How to Optimize Your Social Media Content for Meta's AI-based Recommendations

Meta has shared new insights into its evolving use of AI-based content recommendations, with more than 20% of the content displayed in people's Facebook feeds and 40% on Instagram recommended by its AI system.

The company is moving away from relying solely on social graphs to populate user feeds, as TikTok's algorithm focuses on individual posts rather than connections.

As AI-based content recommendations continue to increase, businesses and creators may (and probably will) experience a proportionate decrease in their ability to reach followers.

Here’s how to take Advantage of the shift:

1. Define your niche and create content that aligns with it to increase your chances of being recommended by Meta's AI system to the right audience. Otherwise, there's a risk that your content will get discovered by an unintended audience, leading to engagement that may not translate into meaningful results for your business.
   
   For instance, let's say you're a real estate agent who specializes in luxury homes. Instead of creating content that showcases your personal life or hobbies, which may not be related to your niche, it's algorithmically better to create luxury-focused content. This way, your content attracts the right audience – i.e., people who are interested in buying or selling luxury homes (in your local area) — and thereby increase the chances of being recommended by Meta's AI system to that specific audience.
   
   I'm not suggesting that you should never post personal content. I'm simply emphasizing the importance of being mindful of the algorithm's recommendations when deciding what content to share.

2. Stay on top of trends and relevant news within your industry or niche, and use them as opportunities to create content that aligns with the current conversation. This can help you 'trend-jack' popular topics and increase the visibility of your content to a wider audience.
   
   For instance, if there's a trending news article about mortgage rates increasing, you could create a green-screen Reel with the article displayed in the background, discussing how the rate increase might affect the local market.
   
   Or, for example, if there’s a popular influencer in your niche discussing the impact of rising mortgage rates, you could create a Remix video with their content and provide your own unique insights to engage both your and the influencer's audience.

3. Use metrics like views and time spent on each video to identify which types of content are resonating with your audience, and adjust your content strategy accordingly.
   
   The longer users spend on your content, the more the algorithms will see it as valuable and distribute it to a wider audience. The reverse is also true.
   
   For example, if you notice that videos showcasing the inside of luxurious homes receive more views and longer watch times than videos about the surrounding neighborhoods, you can adjust your content strategy to include more of the former and less of the latter. This will increase the likelihood of your content being recommended by Meta's AI system and reaching a larger audience.
   
   Additionally, be sure to make appearances in your videos to strengthen the connection between you and your audience. By showcasing yourself in the luxurious home videos, for instance, viewers will associate you with the high-end real estate market and increase the likelihood of them choosing you as their agent in the future.

As Meta's AI system continues to evolve, it's essential to stay up-to-date with the latest insights and trends to make the most of its recommendations. By following these tips, you can create content that resonates with your target audience and increases your chances of reaching a wider audience, ultimately driving meaningful results for your business. So, stay mindful of the algorithm's recommendations, keep up with the latest industry news, and use metrics to refine your content strategy to stay ahead of the game.

AI-Suggested Content and the Rise of “Anti-Social Networks” - Why LinkedIn is a Worthwhile Alternative!

… And then there was LinkedIn??

Top social media platforms are upping the ante with AI-suggested content, prioritizing it over posts from users' connections or friends. By the end of the year, Mark Zuckerberg stated that 30% of the content on Meta feeds, including Facebook and Instagram, will be AI-suggested content. Consequently, as a creator/business, your capacity to reach your followers organically will be diminished by almost one-third.

And if your posts aren’t being seen with the same frequency and regularity as before, then the risk of being, quote-unquote, “forgotten by your followers,” who may include past/current clients, leads, sphere-of-influence contacts, and so on, escalates.

TikTok, for instance, is more of an “anti-social network” as users are primarily exposed to content produced by strangers, rather than a platform for seeing and interacting with posts from people within your personal and professional networks. Now other social sites are moving in the same direction.

LinkedIn’s algorithm, however, (still) places more emphasis on prioritizing/distributing content that fosters engagement within your community (i.e., your connections) and relevance within specific industries or interests. So, if you’re aiming to strengthen your existing connections and establish your brand within your area, LinkedIn is worth a look.

How Meta's Broadcast Channels Will Change Content Distribution for Creators and Businesses

Meta’s rollout of Broadcast Channels across its suite of apps is underway, starting with Instagram and WhatsApp. A broadcast channel is essentially a one-to-many messaging system that enables creators and businesses to send messages to a large number of followers or subscribers at once.

