Save Drafts for Instagram

"Save Drafts" is probably one of the most requested Instagram feature by daily power users and social media strategists. Sure it is a step away from the "instant" gratification that Instagram is based on but really - I mean really, really - drafts is a must have.

In a nutshell, this means you are now able to begin working on an Insta post, then save it as a copy with your edits on photo and edits on text to be completed later. Before this feature was rolled out, this essential feature was not available. If you tried to leave your post, then you would have to return and start over.

Let's get a little more detailed on how you can access and use the "save draft" feature. First launch your Instagram and either take a photo or use one from your camera roll. Hit the Edit feature and make some of the edits you would normally do - setting your contrast, playing with the fade, straightening or even cropping - whatever suits your fancy.

Once you are happy with the photo edits you can move onto the caption and type out your hashtags. For some folks, the caption or title is just as important for posting on Instagram so if you are one of those folks - I'd suggest typing out your text in a note pad first. Once you are happy and have your text formatting set in those apps, you can then copy and paste into your post on Instagram. 

So for the purpose of this article, instead of moving forward and hitting "next," hit the back button to leave. A pop up window will appear asking you to keep the post and save to drafts or trash it. 

A warning will also appear stating, "If you go back now, your image edits will be discarded."

Again for the purpose of this article, press "keep" and the post will go straight into your drafts. You can now come back to it later.  You can always trash it altogether later but for now its saved for later.

Your drafts are saved onto your smart phone and not on Instagrams servers. I am not sure if there is a limited amount of drafts you can keep but keeping multiple unfinished posts is possible. These drafts will show up in your camera roll in "drafts" of your Instagram album.

One thing to remember is images that have had some edits or posts that you have added some text to are the only ones available to be saved to drafts. Those that have not been edited will not have the option to be saved.

Simple as that and pretty standard and similar to other social network platforms. 

For some of you, you may still be wondering why this addition deserves a write up. This feature is well over due. It is good for casual users who may be pressed for time or are number watching on their "insights" and trying to get more prepared for a specific time post (which I think Instagram will be heading towards for their new feature - scheduled posts). This feature is also for those business's or brand's that use Instagram heavily for their marketing needs. This feature helps in prep posts for advance publishing and having a few more sets of eyes on it before posting. 

I believe that this is the opening in features on Instagram that will help brands use the platform more easily. Instagram knows that although user engagement is decreasing, brand and money for ads will be increasing. Instagram is still the most widely used social network for photos and visual storytelling. The fact that brands are spending millions of dollars to get their products onto Instagram is the best indicator of where features are going to come from. I believe that these features will not just benefit the bigger brands, but will also help the smaller businesses with definitely lesser budgets to increase their visibility. Utilizing these features will always lend to better views and more views at that. The more eyes see your product, your work the more people will know and possibly become a future client.