Most Instagram (IG) users have come across a Link sticker at some point while viewing a company or a celebrity’s Stories. The feature is simple to use, in that whoever posted the Story prompts you to click the Link sticker, and when you do, you are whisked away to their shop’s homepage, Linktree, or wherever else they want to send you.
This all sounds like an unsurprising and (some would argue) necessary feature for a social media platform to have in order for their users to smoothly convert their followers’ attention into revenue. However, if most of us had gone looking to add a Link sticker to our own Story so that we could direct our friends to a Buzzfeed quiz about which character from Mean Girls you are, we wouldn’t have found it among the list of Story stickers available to us. The reason for this is that, until recently, only accounts with large followings could use the Link sticker feature. It may not be shocking for most of us to learn that Instagram had constructed a popularity-based hierarchy when it came to accessing the Link sticker.
The good news is that Instagram recently decided to change their approach to the Link sticker. On October 27th, the social media giant released a statement declaring that going forward, the Link sticker could be used by every profile, both big and small. Now that all of us have the ability to add links to our Stories, we wanted to share a few Link sticker tips and tricks:
- Use Link stickers to boost site traffic. Your audience will appreciate being able to use a link sticker to quickly be taken to your blogs, About page, FAQs, products, charities you support, etc.
- Use Link stickers sparingly. Your followers might begin to feel overwhelmed if every one of your Stories prompts them to click on a link.
- Make Link stickers match. Just like with other Story stickers, you can change the color of your Link sticker to help grab peoples’ attention and match the aesthetics of your post.
Instagram is currently working on making Link stickers more customizable, which will allow people to know where the links will take them before deciding to click.
Since we’re talking about the big IG, we have one final note pertaining to their parent company. Most of you have probably already heard about Facebook’s recent decision to change their parent company’s name to Meta. Since Instagram is one of the companies under Meta’s umbrella of assets, you might be wondering if this shift will impact Instagram’s name or platform. The simple answer is no—at least, not yet.
Just as Facebook (the social media site) will not immediately be changing its name or interface, neither will Instagram. In the long-term, Meta’s focus on augmented reality and virtual reality will probably lead to huge changes in the way we see and interact with both Facebook and Instagram—but that topic is for another blog post.
If you ever find yourself wanting a partner by your side to help you navigate the ever-changing landscape of social media marketing, look no further than the talented team at Get Community! Feel free to contact us with any questions about our products and services. We would love to chat!