Recently, Instagram introduced a convenient feature allowing users to create lists of “favorite” followers. The majority of users have positively received this option, and it’s not surprising since the feature is versatile and can be helpful in various situations. Now, it’s time to find out what “Best Friends” on Instagram are and get life hacks and useful tips on how to use this function for commercial accounts.
What is this?
What is the “Close Friends” option in a social network and how does it work? It’s simple. If you have a private Instagram account and want to protect yourself from “fakes”, create your own “white list”. You can add only your closest followers to it, whom you trust to share your content with. Note that the system recognizes users with whom you often communicate through direct messages and exchange likes, and suggests adding them to your favorites list.
How to add best friends
If you have decided to limit the viewing of your stories and posts in the feed from “extra eyes”, you will need:
- smartphone;
- the latest version of the social network application;
- an Instagram account;
- a follower or user who needs to be added to “favorites”;
- 3 minutes of free time.
If you have all of this, then let’s get down to business and figure out how to add followers to your best friends on Instagram.
Through profile settings
The standard way to do this is through settings. The algorithm of actions in this case will be as follows:
- Unlock the screen of your gadget and launch the Instaseti program.
- Log in to your profile using your regular login (nickname/email address/phone number) and password.
- Tap on the “person” icon located in the bottom menu.
- Click on the functional icon in the form of three lines in the upper right corner of the screen.
- Open settings.
- Go to the “Privacy” section and scroll down the page to the bottom.
- Select “Close Friends”.
- Click on the search bar and enter the username you want to add to the whitelist.
- Wait for the system to find suitable followers and confirm your selection by clicking on the green “Add” button.
- Save changes.
Done. Now you can publish news for a specific category of readers.
Important. In some versions of the application, instead of “Close Friends”, there is an option “Best Friends”. Don’t worry – it’s the same thing.
Through a post in stories
The second method is just as simple. Everything is practically the same, with one difference – the list for “close” readers is created not in the settings, but directly when publishing the story. If this option suits you best, follow the step-by-step instructions below:
- Launch the social network and log in to your account using the standard method.
- Swipe the screen to the right and open the story mode.
- Take a new photo or choose an old one from the device’s file system.
- Edit it: apply filters, add stickers or text.
- Tap the round green icon “Best Friends”.
- Click on “Add List”.
- Find suitable users through the search bar or use the “Recommendations” tab.
- Add people to the group.
- Confirm the operation with the “Done” button.
Now you can exit the story mode or still send the desired post to the feed. If you don’t know how to do it, check the section below.
Useful to know. You can add an unlimited number of people to the white list.
How to share your story with your best friends
So, the list is created. How to share fresh content with good friends? You will need:
- Go to the stories and choose the material for the new video: add photos/videos from the gallery or take new ones using Instagram’s built-in camera.
- Edit if necessary.
- Tap on the “Recipients” button and choose “Close Friends” (for a narrow category of people) or “Your Story” (for all followers).
- Post to the feed using the “Done” icon.
Interesting. After publishing the story, your friends will receive a corresponding notification. The icon will be circled in green for them, not red as usual.
How to view a list and delete a friend
If you want to remove someone from your close friends list, you need to follow these steps:
- Open Instagram and click on the “person” icon.
- Go to settings and select “Privacy”.
- Click on the “Close Friends” option and select “Your List”.
- Scroll down, find the person you want to remove and tap on the “Remove” button.
That’s how you can easily reduce the number of selected followers with just one click. After that, they won’t be able to see your hidden posts.
How to use a list of best friends for a business account
If you have a commercial profile, you can find another interesting use for the list of best friends on Instagram. Namely:
- creating a whole sales chain;
- adding a group of frequent customers;
- when contacting bloggers;
- participating in flash mobs.
To understand how it works, let’s take a closer look at all of this.
Creating a sales funnel
If you conduct group online classes in a foreign language or distribute courses on account administration in Instaseti, it’s time to think about creating a sales series using the aforementioned white list.
If you don’t understand its benefits, then for clarity, pay attention to the following scheme:
- Post a story that will attract a new group of students to your lectures.
- Add those who have applied to “Best Friends”.
- Post a second story (live broadcast) with the first lesson for the created list. Immediately in the broadcast, accept applications from those who want to attend the second class.
- Clean the recipient category from those who refused to continue.
- Conduct a second lecture in a live broadcast for the updated group. Collect applications for the third lesson from those who are interested.
And so on. This will allow you to fully control the process.
Hot group
If you have a group of regular customers, hurry up and please them. You can offer these users a small bonus in the form of a good discount or an interesting promotion. You can also stream useful tips on how to use your products specifically for them. This trick is more likely to increase sales in a short period of time.
Collaboration with activists
To make people aware of you and your product, advertising is necessary. Of course, it’s better to order it from popular bloggers. On the one hand, it’s more expensive than built-in promotions on social media, but on the other hand, it’s much more effective.
This is where our option comes in handy. Add all the activists you want to give advertising orders to on your list of close friends. Then release stories on Instagram with offers for them and wait for a response. The biggest advantage of this scheme is saving time.
Marathon
Another interesting use of the Favorites section is during a marathon. Add all the participants to the list and show videos of them completing the challenges exclusively for them.
Note that after adding a follower to the white list, they will be able to see not only new but also previously posted “hidden” posts.
So now we know what the “Best Friends” option is in the Instagram social network and how to use it. Take this information on board and apply it in practice. If this list is not available on your phone, be sure to check if the social network application is updated. Perhaps it is severely outdated.