The news: Instagram added a host of new features for connecting with friends. The offerings could expand brands’ peer-to-peer visibility and location-based content and boost their chances of going viral.

What's new:

• Reposts: This addition lets users share public feed posts and reels. Reposts are credited to original posters and can be shared with non-followers of the original creator, meaning content can be recommended to a broad audience.
• Friends tab: Like Facebook’s tab, this shows content that followers are engaging with.
• Instagram map: À la Snapchat, this feature lets users see friends’ locations and where they’re posting and explore location-based content. Location sharing for the map is opt-in.

Why it matters: The offerings open up new opportunities for brands to increase post exposure and build trust with consumers.

• Reposts can increase peer-to-peer visibility, giving brands a shot at virality without needing to pay for sponsored placements.
• Users will see what peers are engaging with, which can help build trust and influence purchase decisions and product discovery.

Twenty-two percent of US adults find new direct-to-consumer brands through social media, per Radial.

Geotargeting: Meta, Instagram’s parent company, already has a trove of geographic and preference data to sell advertisers, but Instagram map can enable timely, place-based content. Users can explore the map even if they have location tracking within the app turned off.

Brands could promote offers, such as “near me” recommendations, to capture in-person users in their area.

Local businesses and event-based marketing may benefit most, as Instagram moves past a feed into a discovery-driven, real-time tool.

Zooming out: The new features are a smorgasbord of offerings already available across social platforms. This update reflects the tendency of social sites to copy one another’s features, letting companies profit off of tactics their rivals have already tested.

Our take: Brands should lean into organic discovery by creating engaging, visual-driven content that encourages reposts and peer engagement. Prioritize geo-aware promotions to tap into Instagram’s shift toward real-time social discovery and exploration.