Instagram just beat TikTok to new feature creators will love

The creator economy is now estimated to be worth $250 billion, and creator-driven social media sites, specifically TikTok, have played a huge role in propelling content creation into the big business category. Rival platforms are eyeing new ways to attract and house creators on their sites. Specifically, Instagram has been launching new features geared toward professionalizing the app for small businesses and creators and changing how the site recommends content. 

Today, Instagram announced the global rollout of “trial reels” after experimenting with the new feature back in May. Trial reels enable creators to test new and innovative reel ideas on new audiences before expanding to their follower base. 

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Trial reels will be shown first only to non-followers so that creators can gauge performance insights such as views, likes, comments, and shares for the first 24 hours after publishing. After monitoring the performance data, creators can determine whether the content is worth sharing with their actual followers.

Creators can share the trial reel with their followers if it’s performing to their liking or set Instagram to automatically share it based on the views it receives within the first 72 hours.   

The new feature is designed to help creators experiment with new and different content so their established following won’t be negatively impacted.   

According to TechCrunch, Instagram VP and head of product management Ashley Alexander stated that the idea for trial reels came directly from concerns expressed by creators about the risks of testing ideas different from their usual content. “We heard from creators,” Alexander said, “that they don’t always feel comfortable or they’re reluctant to experiment with different types of content because they’ve built up a follower base and they want to make sure they don’t alienate it.” 

The feature enables creators to try different topics, genres, and storytelling formats without pressure, Alexander added.

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Currently, this is the only feature of its kind; TikTok doesn’t offer a way for creators to experiment with different content types based on performance analytics. After facing criticism in the past about not appealing to content creators and influencers regarding monetization and lack of support, Instagram may finally be making changes in creators’ favor. 

According to Instagram, creators can enable the feature by toggling the “Trial” option after creating a reel. The reel will be shared with non-followers only, and won’t appear on the creators’ profile main grid or reels tab of their followers. However, it’s important to note that a follower could see a trial reel if a non-follower shares it with them directly. 

The new feature is rolling out globally to everyone with a professional account over the next few weeks.