Information in this blog post was obtained from Hootsuite and Sprout Social.
Instagram is currently the 4th most popular social media site, with an average of 2 billion monthly active users. With such a large number of active users, Instagram is a great place for marketers to advertise and grow their businesses. While there are many active users on Instagram, there are also many influencers and companies competing for the attention of those users. That is why it is important to understand the current trends and what type of content consumers are interacting with the most.
Reels
Back in 2020, Instagram introduced Reels (A short-form video format) to compete with TikTok during its colossal rise during the pandemic. Ever since then reels have been a great way for marketers, and content creators to get their content in front of, and consumed by a much large audience than if they were to post solely image-based content. Since Reels are similar to YouTube Shorts, and TikToks many content creators, and marketers are able to repurpose the video and post it on all 3 of these platforms with minimal to no changes needing to be made.
Another benefit to reels is that since Meta owns both Facebook and Instagram, users that link their Facebook and Instagram accounts together can easily share their reels to their Facebook page. This allows the content to easily be seen by consumers on both platforms. It is important to note that while it may seem enticing to post all of your reels on Facebook since all you have to do is press one button during the posting process. You must remember that your customer base on Instagram is likely different than your customer base on Facebook. Since the average user on Facebook is older you need to make sure that you post content that they are interested in and find engaging. If you post reels that those consumers don't feel relate to them, then they could possibly unfollow your account, or be less likely to like your content.
According to studies by Rival IQ, and Socialinsider Reels have an average reach rate of 14% to 20% while other forms of content have an average of 9% to 10%. Along with high reach rates, reels also have a high average rate of engagement at 1.95%. The average engagement rate for other forms of content is around 0.60% and is continuously decreasing. While reels can be a great way to boost your reach and engagement, it is important that you incorporate reels into your strategy rather than switch to solely making reel-based content. Over time your followers may become tired of similar short video content so it is vital that you keep your content varied and dynamic to hold the attention of your current customers, and to help attract new ones.
Content Trends
While it is important to understand how to use the various different tools that each social media platforms offer, it is also just as important to understand the current content trends and what audiences they appeal to. For example, a 2022 trend report done by Instagram showed that 1 in 3 teenagers wanted to see more dance challenge content in the future. While it may not make sense for your specific brand to start a dance challenge or post dance-based content it is still important to understand content trends like these to ensure that you make engaging content that your consumers want to see.
With the rise of TikTok, it became very popular for videos to use short audio snippets from songs and popular videos by other content creators. Using these popular sounds is a great way to get your products and brand in front of a wider audience. The content made from these popular sounds often has a common theme so make sure to look at what other creators are doing before making your video.
A great place to see learn some of these trends is by using Instagram's trend report mentioned in the previous paragraph. These are often short documents put out at the end of each year by Instagram that go over popular trends in different industries such as fashion, music, beauty, and more. Even if your industry is not represented this document can still give you a good idea of what type of content consumers find interesting.
Another great way to learn about trends is to look at what other types of content other companies in your industry post and see what works best for them and then make similar content of your own to post and monitor its performance. For example, if you are trying to market a clothing brand you should look at what other popular brands and creators are doing. You can easily do this by going to your Instagram Explore page and searching for the term "Clothing Brand" or by searching other popular hashtags. You should automatically see some of the top recent posts using these terms and hashtags. This, as well as looking at the content on other platforms such as Tiktok and Facebook can help you create better content for your audience.
Also, if you have a small but active following you can simply ask your followers what type of content they want to see in the future. This can be done by either making a specific post where people can leave their thoughts and ideas in the comments or can be done by posting a poll on your Instagram Story.
Collaborative Posts
Ever since they were Introduced back in 2021, Collab posts have been a great and easy way to increase the number of users that see your content. This is done by inviting another user to be a collaborator during the posting process. Once this is done the collaborator will receive a notification on their end to accept the invite. Once accepted the post will now appear on the profile of each account, and will be shown to the followers of each profile. The top of the post will say "Username 1" and "Username 2". This type of post is commonly done when a brand partners with a popular influencer, and when brands collaborate together on a product. This way followers of one brand or creator can easily follow and learn more about another.
For example, this tool can be a great way to increase your reach if you are trying to market a podcast where you host different guests. The guest will likely share the content you post about them to their Instagram Story so that their followers can see, but stories have a much lower engagement rate than normal in-feed posts. But if a guest makes a collab post with you then the content will be shown to a much larger portion of their audience. If your guests decide that they only want to have the post on their profile for a limited time they can easily remove themselves from the post by clicking on the post options and selecting the "Stop Sharing" option. This can also be done from the side of the original poster if they decide they no longer want their post to be shared by the collaborator
Shopping
Back in 2021 Instagram also introduced the Shopping tab. This allowed brands to easily incorporate their products into their posts and allowed their followers to purchase their products without having to leave the app. According to Hootsuite, 15% of American shoppers start their shopping search on Instagram, and over 130 million users tap on posts that use Instagram Shopping each month. With e-commerce also expected to have a major rise over the next several years, this is a great and simple way for marketers to get their products seen and potentially purchased by consumers.
Instagram's 2022 report showed that 1 out of every 4 Gen Z users expects to shop through their social media feeds in the future. These shops are easy to set up and can even be linked to any existing online storefronts you may have, such as a Shopify website. You are also able to tag your products in your posts so that viewers can easily find and learn more about the products they are interested in.
If you want to learn more about how to use current social media trends to your advantage make sure to check out some of our other articles:
"How Current TikTok Trends Are A Marketer's Best Friend" - Jordon McFarland
"Social Media Trends: What They Are, How to Keep Track of Them, and How to Start One" - Reed Knitter
"Using Social Media Trends For Your Small Business" - Brianna Ingram
Resources
McLachlan, S. (2023, March 4). 12 important Instagram trends to watch in 2023. Social Media Marketing & Management Dashboard. Retrieved April 15, 2023, from https://blog.hootsuite.com/instagram-trends/
West, C. (2023, February 22). 9 Instagram trends to watch in 2023. Sprout Social. Retrieved April 15, 2023, from https://sproutsocial.com/insights/instagram-trends/
Zote, J. (2023, March 29). Instagram statistics you need to know for 2023. Sprout Social. Retrieved April 15, 2023, from https://sproutsocial.com/insights/instagram-stats/
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