Instagram is getting even more crafty with their latest feature update to the organization of your followers. A new filter is currently in test for “Following” and “Followers” lists! The filter sorts your followers by presenting them in the order of most recent additions to longest-standing followers, or vice versa. The filter appears above your follower’s list in the text: “Date Followed: Latest.”  

This update might seem sort of useless for the average user, but for businesses, it’s a lifesaver. The feature will undoubtedly make it way easier to locate the people who’ve supported your brand for the longest time, providing a new way to connect with them. On the opposite side of the spectrum, being able to locate your most recent followers gives your brand the opportunity to observe key details about the most recent efforts in your social media strategy and how they correlate to your new followers.

The update also shows great potential for optimizing campaigns in target audiences and testing efforts in engagement. Hooking your new followers with great content is easy, but finding your new followers isn’t as simple. Listening in to your social responses is easy, but sorting out the new perspectives from the old is nearly impossible, until now. Now you’ve got information about your new followers right in front of you. You can address questions and concerns from them first, optimizing time for community management efforts. You can style campaigns almost perfectly curated for social, as you can easily pinpoint long-standing followers for surprise & delight giveaway efforts.

Though it’s only in testing currently, I have high hopes for this new feature, particularly for small businesses that might want to take on their own social media channels without an agency. In the same boat, it’s still incredibly useful for agencies and marketing teams as well. I gotta’ say, I’m pretty impressed with Instagram’s innovations lately. I’m excited to incorporate this new filter into our social media strategies, and I’m looking forward to what they have to offer next.

Do you have questions on how to build a social media strategy? Drop us a line at info@socialflyny.com.