This is not clickbait! It has officially been announced that Instagram story links are no longer going to be limited to accounts with 10,000 followers.
Crazy; I know!
Who thought we would live to see the day!
If you want to learn how you can now activate this function and use it for your digital marketing strategy, then I am going to lay everything out for you.
What Are Instagram Story Links?
If you know anything about Instagram, then you know how IMPOSSIBLE the algorithm is!
Honestly, it’s like they change it every month.
But one of the most coveted features that Instagram had was the Swipe-Up feature. Everyone and their dog wanted to hit the 10K mark and get verified. Just to be able to unlock this one thing.
Why?
Because this was the easiest way to let your audience connect with your other content, watch your youtube video, read your blog, or whatever else you may have in store.
This was an AMAZING feature.
However, back in June 2021, Instagram rolled out their newest baby: Story Link Stickers.
This is a sticker that lets you paste your link anywhere on your story instead of just having the “swipe-up” function on the bottom of your screen.
It took Instagram by storm and became one of the most popular features.
Of course, it was also limited to accounts with over 10K followers.
However, Story Links became so popular that it outperformed the OG Swipe Up and in August 2021, the platform officially discontinued the feature.
How Do You Get the Link Sticker on Instagram?
Instagram has made it incredibly easy to add these links.
All you have to do is go into Instagram and create a story. Then go into the stickers screen.
Here you should the “LINK” sticker come up automatically. If you do not, you can type it into the search bar and it will come up.
Now you can just enter the URL that you want to link to, and that is it!
Super easy right?
Troubleshooting: Instagram Link Sticker Not Showing Up
You may not see the sticker right away.
Instagram made this announcement just 2 days ago so this is fairly new.
Considering there are 1,3 billion accounts on the platform, there will be a bit of a delay.
You may have to wait for Instagram to roll out a new update so that you can update your app.
Instagram has also been clear that not all accounts will gain access to this feature. If you have violated any community guidelines, have a spammy account, or have an account deemed to have “nudity or sexual activity,” then you may find that you will not have access to this sticker.
This actually happens quite often so don’t be surprised if it happens to you.
You are able to contact their support team if you feel they have made a mistake with your account.
How to Effectively use Instagram Story Links
Now that you got your link sticker, how should you use it?
Well, first of all, if you do not have:
- an online business
- a youtube channel
- a website or blog
- an e-commerce store
- a fundraiser
- any other online platform that you want to raise awareness about
YOU SHOULD NOT BE USING THIS STICKER.
Let me explain: Instagram will be quick to label you as spammy if you are not linking to things that are relevant to your post.
You should not just use the links sticker to post to some interesting recipe that you found on Pinterest.
Don’t even get me started on news articles that may be flagged as false news or controversial.
How Do You Grow Your Subscribers with Instagram Story Links?
Using links in your stories is a great way to increase engagement with your audience but there are certain links that perform better than others.
If you want to grow and scale your business, here is what you should use the link stickers for:
1-Promote Products
Using your insta-story to showcase your products is a perfect way to boost your business. Show your best-selling products to your subscribers and add a link so that they will be able to buy them if they are interested.
Make sure you also make a Highlight of these stories as well.
2-Promote New business Events
If you have any sales, business events, or special deals for your business then you want to promote it!
What better way to do this than using your Instagram story with a link sticker! Make a great ad image using something like Canva and you will be sure to gain a lot more traction for that event.
3-Promote Lead Magnets
Lead Magnets are a great way to grow your email list. So why not promote your free product directly on Instagram?
Make a story and link it to your landing page for your lead magnet or opt-in form and you will be sure to grow your email list in no time.
4-Promote Blog Posts
If you have a website or blog, then posting a new story on your Instagram page when you upload a new post is a great way to get traffic to that new article.
As much as we love Google SEO, it can take time for it to kick in. So having a proper marketing strategy for social media platforms like Instagram is a great way to get some initial traffic to your blog post.
Getting views to your blog right from the beginning will help you get indexed by Google a lot quicker.
5-Promote Youtube Videos
If you are a youtube then make a small clip of your new youtube video and leave a link for your audience to watch your content.
Not only is this a great way to drive views to your youtube video, but this will also help you with the algorithm.
When Youtube sees that you can pull people onto the platform, and keep them on there, the algorithm tends to boost your videos and push them out on the home feed.
It’s a win-win for you!
Final Thoughts
I think: It’s about time!
All of these social media platforms are really starting to take a hit considering how well TikTok is doing.
People have choices now.
If a platform is going to make it difficult for you to grow, then why stay there?
Considering how hard it is becoming to grow on Instagram (thanks to their algorithm changing every second), there is no wonder why TikTok now has over taken both Instagram and Youtube in watch time.
This change needed to be done to give smaller creators a reason to start focusing on Instagram again.
Good job Zuckerberg.
