Instagram is adding another way to promote your Instagram presence outside the app, with a new option to embed a mini version of your Instagram profile on third-party sites.

As you can see in this example, now, you’ll be able to link to an Instagram profile direct within a website, providing another way to connect through to a user, as opposed to specific content in the app.

As explained by Instagram chief Adam Mosseri:

“You’ve been able to embed an Instagram photo or Instagram video into a website for many years now. This extends on that idea and allows you to embed a miniature version of your Instagram profile on a website. Maybe you want to showcase your Instagram content on a website somewhere, or link to someone else’s.”

How useful that will be is hard to say. For many brands, you’d ideally want people to stay on your website, as opposed to filtering them off to Instagram, though it could be another way to encourage ongoing connection by referring visitors to your IG presence as well. You would also assume that most embeds, within the context of a blog post, would be relative to a specific reference image or video, as opposed to an entire profile, but there could be use cases and opportunities for the tool - and having more direct connection capacity in this respect is always beneficial.

One example might be referring people to influencers that your business has worked with, who showcase your products in their Instagram posts. Maybe, by connecting through to an IG account, that could act as a visual showcase to add to your website images, while also enhancing community connection – and thus reach – in the app.

There are various ways it could be used, though overall it does seem less valuable than post embeds.

Still, it’s another consideration. Instagram profile embeds are available to US users only at this stage.