The news: Instagram’s latest updates to direct messaging could help brands and creators better organize communications, making the platform a go-to for striking brand partnerships and engaging with customers.

• Meta added several filtering options to Instagram, including the option to sort DMs by unread or unanswered messages as well as by the senders’ follow count and verification status.
• Creators can also streamline inbox management with new folders.

The tools are available to all professional accounts and to personal accounts with over 100,000 followers.

Zooming out: Direct messaging is a preferred method for brand engagement, making efficient inbox management a key priority.

• 52% of Gen Zers prefer private DMs over public commenting when interacting with creators or companies, per Zebracat.
• More than half (53.5%) of US Gen Zers use social media for direct messaging, per our data.

Reaching out: This shift in user behavior requires messaging-first strategies as DMs become a primary platform for engagement. Instagram’s updates could make it easier to manage that change at scale.

• For creators and brands with overstuffed inboxes, missed messages can mean missed opportunities.
• The ability to filter by high follower counts and verified accounts could support more timely responses to VIP users and enable smart segmentation, such as tailoring outreach to brand partners versus fans.

Addressing fatigue: If creators and social teams can better manage DMs in-app, they can focus more on content and strategy and less on logistics.

• This could avoid the need to toggle between social inboxes and third-party tools like Sprout Social or Hootsuite, cutting friction and avoiding burnout.
• Instagram’s filters and folders could bring native functionality closer to professional-grade DM management.

Our take: These are more than just admin updates—they’re features that pave the way for a future where DMs are central to engagement. Investing time and resources in intentional messaging workflows can help treat DMs as a high-impact channel and a meeting point between companies and consumers.

This content is part of EMARKETER’s subscription Briefings, where we pair daily updates with data and analysis from forecasts and research reports. Our Briefings prepare you to start your day informed, to provide critical insights in an important meeting, and to understand the context of what’s happening in your industry. Non-clients can click here to get a demo of our full platform and coverage.