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Instagram provides a seamless experience for consumers in 2022. They can go from scrolling, to piqued interest, to purchasing an item in a matter of minutes, and without ever leaving the app. In fact, with 90% of people following a business on Instagram, it can’t be stressed enough that in 2022 Instagram is one of a brand’s most powerful marketing tools.
Let’s look at the 4 top Instagram Trends you can expect to see continue to soar throughout 2022.
To say that authenticity is important on Instagram would be an understatement. In fact, it really is essential to draw consumers in, building those like, know and trust factors and of course, maintaining a high retention rate. While collaborating with micro or macro-influencers can certainly enhance brand awareness, and increase trust with a brand - there is also something so important to be said for User-Generated Content (UGC). This is any type of content posted online that is created by individuals (influencers or content creators), and not brands. It’s an organic way to be endorsed by your most important target audience - your own customers!
Part of the reason UGC can be so successful is that there is an inherent element of trust already there. Word of mouth is still the top way of getting news about a product out there. A recent study showed that when making a purchase, 92% of people trust recommendations from friends and family.
So, how do you find or build User-Generated Content? Well, thanks to hashtags and direct tags, it’s now easier than ever to collect UGC. You can look at posts where creators have directly tagged you, or you could even create your own branded hashtag. Creating a branded hashtag is a way of inviting consumers in and letting them feel involved in the growth and success of your brand. A great example of this is the recent Calvin Klein campaign: #MYCALVINS
Not only can branded hashtag campaigns be memorable, but they also inspire trust - it means that consumers are actively interacting with a brand, and not at a brand. It deepens the connection and therefore deepens the loyalty to the brand. Consumers feel involved, and the trending hashtag will lead to high engagement on your brand’s profile. It’s a win-win situation!
Last August, the swipe up option was scrapped on Instagram Stories in favour of the new Link Sticker. These Link Stickers are the quickest way to drive engagement to exciting new offerings from your brand. They are easy to modify to fit in with your content, and when you tap on the sticker you will see a pop-up inviting you to be taken straight to that URL within the Instagram Browser. It’s a great way to drive curiosity and interest from an Instagram Story straight to your content.
When TikTok arrived, a significant portion of Instagram’s users flocked to its competitor to hop on all kinds of dance, comedy, and viral trends. To this problem, Instagram had to quickly find a solution and so Instagram Reels was born. What started as a way to keep up with a competitor has now become a creator’s greatest way to capitalise on trends born on TikTok, without having to grow an entirely new audience.
Here are a few of the fastest-growing trends within Instagram reels
Tagging Products in Reels
Not only are Reels a great way to drive engagement and outreach; you are also able to Shop directly from the Reel itself. By tagging products in your reel, viewers are able to tap “View Products” and it will pop up with a way to view and purchase the product. To do this, make sure you complete your set up of Instagram Shopping.
Put the Social back in Social Media
Yes, you read that right. Gone are the days when we just want to see aesthetically pleasing photos of products. Now that Instagram has been forced to move into a more video-based era, it gives brands a great chance to put faces to their name, which is such a great way to build that all-important consumer trust. Keep it informal, keep it chatty, and keep it regular - this could be a weekly drop-in via Reels, Stories, or even Instagram Live. As you’re talking to your audience, you can refer them to your Tagged Products, which will appear below or within the video.
Instagram Collaborations
A new feature, still in testing mode but is expected to be widely available in 2022, is the Instagram Collab Tag’ for both Reels and Feed Posts. While we have always been able to tag collaborators, the update to this feature allows brands to tag collaborators as co-Authors of the post. When a collaborator approves this, the post will show up on both the brand and the collaborators feeds. This is a game-changer from a marketing perspective as this will double your reach to two sets of followers.
So why are reels so important for eCommerce brands in 2022? It’s a simple premise that sets it apart from the rest of Instagram - it’s a new feature, which means that Instagram is pushing out reel content like crazy. While In-Feed Instagram posts depend solely on the algorithm, reels are posted to the explore page - so your posts are accessible to a worldwide audience, and not just primarily your followers.
Now, if the thought of going on camera or trying to keep up with the latest TikTok trends on Instagram Reels fills you with utter dread, please don’t worry because we have your back! We offer a specially curated content creation package, where we take care of conceptualising, shooting, and editing stunning video content for you so that your brand truly stands out among the Instagram crowd.
This all ties back into the social aspect of social media - and it’s where Instagram truly thrives over and above nearly all other forms of digital marketing. Within Instagram Stories is a plethora of options to invite viewers to engage with your brand.
Questions
This is a great option for building an authentic relationship with your consumers. You can either ask them a question, and post their answers, or you could be really brave and ask “Ask Me Anything!” By responding directly to your consumers with photos and videos throughout your day, you can really build a genuine relationship.
Add Yours
This sticker prompts users to add their own response to the sticker, which can be any theme you like and creates a public thread right there in your story. Hot Tip: Combine this with a branded hashtag and you’ll be on a roll with getting your brand trending, at the same time as expanding that outreach!
Quizzes and Polls
You can create multiple choice quizzes within your stories purely to engage with your audience, or to gain direct feedback from your consumers. When you implement the feedback, it’s great to refer back to this story to let your audience know that you listened to them.
What’s to come…a few things to be on the lookout for to stay ahead of the game in 2022!
Instagram is currently testing 60 second Instagram Stories. Previously if you had longer content, then it had to be broken up into 15-second segments for stories, so this could be a potential game-changer for marketing via Insta Stories. No more will brands have to agonise lining up music shifts between the 15 seconds, and making sure effects aren’t broken up! It will essentially be like having a Reel right there on your Instastory which gives creators so much more freedom to create valuable and organic content that piques the interest of consumers and really flows. It also gives you double the content as you can use your Story for a Reel, and vice versa!
Sometimes it can feel like an endless marathon trying to keep up with the ever-changing Instagram algorithm. But, for those of you who are tired of the chase, then 2022 may just be the year for you with the potential return of chronological feeds, according to Instagram’s tweet on December 8th, 2021. It should be noted that feeds are not automatically changing back to chronological order, but it will give you an option to do so.
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