Instagram marketing is the use of Instagram to connect brands with target audiences and promote their offerings. It is a common approach of enabling brands to engage with potential customers, demonstrate product usage, show off culture and recruit employees.

In today’s digital era, following trends on Instagram can help you understand the market and stay ahead of the competition. It is also an excellent way of staying informed and understanding what customers are interested in.

IGTV

Along with Instagram reels, keep an eye on IGTV, a long-form video platform on Instagram. To make IGTV attractive to video creators, Instagram is now allowing ads on the platform. 

The creators of IGTV content are entitled to the same revenue from ads as the YouTube creators. This may make it easier for users to share videos from YouTube to Instagram. Instagram is expected to release additional IGTV functionalities over time. 

Video creators can use video editing software tools to improve the quality of the content and to improve its rankings. Customers are seeking educational content from their favorite brands as opposed to traditional promotional ads. 

Instagram Reels

Instagram responded to TikTok by launching the Instagram Reels. Reels allow users to develop and edit short video content and share them with their Instagram audiences. Instagram Reels is a great way to capitalize on trends, challenges, and TikTok-style content without moving to a different social media platform to attract another group of audience.

You can leverage your marketing strategy by staying up to date on what is trending on Instagram. This may provide an opportunity to launch the trends on Reels as a first content creator. 

Create content about topics you understand and share it with your Instagram audience. Reels is expected to trend than regular videos because shorter clips can result in more engagement and views, which is good for a brand. 

Ads for Instagram stories

Instagram stories ads occur between stories on users’ feeds and may resemble native content. That’s why these ads are better than other forms of ads that stand out as branded or sponsored content.

Marketers are appreciating the relevance of these ads and are investing more in them, with the trend will continue in 2021. The Instagram Stories ads that you can invest in include videos, images, and carousels. 

To make the best out of Instagram stories ads:

• Include a call-to-action in the ads.
• Ensure the simplicity of your ad because it will only be accessible for a short time.
• Consider turning your influencer content into an ad.
• Highlight your offers clearly in the ad.
• Be careful with text placement and position it in an outstanding position.

Influencer marketing

Collaborations with brand influencers will continue to be part of many marketers’ marketing strategies. As opposed to brand content, influencer content is more trustworthy and authentic and this is likely to be the main driving force for this trend. 

Brands are using influencer marketing to generate backlinks, create posts, boost consumer engagement, and drive sales. Influencers can help you to promote a product or a deal or generate high-quality content. As opposed to traditional marketing campaigns, influencer marketing is cheaper. 

Instagram shopping

Instagram is one of the most preferred online shopping platforms today. It allows brands to buy links to product posts or exclusively sell products online Through Instagram. Instagram is a good selling and marketing platform because it adopts a virtual, making it easier for buyers and sellers to connect.

Instagram shopping goes beyond the traditional shoppable posts to include product descriptions and usage. Brands are supporting their brand stories with product purchase links and this is one of the factors that is set to boost Instagram shopping in 2021. 

Instagram live

Live videos on Instagram have also become very popular. Real-time video streaming is advantageous compared to other types of traditional content. It can also enable you to quickly engage with your audience and enhance two-way communication instead of one-way content-sharing.

Through Instagram videos, you can add a user to the video feed and connect with them live. It also allows for the hosting of Q&A sessions where your audience can ask questions and have them answered live. These kinds of interactions can enable you to understand your customers’ needs and concerns and get valuable insights. 

The ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic have left many businesses to connect with their audiences through Instagram live videos. Since the pandemic is yet to be contained, it is safer to engage with Instagram live content.

Cause marketing

The social fundraising feature that was launched in 2020 allows users to create personal causes and business fundraisers on behalf of others. Instagram introduced this feature to respond to the COVID-19 effects in the economy.

Prior to the launch of this feature, Instagram users had crowdfunded over $100 million for people affected by the pandemic. Cause marketing has resulted in massive digital activism in response to global conversion across the races. 

Cause marketing can enable your followers to understand what is important and what you value most. Today, Instagram users are seeking to connect with brands that can discuss social issues and they know that Instagram profile image is not enough. 

Memes and tweets

Humorous content on Instagram has also been on the rise. Some Instagram accounts are dedicated to memes. Digital marketers are appreciating the importance of memes and tweets and taking advantage of such content. You may use another person’s tweets or your own because Instagram is concerned with sharing curated content. 

Memes and tweets are becoming part of Instagram’s content, the trend of which will grow deeper in 2021. People are now posting screenshots of stories and funny tweets on Instagram.

Content

Content should be an important part of your Instagram marketing plan. You can use different content marketing techniques and tools to create quality Instagram content, although there is no need to overproduce.

Leveraging authentic and unfiltered content from influencers is a popular trend that is set to continue in 2021 and beyond. You should ensure that the content reveals a story about your brand and is eye-catching. 

Instagram users can determine whether the content they are accessing is authentic, genuine, and sharable. They are looking for quality and eye-catching images that can boost brand credibility. 

Explore tab

The goal of social media platforms is to maintain the users on a page for a long time. Instagram achieves this through the explore tab by pushing interesting and unknown content. The explore tab provides content according to the view history and past likes of the users. 

The explore tab feature works because millions of Instagram users access this tab daily as they look for entertaining content. Instagram continues to refine the explore tab, making it easier for users to navigate, a factor that may boost its growth and popularity in 2021. 

One of the best ways to leverage the explore tab is by picking a niche and optimizing your content and Instagram profile using hashtags and keywords. Using appropriate niche hashtags can make the content appear on explore tab. 

Conclusion

Instagram marketing has evolved over the years and the trend is expected to continue in 2021 and beyond. Understanding the above marketing trends will allow you to incorporate the right marketing strategies for your business and guarantee growth and success.