Last month, we reported that Instagram was testing a new "Save Draft" feature for some users.
Some users had been seeing the option since July, but Instagram expanded the test pool in early August. And that wider test appears to have gone well - the platform has now announced that the option will be made available to all users from today.
Trying to create a post that's just right? With the latest update, you can save as a draft & come back to it later. https://t.co/7lZ0eyNtBC
- Instagram (@instagram) September 20, 2016
The Instagram draft process is simple to use - as noted on Instagram's Help page:
Basically, when you go to back out of the image composition process, you'll now get a notification like the above screenshot. If you then want to go back to your draft, it'll be available under "My Photo Stream" in your images.
In addition, Instagram's also added a new "Manage" option to your drafts section to remove any unfinished works you no longer need.
The function has generated a heap of positive responses on Twitter since first being seen in the wild, and there's a range of benefits and way it could be utilized, beyond simply allowing everyday users to take more time to carefully craft their perfect post.
In fact, possibly the biggest benefit of the new feature will be for brands who can now take more time and incorporate more elements when building their perfect Instagram post, rather than having to do it all at once. And while Instagram still doesn't provide a native scheduling option, you can only imagine such tools are not far off - one of the key elements of Instagram's new business analytics tools is insight into when and where your audience are most active on the app.
Using this data, in conjunction with drafts, brands will be able to better tailor and plan their posts in order to improve performance - right now, you can schedule Instagram updates through third party tools which will send you a reminder to post when the time is right, but given the way other platforms (including Instagram's parent company Facebook) are moving towards encouraging people to schedule and post content natively, Instagram will no doubt soon follow suit.