Instagram today announced the global rollout of a new Maps experience that allows people to discover popularly tagged locations around them. The platform stated that the feature will boost the discovery of local small businesses on Instagram by allowing people to filter the locations by specific categories such as restaurants, cafes, and beauty salons.
People are naturally in discovery mode when they open Instagram and they come to the platform to discover new places and businesses around them. For businesses, this discovery leads to more than just a connection point – it translates into business impact and sales. A Meta-commissioned online survey by GFK showed that 96% of the surveyed people said that they discover brands and products online. Of these, 83%, said they typically discover them on a Meta platform.
The dynamic, searchable maps help people discover popular locations and see what’s happening nearby via tagged posts, stories, and guides shared by the Instagram community. People can also find relevant locations on the map when searching certain hashtags. The feature was launched in Japan a year ago, and has been globally rolled out today.
