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Instagram’s awkward ‘link in bio’ work-around might be on its way out
The introduction of product tagging in Instagram Reels marks a significant shift in brand strategy for creators, allowing them to link products directly within their content, thereby enhancing user engagement and reducing friction in the shopping experience. This move signals the end of the 'link in bio' era, enabling brands to leverage Instagram's evolving capabilities for more direct and effective marketing.
FastCompany: Instagram influencers asking their followers to shop by going to their link in bio could soon go the way of the MySpace top eight and the old Twitter as Meta will soon give some creators the ability to link products directly in their Reels. Product tagging would finally reduce the friction that comes from asking followers to click into a profile before tapping another link to find what they’re looking for.
The feature will roll out this spring first for select creators in five markets before expanding to 22 countries, and it will allow up to 30 product links per post, Meta announced at the retail and e-commerce conference Shoptalk Spring, according to the trade publication Retail Dive . Meta did not respond to a request for comment. “For creators, when it comes to highlighting products, this means that the era of link in bio is finally over,” Nicola Mendelsohn, head of the global business group at Meta, said at the conference. The link in bio call to action started a work-around on an app that was long designed to keep users inside of it.
Instagram used to offer users only one spot to add a link—on their profiles—so “link in bio” or DM automation became standard operating procedure for influencers and marketers looking to move their followers along a sales funnel. As Instagram has grown into a social commerce hub, it’s slowly added more optionality for links. Meta added links for Stories in 2016, and in 2023 it gave users the ability to add up to five links to their profiles .
Linkable product tags in Reels will let creators include links in content for the first time directly in the newsfeed, and it also will give them increased discoverability as Instagram’s algorithm pushes suggested content. This and other design tweaks to the app come amid growing scrutiny of how social platforms are designed after a $3 million judgment against Meta and Google in a social media addiction trial last month, as well as amid a boom in creator advertising spend that reached $37 billion in 2025 .
Meta sees product tagging in Reels as a way to let creators more easily monetize, but it also could be the beginning of the end of an era. The company is testing links in captions for Meta Verified subscribers, showing that old walls meant to discourage links to outside websites could soon be coming down.
The shift from 'link in bio' to direct product tagging in Instagram Reels represents a significant evolution in social media marketing, making it highly impactful and relevant for brand strategy professionals, while also introducing a novel approach to engagement.