The Side of Instagram you've probably overlooked

Let’s be real, we’re all on Instagram. From our business pages, creator page and everything in between, we’ve been using Meta’s image-based social media platform since October 2010.

Since then, we’ve seen Instagram evolve from an image-sharing channel to a short-form video content powerhouse, boasting over 500 million daily users and 2 billion monthly active users, and standing firmly as the third most popular social network worldwide. (Statista.com)

Now, let’s talk about the subject title “the side of Instagram you’ve probably overlooked” – an intentionally ambiguous title with tonnes of clickbait potential, but there’s a significantly underutilised part of Instagram’s puzzle that brands still aren’t utilising to engage with their community.

Re-introducing: Instagram Broadcast Channels

Since launching in the UK in 2023, Instagram’s Broadcast Channel has spent the last two years carving out its own niche within the platform itself by providing Brands and Creators the opportunity to create valuable interactions with their followers.

Beyond likes, shares and comments, we’ve witnessed these brands engaging with their audience on a whole new level by utilising each avenue the social channel can provide, but how does it actually work?

Under the hood of Instagram’s Broadcast Channel Feature

So, you want a better understanding of how to use your social media channels to connect with your audience, yes?  How about broadcasting to your friends? No, probably not. Instagram’s broadcast feature has a wealth of features under its hood, as well as some limitations that can be used as a benchmark to work towards.

Earlier this year, popular social media management platform ‘Sprout Social’ suggested that increased engagement via community experiences on social media would continue to trend upwards in their “12 Instagram trends to watch in 2025” article. In the piece, they used Instagram Broadcast Channels as an example platform that provides opportunities to create a more intimate and interactive space for your community.

Instagram’s Broadcast Features:

• Share voice notes, including shout-outs or content samples.
• Share your channel on your stories to prompt your followers to engage.
• Personalisation features, such as welcome messages and titles.
• Invite your own moderators to ensure your channel best represents your brand’s culture and philosophy.
• Utilise interactive features to gather valuable data, including:
  • Questions
  • Polls
• Option to limit the channel to paid subscribers, if relevant.
• Start a live video to engage with your following on a deeper level.

Instagram’s Broadcast Features:

• Gain the opportunity to interact directly with your audience.
• Gather valuable customer/follower feedback from engaged supporters.
• Make important announcements, including new releases, products or events.

Eligibility Checker

If you’re excited to utilise this powerful community engagement feature with your audience, you’ll need to pass the following eligibility check:

1. You must comply with Instagram’s community guidelines. If you’ve previously been restricted for misconduct, you may not be eligible.
2. Your account must be categorised as a “professional account”

If you need a helping hand in checking your eligibility, get in touch, and our social media specialists will be happy to help!

Starting your journey to better social media engagement

If you’ve made it this far through the blog, you’re likely ready to take the jump into setting up Instagram Broadcasts for your professional account. We’re confident that, if you’re eligible, the following instructions will help you get started, and you’ll see long-term benefits and improved engagement with your community.

How to create a Broadcast Channel for your Professional Instagram account:

1. Tap Messages in the top right of Feed.
2. Tap Compose in the top right.
3. Tap Create channel - From here you can:
   1. Enter a channel name.
   2. Choose an audience for your channel.
   3. Choose when your channel ends.
   4. Choose to show your channel on your profile.
4. Tap Create in the top right.

The last leg – our social media team’s recommendations

You’re at the final stage; you’ve researched the channel, verified your eligibility, understood the platform's benefits, and have subsequently created your channel. Now what?

Well, we’ve got you covered. Our social media team at Revive Digital has compiled its recommendations on best practices to help you get started on the right foot.

When starting a new channel or platform on social media, it’s essential to understand both what you’re looking to achieve with it and how you deliver value to your audience with it. If you don’t, you’ll likely leave yourself screaming into an oversaturated space and fighting for the attention of your audience base, who should be eating your content up like last night’s takeaway.

Understanding what you want to achieve from the platform and social media marketing in general should be your first step, as this will drive who you invite, how you invite them and how you ‘pitch’ the channel to your audience.

Once you’ve understood what you’re aiming to achieve, set yourself measurable objectives and link them together and begin planning your content pillars and cadence.

If you’re new to social media or simply time-poor and would like assistance in planning and creating your social media content pillars, get in touch with us today.

Example Study – Musician / DJ

As a final bronze nugget of information, our social media marketing team has prepared a small example study on how we would position a musician to utilise Instagram’s Broadcast Channels to engage their audience, to get your creative mind flowing.

Profile: DJ looking to increase awareness when releasing a new mix.

Objective: Increase SoundCloud listeners.

Performance Indicator: 10% listener uplift in X days.

Suggested Actions:

• Share exclusive pre-release samples of new music.
• Provide frequent updates on the lead-up to a new release.
• Pin a link to their SoundCloud channel in the description and welcome message.
• Frequently share content that includes a link to SoundCloud in the call to action.

We’re confident that with the correct and consistent flow of communication and reinforcement of your call to action, the study above would see a positive uplift in listeners and downloads, where applicable. 

If you require additional guidance on your social media marketing, including questions about social media channels, content pillars, or any other topics mentioned in this article, please don't hesitate to contact us directly.

Why choose Revive Digital as your Digital Marketing partner?

If you’ve made it to the end of the article, you either loved the write-up or accidentally hit the ‘page down’ key on your keyboard when you fell asleep in the first paragraph. There’s a chance you’ve read this as you’re considering increasing your social media presence for your brand or business. This is where we can offer additional support.

We’re a Digital Marketing Agency based in Southend-on-Sea and continue to be one of the longest-running and locally established agencies in Essex.

We’ve been successfully providing digital marketing, creative and website services for almost fifteen years for B2B and B2C clients nationwide and globally. 

Our in-house social media team has worked with some of the biggest brands and creators in the UK, offering support through social media management, influencer marketing, paid social, and more.

If you’re looking to take your digital marketing to the next level or are in dire need of a new growth strategy for your social media marketing, including best practices to engage with your audience, we’re here to help. Contact our team directly, and we’ll discuss the next step to achieving your business objectives for this year.