To me, this sounds reminiscent of RSS feeds (Really Simple Syndication), which bloggers use to distribute new content automatically to their subscribers, who can enroll to receive push notifications whenever a new post is published, rather than having to visit the blog directly. With Broadcast Channels, creators and businesses will presumably have more control over content distribution, as they can push updates and messages to their followers directly, rather than relying solely on their followers to scroll through feeds to discover content.

On the other hand… Unlike RSS feeds, Broadcast Channels allow for one-to-many messaging with private one-to-one communication, thereby enabling subscribers to reply and engage with creators or businesses.

Moreover, given the fact that users tend to send more DMs than post content on platforms like Instagram (per a recent tweet from Adam Mosseri), and the expected integration of Broadcast Channels within messaging features of these apps, it's safe to assume that this new feature is poised for success.

What Is Meta Verified in the US and How Will It Affect Facebook and Instagram Users?

Meta Verified, the new verification process for Facebook and Instagram, has officially launched in the US. This follows Twitter's subscription service, where users can effectively purchase a blue check verification for a monthly fee.

Although anyone can now obtain the blue check on Twitter, for instance, the company is reportedly generating about 2.4 million in revenue per month from the service. Meta's verification process will work in a similar fashion, with users paying separately for the blue check on each respective platform.

However, there are concerns that Meta might prioritize the posts of their subscribers over everyday users, as Twitter has announced its intentions for doing so. So far… Meta has said that they will not do this, at least not initially—but only time will tell. The verification program is not available for all Meta products, only for Facebook and Instagram. Additionally, it gives verified users a more direct line of communication with the platform in the event they are dealing with impersonators or other account-related issues. (That’s the perk that’s the most appealing, IMO.)

Overall, the new Meta verification process aims to increase security on the platform and prevent fake accounts and other forms of online fraud. While it remains to be seen how the service will be received by users, it is clear that Meta is following in the footsteps of other social media platforms by introducing a paid verification service.

Apple Business Connect vs. Google and Facebook: The Battle for Local Business Profiles

Apple recently introduced its new Maps product, dubbed, Apple Business Connect—which is poised to shake up the local-business profile game (currently dominated by Google and Facebook) and give small business owners a new way to connect with potential customers.

Local business owners can update/manage their profile info via the Apple Business Connect web portal:  businessconnect.apple.com. This includes important details such as hours-of-operation, location(s) and physical address(es), uploading photos and logos, special offers, and more.

Apple has no immediate plans to remove its integration with Yelp—so customers will still be able to see Yelp photos and reviews in the business place cards. That said, business owners will be able to enhance their listings with their own details, resulting in more up-to-date and richer listings. And, as a result of that, I’m guessing higher ranking in the results.

The Rise of AI-Generated Content on Social Media: What It Means for Content Creators

BIG NEWS → Major social networks are turning to AI-generated content to keep users engaged. LinkedIn, for example, is beginning to use AI-powered “conversation starters” to provoke discussion among its users, while Snap has launched its own chatbot, and Meta is working on AI personas. LinkedIn calls its new feature, “AI-powered conversation starters.”

This move could herald the start of a wider revolution for the web, with companies increasingly using generative AI to create endless spools of content. As social media sites have all the user data they need to train these systems, the potential for AI-generated content is vast.

This could be the start of semiautomated social networks. Up until now, social platforms have relied on user-generated content to fill the feeds.

As a content creator, how do you feel about this new development? Are you ready for a new era of AI-generated content on social media possibly undercutting your efforts to reach YOUR prospective customers on major platforms?

Target Your Instagram Audience Like a Pro with Meta's Latest Ad Innovation

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has launched a new feature that’ll prove quite handy for advertisers like you. Now you can target your ads and promotions to specific users who follow your Instagram account(s). While you’ve been able to target Facebook followers directly, targeting Instagram followers wasn’t possible. Previously, Meta Ads could only target users who had interacted or engaged with your Instagram account. That was too broad of an audience, consisting of anyone who might’ve stumbled across your profile whether they were one of your followers or not.

The obvious and immediate benefit here is the ability to target exclusive content and special offers directly to followers. Additionally, you’re now able to create Lookalike Audiences and/or Special Ad Audiences based on your Instagram followers, thereby enabling you to reach new prospective customers on the basis of your existing followers. This is sort of a game-changer for marketers in the business of building brands!

