Current trends on social media platforms can be the deal-breaker between your brand sky-rocketing or never even standing a chance to be seen. Be on the lookout for these new features and trends so you can try to get ahead of the game.
Here is a quick rundown of the most important trends the team at Hootsuite suggested to try out to become successful on Instagram.
To read the full, more detailed article, click here.
- Dance Dance Baby
- Get ya dancing shoes on because the dancing trends & challenges don’t look like they are going anywhere anytime soon.
- Retail Therapy
- With IG Shopping taking off in 2021, you will see new features that make the experience even more convenient, keeping users coming back for more.
- Also interesting research I found– eMarketer predicts social commerce will be an $80 billion industry by 2025.
- Content Creators are taking over
- 80% of Gen Z IG users say that content creators have just as much influence on culture as those considered traditional celebrities.
- Releasing a feature throughout this year called “creators” that is basically connecting creators with brands (some have already beta tested this feature).
- Say bye-bye to IGTV
- I mean, the long-format videos will still be a feature, but IGTV is a thing of the past, and the longer videos will show up as a regular feed post and have their own tab on user profiles.
- Reels are taking over
- The shorter, quick format videos look like they are going to be here to stay for a while. This is currently the newest feature that is the best way to get in front of new eyeballs.
- Story links available to everyone
- If you’re a smaller brand or creator, I bet you are thrilled! Now anyone can add an external link to their story. I think it is a win all around because it will allow for more people to get familiar with clicking links on stories!
- Users love a cause
- With the world evolving the way it is, more and more people are getting involved with brands that have a cause, message, charity, or nonprofit they are supporting and advocating for.
- Spending money makes money
- Organic reach just isn’t what it used to be. Make it a point to learn the basics of targeting ads and boosting methods.
- We’re Going LIVE
- Thanks to the pandemic, IG Live has become tremendously popular and a great way to collaborate with other creators straight from home! Also, 80% of these audiences say they’d rather watch a live stream than read a blog post.
- New Feed Views
- I wrote about this in a previous article (CLICK HERE) but IG is creating a more user-friendly experience by letting you choose the feed view you want to see, giving you 3 options– Home, Favorites, Following.
- Sticker Photo Albums
- I’m sure you’ve seen a story by now that has a sticker on it saying “add if you were…” This “Add Your” collaborative album is a new resource you can use to build a storyboard and have your followers chime in!
- Answer Questions Through Reels
- This has been a thing on TikTok for a while, but IG now allows you to respond to questions with reels!
We are still in the first quarter of 2022, so things can change, but these are some of the newer features and trends you can expect to see grow this year and help you grow your brand in the direction you have visioned.
