A New Way to Support Businesses During These Challenging Times

A New Way to Support Businesses During These Challenging Times
Exciting news! Instagram just announced that it launched a new tool that businesses can use to promote food delivery and gift card purchases in their stories. A statement from Instagram states, “In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses, and people around the world are facing a new reality. To help small businesses during this challenging time, we are introducing new ways for people to support them by discovering their gift cards, food order options, and fundraisers on Instagram.” The new stickers are currently available from the sticker tray, which can be obtained by clicking the square smiley icon in the top-right hand corner. When you click either the ‘gift cards’ or ‘food orders’ sticker, you’ll be able to select one of Instagram’s selected partners. *Gift card purchases and food delivery transactions will all be aided by a third party. Some of the supported partners include:
  • Square
  • Kabbage
  • Raise
  • Yiftee
  • Caviar
  • ChowNow
  • Delivery.com
  • DoorDash
  • GrubHub
  • Postmates
  • Seamless
  • Uber Eats
After choosing a selected partner, you’ll be able to add a direct link to the order page. Once you set this up the first time you won’t be asked to do it again. You’ll only have to select the sticker and Instagram will remember your preferences. Links can be changed at any time though. If you decide you’d rather promote your Uber Eats link over DoorDash, for example, you can easily switch. It is wise to remember that only one food order sticker can be added per story. Businesses cannot link to multiple food delivery services in the same story. Even though you can only post one link per story, there’s nothing to stop businesses from posting consecutive stories with different delivery providers in each of them.
 Instagram Profile Buttons On top of the new story feature, Instagram is allowing businesses the option to include buttons on their profile page that direct people to purchase gift cards and food delivery orders. These work the same as story stickers, they’re just more accessible to customers. Profile buttons can be set up by following the steps below:
  1. Go to your Instagram profile.
  2. Tap Edit Profile.
  3. Under “Public Business Information,” tap Action Buttons.
  4. Under “Select a Button,” choose Gift Cards.
  5. Select a partner to sell your gift cards. If you haven’t already set up your gift cards with a partner, follow the instructions on the partner’s site.
  6. Add the partner link for the gift card service you selected.
  7. After you’ve entered the website, tap Done.
  8. To use the new Stories sticker and profile button options, an Instagram business or creator account is required.

Instagram’s new stickers can be used however you wish, but the company has provided some recommendations for using them creatively. Here’s what Instagram recommends: Highlight what’s new: Promote new items added to the menu, new specials, and anything else that will get customers’ attention. Share your menu: If there are no new items to share, then remind customers about existing favorites. Show appreciation: Let customers what their support means to your business and staff. Encourage sharing: Ask customers to share your sticker or photos of their recent orders. Share reviews: Repost customer stories, shoutouts, and reviews of your business. These new features that Instagram is rolling out will hopefully give businesses a new way to reach new and current customers during these challenging times. A huge kudos to Instagram doing what they can to help out small businesses and encouraging their consumers to give back!

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