As a business owner, this new feature is significant as it allows you to create personalized ad campaigns that’ll better resonate with your followers, thus cultivating a deeper connection with your audience.

Here's a simple guide to creating a custom audience for your Meta Ads campaign that targets your Instagram followers:

1. Log in to your Meta Business Manager (business.facebook.com).

2. Go to the "Audiences" section.

3. Click the "Create Audience" button and select "Custom Audience."

4. Select “Instagram Account” as your source.

5. From the Events drop-down menu, select “Accounts Center accounts who started following this professional account.”

6. Name your custom audience and click "Create Audience."

7. Your custom audience is now ready to be used in your Meta Ad campaign.

By following these steps, you can create a custom audience based on your Instagram followers and use it to target your ads and promotions to this specific group of users. This can help you create more personalized and effective ad campaigns that resonate with your followers and potentially lead to increased sales. What’s more, you can use this custom audience to create Lookalike and/or Special Ad Audiences based on your existing followers.

Revolutionizing the Web: The New Bing Search Engine Powered by OpenAI’s ChatGPT

Something HUGE is about to impact your business—in fact, it’s already underway! What is it? AI.

Conversational and creative AI tools (like ChatGPT, for instance) have been topics of considerable interest here recently… and it’s all about to get a lot more interesting.

Over the past several years Microsoft has invested upwards of $3-billion in OpenAI, the company responsible for ChatGPT. And now, they’ve just unveiled the new Bing search engine—get this—powered by the ChatGPT chatbot. This is big news and has the potential to revolutionize, well, the way we use the web.

Bing’s new AI can respond in real-time to search requests, carry out full chat dialogues, and even compose content on-demand (just like ChatGPT)—text for blogs, emails, social media posts, and more.

It’s also worth mentioning that Google has released their AI bot, dubbed, Bard, into beta testing. However, Microsoft's Bing AI may prove a formidable competitor to Google's search engine supremacy, with key execs promising that it will do way more than just list static search results. For example, Bing AI can annotate search results with links, citations, and context on the right side of the search page.

The new Bing’s been designed to improve the search experience by providing (per Microsoft) better search results, more detailed/augmented responses, a human-like chat experience, and the ability to output content. Executives have stated that the updated version will be released to the public after a limited preview period, with future updates to come. There’s currently a waitlist if you wanna get early access to the new Bing search.

Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri Announces a Greater Emphasis on Photos in 2023: What it Means for Users

In a recent statement, the CEO of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, announced that the platform will be placing a greater emphasis on PHOTOS in 2023. Candidly, his comment comes as a bit of a shock considering Instagram’s “all-in” approach to video-centric content in recent years.

The move towards impartiality between photos and videos on the platform is a welcome change for lots of users, as it allows for a more diverse range of content to be shared on the platform. Photos hold a special significance in terms of media, and many believe that Instagram has lost sight of this in their push for video content.

Mosseri acknowledged that the platform had been "over-focused on video in 2022" and that they had "pushed ranking too far" by showing too many videos and not enough photos. He added that they have since balanced the algorithm, so that users’ interactions with photos and videos are about equally weighted. 

This change in focus aligns with a major tenet of Instagram's algorithm:  historical interactions. In essence, if users tend to engage with a certain type of media—like photos or videos, for instance—the algorithm will prioritize those users’ feeds accordingly.

Whether you approve or disapprove of the direction, it’ll ultimately come down to whether user engagement and time spent on the app improves or not. So… we’ll see… Instagram’s no stranger to a change in direction 🤣

New Instagram Features: Group Profiles, Candid Stories, and Notes

As a business owner, it's important to stay up-to-date on the latest and emerging social media features in order to connect with both current and future customers. That said, look no further! Here's a rundown of the latest and emerging Instagram features in 2023 you need to know about:

• Group Profiles: A feature that allows users to create and join profiles to share posts and stories with a specific group of friends. This new feature seems akin to Facebook Groups.

• Candid Stories: A feature that allows users to capture and share what they’re up-to in real-time. This looks like an attempt from Instagram to compete with BeReal. It’ll function much like TikTok’s NOW feed, whereby Candid Stories will only be visible to “friends”—which is an unclear term—who’ve also posted a Candid Story that day. Facebook intends on testing the same functionality.

• Notes: A short messaging feature that allows users to share thoughts and updates with friends in the platform’s Inbox section. Like Stories, Notes last for 24 hours. Additionally, they can only be seen by followers whom you also follow or your designated Close Friends and are limited to 60 characters. Note replies present as DMs.

