How brands are maximizing Instagram’s broadcast channels

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Broadcast, but make it narrow.

In 2023, Instagram unveiled broadcast channels, a feature for creators to “engage directly with their followers at scale” through what is essentially a one-sided group chat, offering channel owners the chance to take polls, gather photo responses, and share updates with those who opt in. In the last two years, brands have also begun using the feature, but many are still exploring the most effective ways to do so.

Some brands, like Shake Shack, Ralph Lauren, and Béis, have operated broadcast channels for a while, while others, like 818 Spirits and Tony’s Chocolonely, began using them more recently. Marketers say the channels are a powerful way to reach engaged customers, solicit feedback, and offer exclusive insights and deals, but the feature could still use some improvements—and some brand channels have gone dark in the meantime.

“When we went into it, we were like, ‘This is very much a test,’” Amanda Tedesco, director of social media at Shake Shack, said. “We’re still kind of in that place.”

Social focus group

Shake Shack created its broadcast channel a year ago to draw attention to its Innovation Kitchen, where it tests and develops new menu items, and to connect with fans, Tedesco told us.

“[The culinary team is] always ideating and coming up with these cool culinary innovations,” she said. “We thought, ‘Maybe there’s something there for the broadcast channel.’”

The channel now has nearly 4,000 members, and Shake Shack’s social team often collaborates with its consumer insights team and uses the Poll feature to gather input on decisions like what to name the restaurant chain’s next burger or which cheese-fry innovation looks most appetizing. The brand has even offered some channel members the chance to come to the Innovation Kitchen to try new menu items and share feedback.

Cava launched its broadcast channel, Tzatziki Town Hall, last year and now has about 2,400 members. Andy Rebhun, Cava’s chief marketing and experience officer, told us the brand most recently used the broadcast channel to help collect customer photos of the blind-bag plushies it released in August. It has also used the channel to generate social content, like asking members to build the social team’s lunch bowls, solicit input on new chip flavors, and offer exclusive access to new menu items.

The channel, Rebhun said, “allows secret information and news to get to [members] first.”

Abby Davison, communications manager, North America, at Tony’s Chocolonely, told us the brand has used its broadcast channel, which it launched last month, to get feedback on its products. After the brand planned to rename its Dark Milk Chocolate Pretzel Toffee bar (a decision made because US-based consumers “did not understand what dark milk chocolate” meant, Davison said), the brand headed to its broadcast channel to ask followers what they might rename it if it were up to them.

“It was a great place to get that feedback, and that’s something that we’re bringing to the product and innovation team, like, ‘Hey, this is what our deep fans and community would call it,’” she said.

Kathleen Braine, CMO of 818 Spirits, said the brand created its broadcast channel last month in an effort to reach both superfans and more passive consumers. She likes the ability to interact with customers, which can be missing in traditional SMS and email marketing, and plans to use the channel to assess demand for certain products and variations.

“We’re constantly getting DMs and comments about, ‘When does this launch?’ ‘How can I find this hat?’ ‘How can I get tickets to Outpost next year?’” Braine said. “We thought it made a ton of sense to just put our community all in one place.”

It’s like a reward

Beyond communicating directly with customers, marketers are using broadcast channels to reward them. So far, 818 has used its broadcast channel to give away a YSL bag with a bag charm and share RSVP info for a tailgate event in Dallas for last Saturday’s Texas vs. Oklahoma game.

Tedesco said the broadcast channel allows Shake Shack to increase the value of its giveaways compared to those on its main Instagram page. “We can afford to give a bigger prize because it’s a smaller group, but also they appreciate it more,” she said.

For Tony’s Chocolonely, Davis said the broadcast channel can create “digital VIP opportunities” for fans through giveaways and in-person events where they can meet other fans and company executives.

There’s still room for improvement, marketers said, and Tedesco hopes Meta will add more analytics to broadcast channels. “Right now, it’s very manual to go through and see our top-performing posts,” she said. “Getting to see a little bit more of our followers and the breakdown of where they are would be super helpful for us.”

As brands experiment with new ways of engaging with customers on Instagram, Tedesco said finding the right channel comes down to finding what works best for a brand’s niche.

“Those are big considerations when there’s already so many social channels to stay abreast on,” she said. “It’s the lift and what you want to get out of it and what you want to give your community in return.”