5 Instagram Trends to Help Your Business Grow

Instagram has contributed to Total Guide to exceed pre pandemic levels of website traffic, social reach and revenue. We know only too well, however, that the task of managing and updating accounts can be daunting, time consuming and costly.

So, we've listed the current trends that are working well for us and how you can quickly and simply apply them to create a winning Instagram strategy.

1. The Rise of Reels

We're possibly even a little late to the party on this but we're seeing huge benefits already.  Each of our Reels are viewed by 3,000+, compared to an average of 841 views per regular post. This is because they sit in the Explore tab along with IGTV and Shop, so people don't have to be following you to view your posts. This functionality is growing rapidly in popularity so it's a great time to jump on this as it's not cluttered but you still have a large and engaged potential audience there. 

The algorithm behind the Explore tab, tracks users browsing habits (what you search for, like, and view for example), therefore you'll be more likely to gain new, quality followers.They're a little more time consuming but you'll soon get into the swing of things. Look at what similar businesses are doing, practice and try doing one reel a week and you'll soon pick up the pace.

2. Be Authentic

You no longer have to spend £££ on professional imagery and corporate videos. Yes, they have their place but Instagram is a platform for honesty and transparency. You build a loyal and trusting community by producing unfiltered content. 

Why not add a story or reel of some funny 'out takes' from a team meeting? Or, if you're being affected by supply issues for example, get out in front of it; share your problem, offer alternatives, ask for feedback, explain, show how you're trying to overcome, or ask how others are solving the issue - in other words be human! By being honest you're making yourself hugely relatable to your audience.

3. Onboard Relatable Influencers

If you're not already working with Influencers then this needs to be something you implement; it will vary your content, help you reach new audiences and grow your network.

Many businesses we speak to have avoided this due to the perception that they'll need a huge budget for an Influencer with 1m+ followers.  This is not necessary for smaller companies.

'Micro Influencers' are receiving great attention - again for the authenticity of their posts and audience. You can search for and approach relevant influencers in your sector or region, pay for native advertising or offer affiliate links. Remember it's not always about quantity, it's more often about the quality of their audience. 

4. Hashtags continue to make a big impact

Hashtags essentially help your users find your content faster. You can include 30 hashtags per post and the maximum we still tend to see per post is around seven. 

That's a large potential still untapped. Popular hashtags like #instagood and #beautiful will generate immediate engagement but remember to still be true to your target audience and who you want to be engaging with your post. 

If you add popular hashtags to an irrelevant post it will scream 'spam' and have a negative impact. Don't add a hashtag like #dog if it's totally irrelevant to your stories. 

Try and balance your hashtags with relevant popular tags, industry specific, and niche specific (in our case location ie. Poole, Dorset, South Coast etc)

5. Stories 

Stories continue to be the most digested form of content on Instagram (Instagram released a statistic of daily usage of 500m people in 2020 so this will be even higher now) yet we still find brands aren't tapping in to this super quick and effective feature. 

Each time you add a story you are making sure your business keeps popping up again and again thus encouraging your audience to continue to view your content. 

This constant reminder is a great touch point for prospecting and for keeping you top of mind with your consumers. For added engagement try using polls and questions now and again.

6. Ones to Watch for 2022

I want to make these tips easily digestible for you to impliment but it would be remiss of me not to highlight the importance of Instagram Shop (Shoppable posts) and IGTV.  

Instagram is clearly paying attention to the growing popularity of TikTok and tweaking Instagram to meet these new demands and video marketing has never been more widely used as a sales tool. I'll share more on this in due course - keep watching!

All of my tips are achievable either by yourself or your team however if you do feel overwhelmed by juggling social with your other tasks we can help to lessen the load. We're able to manage this for you. 

Please feel free to email, call or message us on Instagram or LinkedIn if you'd like to have a chat about your social media management and/or digital marketing strategy.