Now that you're up-to-date on the latest Instagram features, it's time to start thinking about how you can utilize them to benefit your marketing efforts.

Gen Z’s Top Social Media Platforms (and How It Impacts Brand/Business Marketing)

Per a Yahoo-conducted survey, Gen Z’s most-used social platforms include:

• YouTube:  88%

• Instagram:  76%

• TikTok:  68%

• Snapchat:  67%

• Facebook:  49%

• Twitter:  47%

Though Gen-Zers aren’t necessarily in-market for buying/selling homes (yet), it’s essential to monitor the trends in terms of which platforms are gaining the most adoption so you can allocate your efforts/energy accordingly.

Candidly, different polls and surveys over the past several years have produced different findings. For instance, some polls have shown YouTube as the top-utilized Gen-Z platform for years. However, per Yahoo’s recent findings, two platforms, in particular, have seen rapid adoption within the Gen-Z demographic over the past year or so:  YouTube and TikTok.

No matter the report, survey, or poll you take into account, a few trends appear to be universal:

A. TikTok’s growth is explosive!

B. YouTube definitely hasn’t peaked.

C. Instagram’s still growing—but in a less-exciting way.

That being said, here are my practical takeaways:

1. A brand without VIDEO is INVISIBLE. On search engines and social networks alike, video is the cash of currency.

2. Platforms with robust search 🔎 tools are growing. Evidently, users wanna discover the content most relevant to their interests. Go figure🙄

3. Platforms with the best content are the most desirable. It’s less about attributes or features of a platform and more about its community of creators. The point being, if the best content creators, in your opinion, are on TikTok or YouTube, for instance, then follow ‘em.

Instagram Feed is Shifting to WAY More "Suggested Content" (like TikTok's For You Page)

During a recent earnings call, Zuckerberg said about 15% of what users see in their feeds on Facebook is “suggested content.” On Instagram, that percentage is slightly more than 15%.

Historically, users have ONLY seen feed posts from accounts they follow or paid placements, with the exception of “suggestions” – as in, “since you follow her you should follow him too” or “so-and-so commented on so-and-so’s post” types of prompts.

Now, however—in trying to keep up with TikTok—they’re slipping in more-and-more AI-suggested content. It’s the “For You Effect,” if you will.

Granted, the Reels feed has been made up of mostly suggested content from the get-go. It’s Insta’s main feed that’s changing. Who knows… maybe someday down-the-road instagram will merge those feeds in some way, shape, or form 🤷!?

You may call, back in July, for instance,  Instagram pushed a partial update whereby a bunch of users’ Home feeds suddenly went full-bleed (i.e., a 9:16 aspect ratio like the Reels feed) and 75% of the content they were seeing was “suggested.” Suffice it to say, the change was NOT well received so Instagram made a statement and reversed the update.

Welp, per Zuckerberg, the current game-plan is that by the end of 2023 the percentage of “suggested content” users will see in the main feed will surpass 30%.

How do you feel about that⁉️ Here are my (off-the-cuff) thoughts:

• Followers/Friends (really) won’t matter. On TikTok, for instance, audiences are somewhat fluid—meaning, they’re comparatively unfixed and ever-changing. Users see what they see in the For You page because TikTok’s algorithm decided it… and whether or not a user follows an account is a relatively unimportant ranking signal (all factors considered).
  
  On Instagram, though, who you follow (and who follows you) matters big-time—at least, for now it does. Notwithstanding, as feeds become more-and-more crowded with suggested content — assuming Instagram continues to parody TikTok’s approach — then who users follow will matter less-and-less (algorithmically speaking).
  
  From a marketing standpoint, FREQUENCY—i.e. when an audience sees you again-and-again—is fundamental in terms of advancing would-be customers from “attention” to “action.” In this context, its potency could be significantly diminished. So…

• Build your email list. Social media is, let’s face it, a shade volatile these days: ever-evolving algorithms, platforms pivoting their core-competences to compete with newcomers, and so forth. But email is steady as a rock 🪨
  
  🚨 If email marketing poses a steep learning-curve, make sure to check out my course, INBOX HERO 📥: Tapping into the marketing G.O.A.T. - EMAIL 🚨

• Social becomes less-and-less local. Chances are that most of your friends on Facebook, for instance, probably live proximate to you. That’s your community. Sure, you’ll have out-of-area family, friends, peers, and so forth—but the bulk of your connections probably live locally. Your Instagram is likely similar (or, perhaps, was in the beginning).
  
