, individuals will go on a share rampage around the world and dump a bunch of trash into this carefully crafted environment (think baby photos, cat photos, vacation photos, and more). My opinion is that this is a good thing for the platform and that the vast majority will quickly adopt it. Albums are an even more transparent window into the lifestyles of the influencers, brands, friends, and family members we follow.

What does this mean for your business?

You have the opportunity to tell a better story.

Whether it’s behind the scenes at The Oscars or a local nonprofit organizing a community event, there is an opportunity to catch the attention of our audience with one image (or video) and provide more context for those who are curious. The reason Instagram albums make sense is the same reason that we all had cabinets filled with photo albums in the 90s—we humans enjoy stories with a beginning, middle, and end.

You should see an increase in engagement.

We are, by nature, curious creatures. This quickly becomes a benefit when we start thinking about how Instagram albums will affect our brand’s engagement on the popular social platform. In theory, those two to ten little dots nestled comfortably between the like button and the save button should encourage the swipe—and as a result, an increase in overall engagement.

You can introduce clever calls-to-action.

As business people, we always want our calls to action to be clear—front and center, but when we step foot into the social space, we must be tactful in the way we introduce CTAs. “Shop Now,” “Click Here,” and other CTAs of the like can easily feel spammy in a sacred ground that thrives on authenticity. A string of multiple images allows us to introduce calls to action for our audience after they’ve already committed to the journey, increasing the chances of further engagement.

Before we go, let’s talk limitations. (There really aren’t too many.) If you’re stuck wondering why the floodgate hasn’t opened for you yet, and you’re missing the option to add multiple images at the same time, you probably need to visit the app store and update Instagram to version 10.9. You can upload up to 10 images or videos at a time but we’ll caution you that 10 is a lot to swipe through. Apply filters to any image, but expect the caption to stay the same from one image to the next.

There is often resistance to change, but with over 400 million active users, Instagram is destined to change, so why not jump aboard early?