Game-changing news today! Did you know that Instagram is now allowing all users to post links in stories no matter their follower count? Why yes, on yesterday they announced that the Instagram story link sticker would start rolling out as early as today!
To that I say “Hallelujah & hell must have frozen over!” As you know, prior to now the previously used “Swipe up” feature to post links in stories was limited to accounts that had 10,000 followers. Small businesses can now breathe a sigh of relief knowing they no longer have to stress about a number in order to promote!
How to Use Link Stickers
Click the sticker icon at the top right. Then choose the link sticker. When the screen rolls up, type or paste in your URL. You’ll see it appear on the next screen. Tap the sticker until you’re satisfied with the color then click next to continue with publishing. Easy peasy!
My Thoughts
In my opinion, creators/businesses were becoming fed up with Facebook/Instagram’s shenannigans and starting to migrate off the app to greener pastures with better reach like Tik Tok. In doing what they should have been doing all along where they could’ve before & were unwilling, it’s looking like damage control. Especially because of all the negative press they’ve been getting lately.
“We made this decision based on feedback we heard from the community about how impactful it would be for creators and businesses of all sizes to benefit from link sharing to grow in the same way larger accounts do,” Instagram said in a statement. *major side eye* I’m sorry but what?! If I’d been sitting in front of the person who made that statement, I wouldn’t have even been able to keep a straight face LOL. Businesses of all sizes needing to be able to link to their offerings is common sense. It’s kind of insulting to our intelligence to say they had to hear that from the community.
They did point out that the ability to link out was previously limited to larger accounts to keep down spam. They also wanted to minimize the ability to spread misinformation. Accounts that use hate speech or spread misinformation will be banned from using link stickers.
Whatever the reason they opened the golden gates, I’m happy they’ve finally stopped stomping on the little people. I could always link out from my blog’s Instagram accounts but I feel like new money now that I can finally link out from stories on my personal account! I’m psyched to start creating content for it again.
Have fun!
Are you excited about the Instagram Story Link Sticker feature? Have you already started revising your Instagram marketing strategy to utilize it to its full potential?! If you’d like to know the staple apps I use to execute my personal branding strategy on the ‘gram, check out 5 Apps to Help You Kill It on Instagram & follow me while you’re at it!