  Suggested content will change that. Interest-based algorithms like TikTok’s For You page, Instagram’s Reels feed, or, per Zuck's comments, Facebook and Instagram’s main feeds will distribute content to users here, there, and everywhere. It’s not a bad thing, per se—it just means that the local impact of organic content on social will most likely shrink.
  
  Personally, I’m encouraging my coaching and consulting clients to promote their content with paid ads that target locals in their marketplace.

TikTok Adds Instagram-Like Features: photos, longer-captions, etc.

TikTok’s given Instagram a “taste of its own medicine,” so to speak.

Instagram has been copycatting TikTok’s features, one after the next:  video formats, algorithmic adjustments, and more. Well, recently TikTok’s returned the favor with a couple of its own, notable updates.

1. TikTok Post Caption/Description Character Count: the platform has raised the limited number of characters from 300 to 2,200 – which, coincidentally, is the same as rival, Instagram. Go figure.

2. TikTok Photo-Mode: upload still images/photos (instead of strictly video media) and post. Thees are NOT TikTok Stories. That’s a different feature. You’re able to overdub background music and you can even upload multiple photos whereby viewers can swipe through comparable to Instagram carousel/gallery posts.

Instagram Story Videos Now Up-to 60 Seconds Long and Useable as Instagram Reels

Instagram Stories update:  you might’ve heard the news that IG Story videos under 60-second runtimes will no longer be auto-divided into 15-second segments, as has been the case.

The significance is that Instagram is—step-by-step—merging its various video formats into, effectively, one configuration:  VERTICAL ↕️

What’s more, Instagram has been prompting its users recently to “make a Reel” when posting a string of Stories. Instagram launched Templates for Reels a while back, and so it’s programmed to detect which of your Story-sequences match-up with an available Template. If you follow the prompt to “make a Reel,” for instance, it’ll even load your Stories into the designated Template frames automatically. 🤯

The point is… all video is vertical and it seems as if IG is working toward a convergence of some form… whereby all videos—Story-posts or Feed-posts—populate in its main feed. Just making some predictions here. :D

FB Business Pages Can No Longer Post Real Estate Listings to Facebook Marketplace (Effective January, 2023)

You might’ve received an email from Meta today informing you that your Facebook Business Page would be restricted from posting real estate listings to the Facebook Marketplace, effective January, 2023.

For reference, the Facebook Marketplace is the buy/sell classified ad section of Facebook. It’s essentially Facebook’s version of Craigslist—within which, for instance, users can list properties for rent and/or sale.

When launched in 2016 only Personal Facebook Profiles were eligible to use it. However, they eventually rolled it out for the use of Facebook Business Pages. But now, regrettably, Meta is rescinding Facebook Business Pages from posting real estate listings (or vehicles, not that this matters to us) to the Marketplace. Bummer. 😢

Notwithstanding, you can still post real estate listings to the Marketplace through your Personal Profile. The major drawback, of course, is that—when posted via a Business Page—Meta collected data whereby you could create ads to retarget anyone who viewed or engaged with your Marketplace listing.

Granted, I don’t believe I’ve ever met an agent who utilized that particular feature. 🤔 In fact, I even made a video about it like two years ago… watch it here if you want:  https://bit.ly/3fwLP63.

Bottom line, though… you CAN still post real estate listings to your Facebook Business Page, boost those posts, run ads, and so on. None of that has changed. The only new restriction here is in respect to posting real estate listings in the Facebook Marketplace.

Hope this is helpful for everyone! :D

Instagram Reels Boosting: the Do’s and Don’ts

Instagram released functionality over the summer enabling its users you to boost Instagram Reels. So, if you haven’t tried it—maybe give it a go. (Obviously, boosting anything on IG is restricted to professional accounts (e.g. Business or Creator profiles), not personal accounts.) Here are the eligibility limitations:

• The Reel cannot be “shared on Facebook”

• The Reel cannot exceed 60-seconds (even though IG allows up to 90 seconds, organically)

• The Reel cannot contain third-party intellectual property (e.g. copyrighted music, GIFs, etc.)

With so many constraints, though… you may be wondering what you CAN actually boost. My advice… boost your “knowledge broker” styled vertical videos—i.e. the content that builds your agent-brand best and positions you as a trusted advisor.

To be successful on social, it requires a commitment to making content (lots of it) consistently. The downside, however, is that some of that content may or may not perform to your expectation. So… why not try boosting from time-to-time?

Do YouTube Shorts Hurt Long-Form YouTube Videos?

Can YouTube Shorts hurt the performance of your long-form YouTube videos?

From the get-go, lots of established YouTubers suggested having separate, “Shorts-only” channels as a safety measure to insulate against any possible algorithmic side-effects of Shorts. That advice was, in my opinion, highly prudent — after all, Shorts were brand new.

Notwithstanding, Search Engine Journal recently published a Q&A with a YouTube representative that offered some new guidance. Here are a few highlights I noted:

1. YouTube maintains entirely separate viewer watch histories of Shorts versus traditional, long-form videos. So, in other words, the Shorts you watch don’t have any algorithmic influence on what long-form videos YouTube may or may not recommend to you — and vice versa.

2. The rate of growth for channels producing both long-form and short-form videos outpaces channels only producing long-form videos. So, mix it up, basically.

3. The primary reason to start a separate YouTube channel isn’t to sequester Shorts from long-form videos; it’s simply to ensure that a channel’s videos align around a specific interest shared by its intended audience.

If you wanna give the full article a read, just type the LINK into your web browser:  https://bit.ly/Shorts-Algorithm.

The Top 22 Vertical ↕️ Videos of 2022

During last week’s Tom Ferry Success Summit in Dallas, TX, we published (in my opinion) a super-useful video resource: The Top 22 Vertical Videos of 2022.

No doubt, vertical video is THE trend to follow: Reels on Instagram and Facebook, TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and so on. So… if you’re looking for some ideas and inspiration to level-up your video marketing, be sure to check out this resource. Just click HERE.

Instagram Video is Vertical: IG Videos Now Shared as Reels

I expect you’ve noticed how Instagram Videos (IG Video) has transfigured into Instagram Reels, right? Lemme explain:

• Instagram recently terminated/obliterated/decimated IG Video (formerly dubbed, IGTV). Now ALL videos on Insta are vertical ↕️—i.e., either Stories, Reels, or Livestreams.

• Any IG Videos less than 15-minutes were relabeled as Reels—so now your Reels Grid probably looks gross with disproportioned cover images and freeze frames 😡. I feel ya!

• So how long can Reels be then? Welp, in order for your Reels to be distributed in the official “Reels Feed,” they cannot exceed 90 seconds. What’s more, that’s STILL the limit if you’re recording the Reel in Instagram’s built-in editor. That said, if you publish a prerecorded video that’s longer (the same way you used to publish an IG Video), it’ll still end up as a Reel—it just won’t distribute in the Reels Feed. Makes total sense 🙄.

Before this change, IG Lives (after a broadcast concluded) could be posted as IG Videos. Now they’re posting as Reels—and I’ve seen more than 20 minute runtimes. So… same as before, I expect video runtime is dependent on the follower-size of the account (e.g. fewer than 10,000 followers and so on)..
So, in a nutshell, what’s actually different? To put it simply: all VIDEO is VERTICAL 𝐕𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐎 on Instagram.

Instagram Expands Business Search Capabilities in IG Maps for Local Discovery

Instagram’s leveling-up its “business search” capabilities. It’s definitely nowhere close to Google, but is nonetheless worth watching.

Within IG’s Explore 🔎 tab there’s a search-bar across the top that organizes its findings according to preset sections:  Top, Accounts, Audio, Tags (i.e., hashtags), and Places.

Places, for instance, lists out a bunch of pinned📍 locations — select an option and it’ll plot it on a map (plus display a bunch of info about the business/location).

From there, if one taps anywhere else on the map, IG displays the user’s city location and reveals a handful of predefined search categories, which currently includes:  Restaurants, Cafes, Sights, Hotels, Parks & Gardens, and Bars. The idea is to search for what’s around you or proximate to a point of interest. You can also zoom in/out to redo your search within the visible area of map.

I predict Instagram will eventually add additional/custom categories down the road (as in, “Real Estate Agents,” possibly).

Many agents, whether they’re using a Creator or Business profile, have modified their account category from “Real Estate Agent” to, say, “Entrepreneur,” to expand their sound-and-music options in IG’s audio library for Reels and such. However, if Instagram does indeed add more categories to its map-search feature, agents may opt to switch their category back to “Real Estate Agent” to improve their odds of ranking. Not now, necessarily—just if/when that expansion occurs.

For search engines and social networks alike, local discovery is no doubt a trend of growing importance — so keep an eye 👁 on it, friends.